AURORA | Just as the roses at the Gardens on Havana start to bloom this spring, another long-awaited project near the bustling shopping district will open its doors.
The recently named Viridian Apartments are scheduled to open sometime in May and take their first reservations in late March or early April.
Alex Condos of Post Investment Group, the developer behind the project, said when it is fully complete, the project will include nine buildings and a total of 227 units.
The plan right now is to open the first building in May and finish work on the last building this fall, Condos said.
“If we hold on current schedule our last building will deliver in October,” he said.
Condos said the units will be “luxury apartments,” with granite countertops, tile back splashes and other amenities. Some units resemble townhouses and come with garages, he said, but all of the units will be rental properties.
“It’s a high-quality project that will benefit the entire neighborhood,” he said.
Under the city of Aurora’s zoning rules, Condos said 60 percent of the units have to be one bedroom, but there is still a good mix.
There are three different one bedrooms to choose from, six two-bedroom units and two different three-bedroom units, he said.
“We’ve got a mix even though we are meeting the zoning ordinance,” he said.
Condos said officials have not yet determined what the rent rates will be.
“That’s still being finalized,” he said.
Leasing agents will have to determine how much the view of west-facing units are worth and how much it’s worth to have a unit near the barbecue area and pool.
“It’s a little early for them to do that,” he said.
New homes have always been part of the plan when officials redeveloped the old Buckingham Square Mall into the $110-million Gardens on Havana, but the timing proved tough.
Initially, Gardens were expected to have some residents on the second-floor of properties with retail on the ground floor. But the Gardens opened in 2007, the economy tanked a year later and that project never happened.
Since the Gardens opened, disappointment about the lack of new residential property there has lingered even as officials praised the project for revitalizing a once-vibrant stretch of Havana. That is starting to change.
Last year, the old City Hall at 1470 S. Havana St. became the new Bella Vita senior living apartment complex. The eight-story building south of Gardens on Havana has 86-units and opened last summer.
The new Viridian Apartments continue that move toward more residential property near the Gardens.
Gayle Jetchick, executive director of the Havana Business Improvement District, said in the BID’s newsletter that the apartments will be similar in quality to the Crestone apartments a few blocks to the south.
According to Crestone, those apartments range from $967 per month for a one bedroom all the way to more than $1,900 for a three-bedroom.
Jetchick said the project’s similarity to Crestone is good news for the neighborhood because Crestone has been particularly popular in recent years, with more than 98 percent of their units currently rented.