“The Central” apartments is an infill project in New Port Richey, Florida, consisting of 85 units (max.) of apartments facing Orange Lake, just a block north of New Port Richey’s Main Street. Prior to the construction of “The Central,” Orange Lake was half defined by homes and half by vacant lots.  With such a short walk to the commercial center of a downtown that is experiencing a successional change and renewed energy, and a prime location on the lake, the site was ripe for redevelopment. The site consists of two parcels, one on each side of Central Avenue, which runs parallel to Main Street and terminates at Orange Lake. The context provided both opportunities and challenges for fitting into the neighborhood appropriately.  

In 2015, a design charrette was held at which MWA prepared the urban design and Brown Design Studio, LLC prepared the building design.  An alternative design prepared by others proposed one large building and an even larger parking lot. Instead, MWA proposed a collection of small buildings facing the streets with parking accommodated in the center of the blocks.  The small-scale buildings create better urbanism than the large-scale building and large surface-parking lot would have. They give the park the spatial definition it was missing and offer excellent views of the lake from many of the units.  In order to keep costs low and quality high to compete with nearby apartments, the buildings were constructed out of CMU and employ simple roof forms.  The design team also proposed changes within the right-of-way of the all-too-wide Central Avenue, including adding on-street parking and a tree-lined median. Construction is complete on the buildings.  

Location: New Port Richey, Fla.
Client: Frank Starkey
Type:  Infill
Acres: 2.26
Program: 85 Residences
Transect Zones: T4
Website: https://www.thecentralonorangelake.com