A planned Golden Gate community can now grow from 231 units to 550 after approval of an increase in affordable homes that will be sold by Habitat for Humanity. 

The Collier County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Oct. 14 to amend the Magnolia Pond Planned Unit Development on 19.6 acres on Magnolia Pond Drive, where three- and four-bedroom Habitat homes will be built. The amendment received no opposition and was approved without discussion. The Magnolia Pond planned unit development was originally approved in 1998 and amended in 2010. 

The PUD is located on nearly 47 acres on the north side of I-75, one-half mile west of Collier Boulevard. It’s across Magnolia Pond Drive from Noah’s Landings Apartments, Mike Davis Elementary School and Golden Gate High School, with access on Magnolia Pond Drive. 

The PUD currently allows 4.9 dwelling units per acre, but by making use of the county’s Growth Management Plan’s Density Rating System and its Affordable Housing Density Bonus, the amendment allows 11.7 per acre. 

The affordable homes will be located on the north side of Magnolia Pond Drive, while market-rate, multifamily rental apartments — to be built by Indiana-based Thompson Thrift — will be located on the remaining 27.5 acres on the south side of Magnolia Pond Drive. Thompson Thrift built a neighboring apartment complex called Everly. 

Habitat purchased the property, nine parcels, in 2021 for $8 million. 

The amendment was recommended by the Planning Commission and county staff, who agreed it will help Collier address the “continued need” for affordable workforce housing.  

“This has proven to be a good formula for the bringing of actual owner-occupied affordable housing to Collier County at the lower income levels that are difficult for a for-profit builder to meet,” Rich Yovanovich, Habitat’s land-use attorney, told the Planning Commission in August. 

County Planning & Zoning Director Mike Bosi called it “a great marriage,” telling commissioners that staff supports the amendment due to the affordable housing and multi-family apartment opportunities and the location, which will attract school-aged families. 

The vote also allows the multi-family building height to increase from 38 feet zoned height (45 feet actual height) to 57 feet zoned height and 65 feet actual height — similar to the heights of homes to the west. County staff deemed the changes compatible with the neighborhood. 

Habitat’s CEO, Rev. Lisa Lefkow, said this week that construction won’t begin until 2027 and Habitat expects to build 210 units in three-story condominium buildings, a mix of 12-, 18- and 24-unit buildings. Thirty percent of the 550 homes, 165 units, will be reserved for residents earning at or below 80% of the area median income; Collier’s AMI is $113,600. The affordable home requirement will remain for 30 years. 

Amenities include a swimming pool, fitness center, clubhouse and pickleball courts. Roughly 9 acres will be set aside as a preserve. 

Collier’s land development code requires that when affordable housing is offered in a development that it be intermixed throughout the property, but the developer sought a deviation, approved by commissioners, that allows the projects to be built on separate sides of the property. 

The project team includes engineer Dan Waters and planning manager Chris Scott of Bonita Springs-based Peninsula Engineering; environmental consultant Jeremy Sterk of Naples-based Earth Tech Environmental LLC; and traffic engineer Norm Trebilcock of Trebilcock Consulting Solutions of Naples.