Housing development coming to Ellenton

ELLENTON, Fla. (WWSB) - Growth is coming to Ellenton. According to Defined Companies, they are going to build a mixed-income 235-unit apartment complex, with four stories, and resort-style amenities near the entrance of the Ellenton Premium Outlets.

59 of those units are set to be affordable housing. They said the affordable housing units will be of the same quality and specifications as the market-rate units.

They’re hoping these will be used by the people that work at the outlets and nearby retail stores.

With two other developments under construction just down the road, neighbors are saying they don’t know if they can handle any more traffic coming through the area.

“There’s certain times of the day we don’t even go out now because the traffic is so bad. It seems like the bad times are getting longer, and longer, and longer. It’s insane the amount of building that’s going on and the roads can’t handle the traffic,” said Dan Zitt who lives nearby.

Zitt said within the last couple of years traffic has gotten substantially worse in that area, specifically 60th Ave. East.

“They’re just putting up too much too soon. There’s a lot of times I won’t even go across the river to Bradenton if it’s after 2 o’clock because it’s just insane over there,” he said.

The original idea for the property proposed by a previous owner consisted of a hotel, a shopping center, and a movie theater.

Steven Guasch, Co-Founder of Defined Companies, said they conducted a traffic study that showed a daily trip generation rate that showed an estimated 13,344 drivers would’ve been congesting the area with that proposal.

But, with the newly proposed 235-unit housing complex, it’ll only generate 1,067 drivers to the area.

The complex also fills a need for affordable places to live in Manatee County. According to Defined Companies, 59 of the units will be set aside for affordable housing.

“While we do have 59 affordable housing units, there’s actually no difference in the quality that goes into those units. So all the specifications are the same as the market rate units,” said Defined Companies’ Co-Founder Noah Leon.

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