FLORIDA CITY, FL-Miami-based Five-Star Builders has begun on Floridian Key, a $130-million, 614-unit townhome project adjacent to the Florida City Prime Outlets Mall. The first phase is expected to be completed within 15 to 18 months

Units will have two, three or four bedrooms and range in size from 1,150 to 1,830 sf. Prices for the units will start in the $200,000s. A model of the units will open in the first quarter, Five-Star Builders representative Alan Shuminer tells GlobeSt.com. "There is a tremendous need for affordable housing in South Florida," Shuminer says. "Five-Star believes that the Homestead/Florida City area is the next hot area for development."

The project will be situated south of Miami in an area that is considered a gateway to the Florida Keys. The project is in close proximity to Home Depot, Wal-Mart Superstore and the Homestead Sports Complex. It is also close to tourist attractions in the Florida Keys, such as the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park; Keys Gate Golf Club, Key Largo; Everglades Alligator Farm and Theatre of the Sea.

Keyes Co. Realty is the exclusive sales and marketing firm for the project. A temporary sales center is located at Prime Outlets Mall at 250 E. Palm Dr., Suite 410. Leslie says among buyers the project is expected to attracted buyers are those seeking lower-cost alternatives to the most of the housing found in Miami-Dade County. "We see this as an end-user project, but we're large enough so that we'll attract some investors and second home buyers," Keyes Co. Realtors sales director Andrea Leslie tells GlobeSt.com.

To attract buyers in a slowed residential market, the project will offer beefed up standard features, such as 18-inch by 18-inch tile throughout the first floor, hurricane-impact glass doors and windows, wood-shade window treatments and a Plasma television set.