As Lake County continues to grapple with a booming population and skyrocketing housing costs, Fruitland Park is preparing for a new affordable housing development on Lake Geneva.
However, while local officials cheer the influx of workforce housing, the project is highlighting growing anxieties over an increasingly gridlocked U.S. Hwy. 27/441 corridor.
Atlantic Housing Partners recently secured site plan approval for WaterVue at Lake Geneva, a 92-unit affordable housing community planned for a 14.07-acre site just north of Spring Lake Road.
Located a half-mile west of U.S. Hwy. 27/441, the development will feature 36 garden villas and 56 lakefront apartments restricted to families earning between 30 percent and 80 percent of the area median income.
While the $33 million complex aims to relieve the region’s severe shortage of affordable units, its proximity to Fruitland Park’s main thoroughfare is drawing sharp focus toward regional traffic infrastructure. Housing advocates note that projects like WaterVue are critical in a county where service-industry workers, teachers, and first responders are increasingly priced out of the rental market…