Developer plans huge mixed-use apartment project in Brandon

BRANDON — An Atlanta company plans a 660-unit apartment community on one of the largest undeveloped parcels in fast-growing Brandon.

Called Brandon Town Center, the project on 55 acres at the northeast corner of Brandon Parkway and South Lakewood Drive is to include three-story dwellings with one-to three-bedrooms and attached garages. It also will have 75,000 square feet of mixed-used buildings and stores.

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"Tampa's multifamily market is fundamentally sound and one of the top annual rent-growth markets in the nations,'' said Brett D. Forman of Trez Forman Capital, which is loaning the developer $10 million to buy the land and draw up construction plans. "With employment growth far outpacing the national average and future job projections expected to remain elevated, multifamily demand should remain high.''

The borrower, Brandon Town Center Development Partners LLC, has a successful track record with apartments, Forman said. The project will be less than a mile from Westfield Brandon, a regional shopping mall with more than 1 million square feet of stores and restaurants.

Trez Forman, a Boynton Beach-based commercial lender, has been active in the greater Tampa Bay area over the past year. In October, it loaned $13.5 million for development of 417 single family homes near Bradenton. And in December, it loaned $19 million to a developer to acquire 279 acres in Lakewood Ranch for a project with 675 houses.

Contact Susan Taylor Martin at smartin@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8642. Follow @susanskate.