Lake Wales, Florida

C I TY OF LAKE WALES , FLOR IDA A recent growth spurt has created an increased demand for housing in Lake Wales and several new developments are underway to meet this need, including Leoma’s Landing which will offer 335 single family units, built by Lennar Homes. Another project, Scenic Bluff, is in its second phase, building 55 single family units. “They are getting ready to apply for final plat approval, which will then give them the authorization to start building houses,” shares Development Services Director, Mark Bennett, “In total, we have 9601 units, mostly single family, some multifamily that are in various stages of obtaining their approvals here at the city.” Winter Haven Corporation is developing the largest residential project in Lake Wales, adding 6100 housing units to the city. “We think that’s a great project because of the mixture of housing types. It will also have a commercial component, office uses, institutional uses – it will be a truly mixed-use community, which we think is important,” says Bennett. Town planning firm Dover Kohl and Associates developed the Lake Wales Connected Plan, an award winning plan that the city is actively using as a guide for redevelopment. This project aims to connect the city, and revitalize the historic downtown, realizing the vision first presented by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. A renowned landscape architect, Olmsted was responsible for planning both the town and the famous Bok Tower Gardens, a 250 acre garden and 205-foot tall bell tower, in the early 20th century. Mayor Fultz reports, “We are going back to the original plan – the Olmsted plan – because when he brought this city into existence, he was looking at ‘a city in a garden’. Now we have a historical committee, who are committed to going back and planting trees and reinstituting that idea. The city is also contributing to that PARK AVENUE STREETSCAPE LAKE WALES, FLORIDA JULY 2020