Wednesday, September 14, 2005

A Tour of Oaks At Riverview

Well, Oaks at Riverview finally opened up and I decided to take a tour. Nice place. A place that shows respect for those live there. Some of the information I present is from the brochure and an article in the home section of the Tribune.

"Rents for qualified residents are determined by income and other factors. “Households with 60 percent or less of the Tampa area’s median income is our target market,”. . . “That includes a lot of families in this area, and our rates are lower than comparable market rents.”" Everyone who rents there undergoes a background check.

First we have the building for Seniors. This is a four-story mid-rise features one- and two-bedroom apartments for seniors age 62 and older. There is a controlled lobby entry. The apartments are 1 and 2 bedroom in size with laundry facilities on each floor. There is a good sized lobby, a community room and a barbecue area.

One of the things that I never paid attention to when the area was a public housing project was how many trees there are. The trees are now a strong feature of the area.


Here are some of the townhomes. Some of these are rentals and some will be for sale.


These townhomes all have front porches or stoops in front. I likes this feature, because hopefully it will being people out of their homes and maintain a sense of community.


All of these townhomes have small lots in the back with a parking pad and rear entrance.


My only beef is that there is no paved walkway from the back door to the parking pad. I would not enjoy walking in wet grass every morning to get to my car.

Hammond and Associates apparently is the realty company who is selling the homes. I wish I could tell you how much these are selling for but their website is absolutely no help. It looks like they got something from another realtor and failed to completely modify it. Their featured homes listing has no listings. Their local partners listing has no local partners. Their community links shows links from Highlands County and Jacksonville. I am not impressed.


I think these are 4 and 5 bedroom homes.


This is the other major apartment building complex.


Parking is in back.


There are several storefronts on Florida Avenue. Parking is also in the back. I suspect these likely will cater to the walk up trade in the area. Good place for a hair cutting/beauty salon/hair braiding place, specialty clothing store, music store, maybe a little mini food store, or a small carry out type sandwich place, or perhaps some small office. Maybe something that will also cater to the seniors in the building next door.


Their sign is not the most easily seen. Call 231-7700 if you wish to rent.


This is the community center. There is a pool behind it. Inside there is a full style service clubhouse with a party room and kitchen, there will be a fitness center and a computer learning center for adults and children. The leasing office is located there. 231-7700. They don't have a website.


There is a daycare center onsite that offers day and night daycare. This will be very helpful for those who work in evening jobs. It is run by Precious Bundles 928-7444.


The pool is in the foreground and the play area for the daycare is behind it.


At the northern edge of the complex is a park and recreation area with a roller hockey rink..


There is still much contruction going on. This is one of the bungalow style homes.


I'm very interested in the effects this complex will have on the immediately neighboring businesses. With all of this positive economic influx will we see some improvements?


Will we get the opportunty to lose another one of these car lots?


This place already looked good. It is likely going to greatly benefit from this complex.


I imagine they will have their own neighborhood association and so will become the 4th subneighborhood in Seminole Heights. Given the mix of owners, renters and seniors, and varying economic levels, it will be interesting to see what their perspectives and concerns will be and how that association will relate to the other Seminole Heights associations.

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