Some Pipe Dreams Are Just That

Even well thought out, expertly planned growth and development is uneven, at best. You’re dealing with aging infrastructure, pieces of property with different zoning restrictions and dreams and blueprints that sometimes don’t jive seamlessly with stated land uses. Simply put, the city can’t greenlight anything it so desires and developers can’t just take blank slates and create magic.

Just ask Shlomo.

He wanted to come in and build the largest complex and make the biggest splash possible. But he had to do so within the confines of what was available on the property of Welcome Canary, located just off of Old Tampa Highway. That’s where things like 100 year old sewage lines become important facets of conversations about our future.

“We have lines that are 100 years old….I’m 70 and I remember how long ago that was,” Mutz says with a chuckle, “So we now have [plans for] capacities we didn’t build for…and the challenges are wanting to make sure we don’t over promise and then under deliver.”

Upgrading the capacity of a large sewage line from archaic 6-inch piping to modern 8-or 10-inch piping can cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.

Sinay had to adjust his expectations and work within the confines of building on land that is not in the core of the city, but Mutz said it is also a reminder of the importance of helping the community at-large understand the investments of time and money required to usher in the next wave of growth.

“The LEDC does the majority of the work on the frontend to really align future partners—and that is Yeoman’s work to do when you’re talking about potential employers, housing, the fact they are then advocates for what concessions the city could consider…” Mutz says. “And then it’s the city’s responsibility to deliver the goods…and this has to happen out of taxpayer funds.”

The process to go from dream to reality can be cumbersome, but Sinay likes what he sees from rubbing shoulders and being in meetings with other growth minded Lakelanders enough that he’s all in— working to set himself apart from other multi-unit home developers, and positioning himself alongside the decision makers to help them see the urgency of planning for changes that sometimes feel like they are coming fast and furious.

Sinay sings the praises of many city staffers who play integral roles in community development, including Brian Rewis (Director of Community and Economic Development), Teresa Maio (Assistant Director of Community Development), Chuck Barmby (Planning and Transportation Manager) and Matthew Lyons (Executive Planner for development review and zoning).

“They understand what Lakeland is all about and are there every step of the way to assist you,” he says.

An Inside-Out Approach to New Communities

A few weeks after their hands-on master class on economic development in Pittsburgh, Sinay and Mayor Mutz are once again together, but this time away from the hustle and bustle of the city spending time with those more precious to them than any newfangled project.

Sinay and his 6-year old son, Mordechai—the youngest of Sinay and his wife Faiga’s five children—and Mutz and his 4-year-old granddaughter, Eisley, are fishing together off a bridge with the red-hot Florida sun bearing down on them. They are surrounded by nine acres of carefully crafted tranquility that makes up the 160-unit Welcome Canary complex that opened earlier this year.

“You should love being home. It should be a respite from stress, from everything else,” Sinay said, describing how they designed the complex to feel like a retreat when you come home at the end of a long day. Inside, residents enjoy amenities like a gym, wellness center, a zen den with infrared light therapy, and cozy community lounge areas. Outdoors features include a sculpted pool, running trail, hammocks, a community bonfire and vegetable garden, and docks on the pond.

The units all have private entrances and individual patios or balconies that look directly out onto all of the luxuries afforded to residents of this lifestyle living centered complex.

There are two and three bedroom units, and as Mutz says, Sinay “thought inside the box instead of outside the box” by essentially building the facility with an all encompassing court-yard style feel that draws people in and toward each other.

“The houses are the frame of the canvas,” Sinay says. “The amenities are the painting inside it.”

As the two successful entrepreneurs and dedicated family men cast a line with their young ones, the camaraderie is clear. Although Mutz and his family have made an indistinguishable impact on Lakeland for nearly three decades, and Sinay has only been a part-time Lakelander for several years, there is a beautiful synergy that goes far beyond what good planning and zoning meetings alone can accomplish.

“The first thing I want to do when I see Shlomo is give him a hug…just as part of our friendship and my appreciation for him,” Mutz says. “I love the representation of the fabric of who we are as a city that it represents the desire to be a community that appreciates a broad spectrum of values, honors, creeds, etc. and embraces them as equal partners in everything we do.”

And likewise, as Ferrell states, multi-family housing might not be for everybody, but neither is the often-touted “American dream” of single home ownership.

“Everyone has a different view of what [the American dream] looks like now and they may want urban apartment living or a condo or a townhome versus having a home with home insurance and a lawn to mow and all the responsibility of maintenance,” she says. “We have to offer more options…everything from affordable options for any income range to the higher end townhomes, condos, etc.”

A Blueprint Still Must Be Built

It’s easy to think of individuals and corporations invested in the growth of cities like Lakeland are more like power brokers, often with the clout, money and/or influence needed to drive change, but Lakeland isn’t just another geographical location, it is a place thousands of families and individuals proudly call home.

That’s why Mutz says we are part of what he considers an anomaly, a city where the types of people who were in one of the 15-passenger vans he was driving in Pittsburgh are all-in, shoulder-to-shoulder to do the hard work it takes to help our community grow efficiently and effectively.

“This is not a hierarchy city,” he says. “This is a public servant [kind of city] where people like us and organizations like the LEDC do the grinding work of getting done what needs to get done.”

Success is never guaranteed, and Sinay admits he would like to see some of the development-minded movers and shakers be a little more aggressive at times, but for now he’s just tickled to have his first of what he hopes are many housing project open and to be part of a city that not only does he respect, but that he appreciates welcoming him to be a part of.

“I’m trying to custom tailor a product that a Lakelander will love, and if they give it a chance, they will understand what this is,” he says. “We’re not developers coming in looking to change what Lakeland is, we’re just enhancing what it already has.”

Oftentimes it’s easy to forget to pause and celebrate an accomplishment like opening a multi-family housing complex more than 1,100 miles from home, in a city you hadn’t heard of three years prior. But Sinay’s oldest child, 17-year-old Surala, helped him fully appreciate the moment.

She flew down to Lakeland for an extravagant grand opening celebration on the grounds of Welcome Canary on February 22 that included high-end Kosher fare, live music, entertainment, victory cigars and more. She vividly remembers riding around the site on a tractor when it was nothing but piles of dirt, and now, her dad—who had told his kids the story of his first real estate venture, where he and his brother put in months of manual labor to flip a home back in the early 2000s—was the center of attention because of a innovative style of apartment living that he dreamed of and then went out and made happen.

“Right before I got there I texted my dad, and I was telling him I was proud of him and good luck with his talk, see you soon, I love you,” she recalls. “And he texted back, and it said, ‘I love you, too. Remember, you mean more to me than all you will see tonight.’”