Lakeland commissioners have given the green light to plans to build 30 townhomes on one midtown block despite concerns raised about the density and potential traffic issues.
The commission voted 5-2 to approve several changes that would allow Orlando-based developer Neiel Group LLC to construct 30 single-family attached townhouses at 1064 Gilmore Ave., just north of Memorial Boulevard between Lakeland Hills Boulevard and Lake Parker. The project is part of the city’s Affordable Housing Land Bank Program.
“This is all in terms of trying to provide additional affordable housing stock within our community,” said Chuck Barmby, the city’s traffic and development review manager.
Real estate deal
The roughly 1.8-acre lot is actually three adjacent parcels purchased by Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency in July 2019 for $140,000, according to Polk County Property Appraiser’s website. There was a single-family home on one of the parcels at the time, which the CRA demolished.
Valerie Vaught, Lakeland CRA manager, said the land will be sold to Neiel Group LLC for 120% of the land’s assessed value now that proper zoning is in place and plans approved. The three parcels have a total assessed value of approximately $121,000, according to the Polk County Property Appraiser’s website — meaning it will be sold to the developer for about $145,500.
In exchange, the developer must agree to keep the 30 townhomes affordably priced and “benefit homeowners.” Henry Samaan, a certified building contractor who founded Neiel Group, previously stated the goal was to build workforce housing, which under the city’s income-guidelines is an individual making up to $81,760 a year or a family of four with a maximum income of $116,620.
Once Neiel Group has secured its building permits, the company has six months to begin construction and 18 to 24 months to complete the buildout, according to Vaught. Otherwise, the land can revert to back to city’s ownership.
The townhouses will be sold for “no less than 120% of the assessed value” of the newly constructed building plus land, according to the city’s program guidelines, which is determined by the Polk County Property Appraiser’s Office.
The median sale price of a two-bedroom townhouse in Lakeland was $250,500 in May 2025, according to Redfin’s market data.
Could density cause traffic concerns?
Commissioners Guy LaLonde and Bill Read were the two votes against the proposed housing, arguing that the density of 16.7 houses per acre with the associated traffic could have negative impacts on the surrounding John Cox neighborhood.
“The concern I have even with a reduction from 44 units to 30, that’s still an extreme amount of density on some very narrow streets,” LaLonde said. “Especially when access is on the smallest of those streets, Bon Air.”
The townhomes’ future site is located in an area of the city where streets are laid out in a grid-like formation and are generally 20 to 22 feet wide, according to Barmby. This should help any vehicular traffic from the development rapidly disperse across the road network.
Citrus Connection, Lakeland’s public bus transit, has two routes with bus stops within about a quarter-mile of the proposed housing development.
LaLonde, who said he grew up in the area, argued that there’s a high amount of pedestrian traffic on those local streets. His concern ― along with the limited parking of two vehicles per unit, one in a garage, one in a driveway — is a negative impact on surrounding streets.
The developer did not attend the July 7 commission meeting and no one from the development team was available to answer questions. LaLonde and Read sought to table the hearing until a later date where Samaan or another representative could be available, but they didn’t support from their peers.
“I think we are asking for too much density,” Read said. “I’m going to vote no for this issue. I just don’t like this. It’s too much, too many issues with parking.”
Barmby said the development meets the city’s code requirements with the parking provided of two vehicles per townhouse unit.
Mayor Bill Mutz and Barmby pointed out the Neiel Group’s plans contained fewer homes, 30, less than the previous plans, which would have allowed 44 units. The prior Planned Unit Development, approved in the 1990s, was repealed as it no longer complies with today’s building standards or fits with best practices, according to Barmby.