Amenities lured buyers, but real-estate meltdown keeps district from building
Article Courtesy of The Florida Times Union
By David Bauerlein
Published September 8, 2009
The promise of a recreation center with a swimming pool overcame Phyleshia Jones' initial wariness about buying a home in the Villages of Westport, a community development district on Jacksonville's Northside.
Three years later, the recreation center with its pool and playing fields hasn't been built and there is no target date for when it will be.
Jones is paying about $1,300 a year in community development district assessments - money she expected would take the Villages of Westport to the next level, but instead is just a financial drain on her.
"We kind of feel shafted," she said.
The holdup over construction of the recreation center shows how the economic downturn is affecting one community development district. The Villages of Westport is one of several dozen community development districts that were formed across Northeast Florida when residential developments were popping out of the ground, home prices were shooting up, and builders scrambled to meet the demand.
But the real estate meltdown brought those developments back to Earth. At the Villages of Westport, some streets have homes, but they are in the midst of acres of vacant lots.
The Villages of Westport Community Development District could build the recreation center, but that would require an increase in the assessments charged to property owners so the district can cover the day-to-day expenses of operating and maintaining the recreational facilities, officials said.
The district hasn't done an analysis of how much the additional assessment would be, but it would probably be several hundred dollars per single-family lot owner, said Jim Perry of Governmental Management Services, which manages the district. He said in these tough economic times, increasing the assessment by that much is not something the district's board of directors wants to do.
He said much smaller increases in assessments at community development districts have caused outrage among property owners.
Located off Dunn Avenue west of Interstate 295, the Villages of Westport has been marketed as a master-planned community. The Web site for the project says its "community features include an impressive swimming pool, tennis courts and multi-use playing fields."
Andrew Hampton said he bought a home in 2007 based on that plan.
"My wife and I had looked at 50 houses all over Jacksonville," he said. "They sold us on the master-planned community."
Davina Butler and her husband bought a home in 2008 and expected the recreation center would be great for bringing up two children.
"Now, here it is two years later and we still don't have it, and nobody is responding to us," Butler said. "We get letters when fees are going up but nothing more."
Under Florida law, community development districts have the authority to issue bonds for construction of many aspects of a development. Perry said in some cases, districts have built the recreation center before any homes are sold, while in other places, districts have waited a few years to put in those amenities.
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