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A 300-unit "luxury" townhome development may soon provide a different option for home-buyers in Lake Wales.

The complex dubbed Ridge Luxury Townhomes will include 55 new buildings to be located off Old Scenic Highway adjacent to the Duke Energy maintenance facility.

Lake Caroline, a small lake just south of the nearly 30-acre site, will offer views for some units, and a community center with a proposed water feature will also be constructed. The project is one of several recently-approved townhome projects in the city, although none have begun construction yet.

Each multi-family residential building will contain from two to as many as six units of two-and-a-half stories. Units will feature upstairs bedrooms, with downstairs living and dining areas and a garage.

Courtesy Lake Wales Development Services

The site plan for the luxury townhome development at Lake Caroline includes stormwater retention above the lake to help protect water quality in the small water body. Alleyways serving many of the buildings are visible in this image.

Each of the units will offer at least 1,000 square feet of living area and be either 20 or 22 feet wide. Most will feature alleys and rear garage access, a feature that city planners added in negotiations with the developers.

City of Lake Wales Interim Planning Director Autumn Cochella described the development in positive terms during a commission workshop this week. She praised the design team for responding positively to the city's eight aspirations for future development.

The aspirations were adopted during the design of the project, and the project was reviewed by city urban planning consultants Plusurbia, which proposed several changes. Those were then modified further to meet the needs of the city's fire marshal.

Final approval of the project will be on the agenda to be considered at Wednesday's Lake Wales city commission meeting, which has been rescheduled to accommodate the Tuesday Independence Day holiday.