The Couillards couldn't be reached at GlobeSt.com's publication deadline. But area brokers tell GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity rents for the planned three bedroom-two bath townhomes will be $700 to $800 a month--a bargain compared to comparable shelter in Downtown Orlando where rents begin at $1,200 a month.

Brokers tell GlobeSt.com the Couillards figure they can build their project at an estimated hard construction cost of $80,000 per unit. The construction track is expected to be 14 months. The Couillards purchased the 37.3-acre development site earlier this year for an undisclosed sum. About 1,000 tenants are expected to occupy the project at buildout.

The site is along County Road 466A where the expanding Villages community of nearby Lady Lake, FL (Pop. 16,000), plans to build the first of 5,000 single-family and multifamily units later this year. County Roads 139 and 466A are projected to be hot commercial/retail locations over the next 10 years, local planners and brokers tell GlobeSt.com.

"There's no doubt that land bought now at reasonable prices in that area will triple in value when new multifamily and retail product surface," Dean Fritchen, senior associate, Arvida Realty Services Commercial Division, Winter Park, FL, tells GlobeSt.com.

For the city of Wildwood, the Couillards' development means new revenue from utility fees. For example, the developers will pay $30,000 to build a lift station and extend water lines to the site and $400,000 in connection fees.

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