At last week’s Board of Commissioners meeting, recently hired city planning director Paul Luker gave an overview of Kensington Manor neighborhood. The neighborhood is a planned development which will include 111 single-family residential lots, developed on 64.84 acres at the southeast corner of Highway 70 and Evergreen Road. Kensington Manor already has multiple homes built and it’s expected to include five phases before it’s complete. The developer on record is Renaissance and the homes are constructed by Regency Homebuilders. According to Mr. Luker several changes modifications have been requested for the neighborhood in the upcoming phases.
Renaissance requested that the phases be renumbered from Phase 5 to Phase 3 and vice versa and Lakeland city staff reported indicated this was not a major issue. Also, Evergreen Road will be closed as a part of the new Phase 3 instead of being closed at the very end of phase 5. Once the closure is complete this would route traffic from Evergreen Road through the Kensington Manor subdivision to Highway 70 at Saffron Springs Drive. Renaissance will construct their section of Chambers Chapel with new Phase 3. The developer will be constructing their section of Chambers Chapel with the new Phase 3 (old Phase 5).
The BOC was very receptive to the changes, which they believe will enhance the planned development, by not destroying specimen trees. It will also expedite the closing of Evergreen and finish Chambers Chapel Road. With the current market demand in Lakeland the current homes are selling above the starting price of 559,000, a good sign for the local market even has interest rates have climbed.
