DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A massive development that will bring 1,600 homes to the west side of Daytona Beach has been approved.
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The future site of the development will be built south of the intersection of Tomoka Farms Road, Bellevue Avenue and International Speedway Boulevard.
Over the next few years, the land will be transformed into a community called Waypoint, with resort-style pools, walking trails and enough homes for nearly 4,000 people.
Attorneys for the project told Channel 9 that the hundreds of acres of land used to be a dairy farm. Some parts were also farmland for crops and cattle.
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The hundreds of acres of farmland are set to undergo a $400 million facelift.
“This is a new work, live, play project on the west side of I-95,” said Glenn Storch, attorney for Waypoint developer. “This is really important to the city because it will also bring utilities to the west side of 95.”
City commissioners initially rejected the project two months ago because of traffic and infrastructure concerns.
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Some decided that the surrounding roads are not equipped to handle the traffic the homes would bring.
“I have had some residents say some things because I live over in that area, too,” City Commissioner Stacy Cantu said. “Bellevue and Tomoka Farms Road, which is very dangerous.”
The project is part of Cantu’s district, and she was only on board with the project’s approval after the developer pledged to spend more than a million dollars to install a traffic light at Bellevue and Tomoka Farms Road.
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“I know that the infrastructure has to go in place before the first phase, so that’s really great,” Cantu said.
Storch said the developer also agreed on two additional infrastructure improvements.
The land currently produces about $5,000 in tax revenue annually, and Storch said the city could expect a much larger boost once the city is complete.
“Their tax revenues will be over 7 million dollars a year by our calculations,” he said.
The project will take about six years to finish, but developers said it will be ready for people to move in within the next two years.
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