HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — A Huntsville area real estate group is no longer moving forward with plans to build an apartment complex at the corner of Four Mile Post Road and Garth Road in the Jones Valley area.

Peter Lowe III with G.W. Jones & Sons Real Estate Investment Company, Inc. told News 19 the project is “not going forward”.

An aerial view provided by Sky19 of the area the Lendon development and adjacent lot the apartments would have been built on.

Back in February, the Huntsville Planning Commission voted 5 to 4 to advance plans for an 11-building apartment development to be built on 41 acres of land owned by the company. The land is adjacent to the Lendon development, which is a single-family home community with plans for further development.

Plans provided by the City of Huntsville depicting what the apartment complex would have looked like.

When plans were originally announced for an apartment complex to be built as part of the development, many Lendon residents were not thrilled. Residents packed the planning commission meeting and exited as a group when the commission passed the project. Many residents expressed their distaste for the project to News 19 after that meeting.

Lowe said the group listened to community feedback, adding, “We just thought that the area wasn’t quite ready for the apartment deal.”

G.W. Jones & Sons Real Estate Investment Company, Inc. has not issued an official statement on the decision. However, Lowe shared this statement with residents of the Lendon community:

“After much consideration to all the concerns expressed by Lendon residents and others in the Jones Valley area we have decided not to go through with the apartment development at this time. Our current focus is continuing the development of lots along Lendon Park Drive and an extension of Loftis Lane. We also have plans in place to get started on a commercial project fronting on Carl T Jones. Our team has always been committed to building a development the area can be proud of and we are excited for the future. We hope this news puts peoples thoughts at ease. I encourage anyone to reach out to me with any thoughts or concerns.”

Peter Lowe III, G.W. Jones & Sons Real Estate Investment Company, Inc.

The Lendon development has been in the works for over a decade. It was originally pitched as a community similar to the Village of Providence, with a mix of upscale single-family homes, small businesses, and restaurants.

A glimpse of the style of home currently built in Lendon.

Lowe said that when Lendon was first drawn up, “they wanted it to be different”. “Something unique and something higher end and upscale” he added.

Now that the plans for the 11-building apartment complex have been scrapped, Lowe said they will continue developing Lendon closer to the original plans. “For right now, we’re just going to progress with single-family lots,” he said.

Lowe said hearing the feedback from the community about the apartment idea definitely weighed on their decision to scrap the plans.

“We wanted to get a good feel for how the community felt about it [the apartment complex]” he said. “At the end of the day, we just didn’t think the area was quite ready for it” he added.

In addition to single-family residential development, Lowe said they are ready to ramp up on the commercial side of things.

“We’re really ready to take the next step,” he said. “We’re going to do some more commercial development.”

Lowe said they have a “new restaurant concept” coming into that area. He said they are going to add the commercial development on the side of Lendon that faces Carl T. Jones Drive.

While the Lendon development has been years in the making, he said changes to the plans aren’t a surprise. Lowe said, “The City of Huntsville has changed so much,” and that they want to build what would best serve the community.

“We’re very excited for the future, we’ve got a lot of good things coming, and all the residents seem to be happy,” Lowe said of the Lendon development thus far. “At the end of the day we’re happy about it” he added.