French Village, a proposed 21-story, 191-unit residential tower with 8,490 square feet of retail and 327 parking spaces, was approved by a 3-2 City Commission vote recently. No one from the public spoke, and commissioners approved it without saying a word about it.  The project, proposed for 109 SE Ninth St., is in Hutchinson's district.

The Development Team behind this project feels this is a good fit for downtown even though Florida is in the middle of a housing slowdown.  The units are not 'high' end as others are downtown.  They are hopefully going to keep them in the low $300,000 range. 

The condo office doesn't have a website or sales office yet, so lets hope it works out for them.  Downtown needs more activity.  The French Village is planned on about 1.5 acres and will be the only residential development on the south side of the New River in recent years.  The approval only lasts for 18 months, but lately everyone is asking for extensions (hoping construction costs go down and the market goes up).