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Kitson hopes to take on second county project

By NEIL HUGHES STAFF WRITER
Charlotte Sun-Herald Newspaper. Reprinted with permission. May 22, 2007

Syd Kitson is already working on one town in Charlotte County. Soon, he hopes to start a second.

With Murdock Village and Babcock’s populations combined, an additional 23,475 housing units would come to the county. As of 2006, there were 84,948 housing units in the county, according to property appraiser Frank Desguin.

That means developer Kitson & Partners could be responsible for nearly a 28 percent increase in homes in the county in the next five years, if the company’s proposal for Murdock Village is approved by the Charlotte County Commission in July.

Some might fear the developer is taking on too much at once, but Kitson said he feels he’s the right man for both jobs.

“You can see Murdock Village from our office,” Kitson said. “We have a big staff here in Charlotte County, obviously for Babcock Ranch and now Murdock Village. They work very, very well together.”

Murdock Village is an 870-acre mixed residential and commercial project in which Kitson & Partners hope to enter into a development agreement with the county. The property is south of U.S. 41 and north of State Road 776, and Kitson hopes to have 3,975 residential housing units, with 10 percent as affordable housing.

Many of the plans already in place for the Babcock Town Center have already been incorporated into concepts for the downtown Murdock Village area, which include green, energy efficient buildings and a pedestrian-friendly layout. The master concept plan for Murdock Village was presented to the project’s Community Redevelopment Agency Friday.

There’s also an economic advantage in having two massive projects in such close proximity.

“What we’re able to do is use a lot of the personnel from one to the other, so the economies of scale are very tremendous for us,” Kitson said.

Some in the community expected a proposal to come soon after Kitson & Partners was chosen for exclusive negotiations seven months ago in October. But planning a new town just isn’t that simple, County Administrator Bruce Loucks said.

The county had been in negotiations with its first choice, Stock Development, for six months when the company ceased talks.

“We had really just barely scratched the surface with Stock when they bailed out,” Loucks said.

Kitson and Loucks agreed Friday: The time invested in the negotiations has been important, and will pay off, if Kitson & Partners is ultimately chosen by the County Commission.

“This is an extremely important project, and the redevelopment of this, once it starts, it needs to go through successfully,” Kitson said. “One of the issues that you’ll run into if not done right, if you don’t dot the ‘i’s and cross the ‘t’s from the very beginning, you can set the course for failure in the future.”

Though plans were presented Friday, some relatively minor issues must still be worked out between Kitson & Partners and the county. Loucks said he’s confident the issues can be resolved before the County Commission votes on the plan after meetings on July 6 and 10.

“I think we’re about 99 percent there,” Loucks said. “There are one or two little issues we have to work through regarding utilities, and I think we’re coming close to getting that finalized.”

In the talks, the original plans and presentation for Murdock Village from Kitson & Partners have remained largely unchanged, and still include a proposed campus site for a Florida Gulf Coast University satellite campus. The FGCU campus isn’t a lock, though, as a number of factors must first come together.

Kitson said representatives from the university have told him that if the Charlotte County Commission, Kitson & Partners and the county’s legislators present a plan to them, they would seriously consider it.

“That’s what we’re going to do,” Kitson said.

Though the proposal has been made, the project still remains entirely up in the air. Weeks ago, Commissioner Adam Cummings suggested a plan to divide up the property into smaller pieces for local developers.

Kitson said such talk doesn’t bother him.

“Charlotte County should do what is best for Charlotte County,” he said. “If in fact they come to the conclusion that that should be the best way to go forward, then that is what they should do.”

While nothing is certain, Kitson said he feels confident about the County Commission’s upcoming take on his company’s proposal.

“You never know,” he said. “Nothing is done until that final vote and that gavel goes down and you hear the ‘Ayes’. So I never take anything for granted, but certainly we are enthusiastic about where we are.”

You can e-mail

Neil Hughes at

nhughes@sun-herald.com.

------------

James B. Mulligan, Licensed Real Estate Broker

849 Calvert Ave

Port Charlotte, FL 33948

Jim Mulligan (941) 456-3034

Andy Leonard (941) 662-0033

Questions sales@suncoasteam.com

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