New details of Apopka, Florida’s Wyld Oaks master plan have come out as the first residential development, Madison at Wyld Oaks, approaches the start of construction.
The 215-acre mixed-use development—which includes 4,000 residential units, two hotel sites, up to 200,000 square feet of commercial space, a 25,000-square-foot grocery store site—will now also feature a town center with ground commercial space leading into the Wyld Green and outdoor performance venue, and a main street retail village adjacent to Yonder, a park with trails and preserved centennial oak trees.
The updates, released in conjunction with ICSC@Florida, also welcome a health village plus diverse residential parcels for low and high-density living. Joseph Beninati, founder of Wyld Oaks, says the residential breakdown will roughly include 100 single-family units, 1,500 garden-style multifamily units, 2,000 wrap-style multifamily units, and 400 condo units within five- to 10-story buildings.
Beninati is especially excited about the updates’ walkability and wellness focus of the planned town center, main street retail village, and health village. He says, “It is the luxury of eventually not needing to use your car to leave Wyld Oaks unless you want/need to drive.”
When talking about walkability, Wyld Oaks has not forgotten about future dog residents in the least. Two distinct design concepts of the BARK dog park, created by LRK, have emerged during its crowdsourcing initiative this summer and Wyld Oaks is asking for the public to vote for their favorite at BarkWyldOaks.com through September 30.
As the visionary behind BARK, Beninati breaks down the two designs below.
What makes each design different?
Concept 1 features a daisy chain approach to linking and connecting dog park features across Wyld Oaks, weaving between future shopping, dining, plazas, green spaces, and recreational centers while Concept 2 focuses on a traditional park approach with separate experiences consolidated within one main area.
Do you have a personal favorite or prefer to stay neutral?
While I need to stay neutral, the one input I had was to aspire to make sure that small, medium, and large sized dogs would all be welcome and have the same amount of fun.
In your opinion, why are pet amenities a priority for master plans and residential developments today?
I suppose there are still hotels, buildings, and retailers that say “no pets” – but we see them as part of the family and want to design and build a community that allows residents that own pets, and those who do not own pets, to enjoy Wyld Oaks equally.
The designs offer "Pupstagram Plaza," "Canine Promenade," a splash pad, bath stations, an agility field, an off-leash field, and a food court with shaded seating areas for pets and their people. The winning design will be revealed later this year.
“We’re excited about the progress we’ve made at Wyld Oaks, which will be a dynamic destination for years to come,” adds Beninati. “We can’t wait to see which design gets the most tails wagging during the voting process to help us create an epic place for dogs and their best friends to enjoy for generations.”
