Medical office approved on corner of Aloma and Lakemont
The project led by a group of physicians will bring development to the long vacant lot
July 2, 2024
By Beth Kassab
A new medical office building will stand at the empty corner at Lakemont and Aloma avenues after the City Commission unanimously approved the project with conditions late last month.
Residents objected to the height of the building and raised questions about traffic, particularly left-hand turns, but commissioners settled on conditions that they said would alleviate many of the concerns.
The nearly 18,000-square-foot proposal for the two-story building came after Verax Investments purchased the land from Fifth Third Bank earlier this year for about $2.7 million, according to property records. Verax is a real estate development group led by a group of local physicians including Dr. Ravi Gandhi, a well-known brain surgeon with Orlando Neurosurgery.
The development will herald a major change for the last wooded parcel of the intersection.
“We all know that SR 426 is broken,” said resident Beth Hall. “Please don’t let this be the commission that breaks Lakemont.”
The developers agreed to preserve two live oak trees on the property.
They also agreed to build a 6-foot high wall on the edge of the property that backs up to residential lawns and the wall must be constructed before the building is started.
Among other conditions, the developers will also post signs prohibiting left-hand turns out of the property and give over a strip of the land to the city to eventually widen Lakemont. .
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Ohh! So excited for the bigger traffic nightmare that was already Aloma and Lakemont.
It is inexcusable that this commission turned a blind eye to the traffic mayhem this high-volume medical office will bring to this place where Lakemont Ave, the new Verax driveway, Edwin Blvd, and the WP Shopping Center driveways will meet. Traffic here was already so chaotic that in 2015, the last applicant seeking to build at this site was tasked with extending the existing Lakemont median by 25 additional feet at their expense, along with restricting turn movements onto Lakemont to right in, right out only. The 2015 applicant (Fifth Third Bank) never moved forward, so the Lakemont median was never extended. When asked about these prior traffic safety measures to be paid for by the applicant at this same site, city planner Jeff Briggs experienced an uncharacteristic bout of total amnesia. And as for the “strip of land” which the developers promised for an added left turn lane onto Aloma? That turned out to be a “unicorn” when it came out that it would likely be a number of years- if ever- that any additional lane could be realized since the DOT would need to be involved. And the commission also granted a height variance as the ‘cherry on top.’
About time. Neighbors have been fighting for years with numerous attempts to build on that property. Property owner’s nightmare. Now they have a large 2-story going up instead of many very small 1-story plans that have been defeated. Story of real estate development. Locals fight and defeat shallow-pocketed developers. So deep-pocketed developers justify the added cost by putting up 2-3 times as much units or square footage and they have the pockets to get it done. Remember land owners have a right to use their property within the development codes.
Traffic is always a problem. Right turn only exiting on Aloma or Lakemont and no left turn onto Phelps should solve most of it. Take Aloma back from the state and 2-lane it or build a tunnel from west Fairbanks to the other side of City limit would solve everything. US government should fund that since they love handing out $Billions to create inflation.
Oh great! Not looking forward to more traffic on this corner or anywhere nearby. The traffic in this area has become a nightmare for those of us living in the area. That corner in particular is already at capacity. I’ve been here for many years and this is another development we don’t need.