BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
People are still building houses in Bradford County, and some of them are quite large.
New permits for single family houses were down slightly in 2021 from 65 to 59. The majority were for the Starke and Keystone Heights area codes — 16 each. Add the seven that were permitted into the city of Starke brings the county total to 66 and the city total to 22.
In addition, nine permits were pulled in the Melrose area, eight in the Hampton area, and five each in Lawtey and Brooker.
Starke also issued permits for the construction of a two-phase apartment complex known as Arborside Preserve at the end of Southern Villas Drive. The first of the 120 total units are slated to be open in February, and there is already a waiting list for these affordable housing units.
New and replacement mobile home permits continue to outpace new construction and serve the need for affordable housing. There were 83 countywide, two of those being inside the city of Starke. This was down from 101 permits last year.
Starke anticipates additional housing growth, including the second phase of the Green Acres Subdivision, which will add more than 20 new homes to that neighborhood. Lake properties near Starke, Keystone Heights and Hampton continue to be popular, attracting some of the largest new homes, including homes exceeding 4,000 and 5,000 square feet. Properties in Pine Lakes Subdivision near Sampson Lake owned by Roberts Capital Ventures of Lake Butler have been selling for tens of thousands of dollars, promising even more impressive homes.
Commercially, the county permitted the new Holiday Inn Express, although Starke plans on annexing the new businesses following completion of its construction south of the city limits. New school construction is under way on Southeast 144th Street, with the planned opening in fall 2023.
The city’s only commercial construction project was actually a church. Faith Baptist Church is moving to 1509 N. Temple Avenue.
Moves have been discussed for Pizza Hut and Subway in Starke, as well as the addition of a new Aldi grocery store in the Deerfoot Village Plaza. Starke commissioners have also approved a site plan for Sporty’s Express Car Wash by Ace Hardware.
A number of business in Starke took on renovations, including Winn-Dixie, McDonald’s and Taco Bell. Still, dozens of commercial properties in the city remain vacant even as local leaders look to expanding infrastructure at the north and south of the city to attract development and draw traffic from the bypass.
