Weston rejects rezoning for Gables Residential’s planned 384-unit apartment project

Gables Residential failed to win a rezoning of the old Bonaventure Resort & Spa site in Weston, 22.5 vacant acres where the Atlanta-based multifamily developer planned to build hundreds of apartments.

Gables Residential, led by President and CEO Sue Ansel, paid $50 million for the Bonaventure Resort & Spa in 2022, then demolished the resort to clear the site for the development of 384 apartments, along with single-family homes, townhouses, a pool and a clubhouse.

About 20 city residents publicly opposed the rezoning proposal at the Weston City Commission meeting Monday night, before four of the five commissioners voted against the proposed ordinance on first reading. Much of the opposition centered on resistance to the rental component of the planned development at 250 Racquet Club Road in Weston.

“I totally support ownership over rentals,” said Weston city commissioner Mary Molina-Mache. “Rentals do not work in mass complexes in this area of the city … That development does not fit into Bonaventure.”

Weston city commissioner Chris Eddy, who cast the sole vote in favor of rezoning the old Bonaventure property, said rental housing is nothing new to the city. “About 35 percent of the housing stock in Weston is rental,” he said.

Gables Residential owns about 15,000 apartments, manages another 15,000 apartments, and planned to handle the property management of its residential development in Weston, Jorgen Punda, the company’s senior vice president of investments, told commissioners.

Gables Residential proposed rezoning the old Bonaventure site at 250 Racquet Club Road from “high-rise multifamily” (MF4) to “planned development district” (PDD). The PDD is a zone the developer designed to limit the site to a maximum of 492 residential units, including 28 townhouses, 80 single-family homes and 384 rentals in a seven-story apartment building. Single-family homes are not permitted in the MF4 zone.                                                                                                                     

“In effect, that is a downzoning,” Bonnie Miskel, an attorney for Gables Residential told commissioners, referring to the developer’s request for PDD zoning. “The property is vested for up to 711 units.”

In 2020, the city approved a never-built site plan from a former owner of the site to redevelop the Bonaventure Resort & Spa by constructing four residential buildings, each 12 stories tall, plus a 12-story, 342-room hotel, and a five-story parking garage. 

Gables Residential conceivably could either design and develop a new project, within the parameters of the approved site plan, or sell the Bonaventure site. The company did not respond to a request for comment on the Weston project.