If you drive down Carnation Drive today, you will see construction fencing, heavy equipment, and a cleared lot where homes once stood.

The Flats on Main Street—a 78-unit affordable housing project—has broken ground.

I drove by on a recent afternoon to document the progress. What I found was a site in motion. But to understand what is happening now, you have to look back at what was there before.

What the Public Records Show

Public records confirm the properties assembled for this project:

1419, 1421, 1422, 1440, 1445 Carnation Drive and 1150 Friendly Lane

The owner of record is MGC Main Street Holdings, LLC . The applicant is The Flats on Main Street, LLC.

The city’s role was not to buy the land but to rezone it and approve the development agreement after a series of public hearings in the spring of 2025.

What Was There Before

Google Maps still shows what once stood on this land.

A yellow house at 1473 Carnation Drive. Small single-family homes at 1421, 1440, and 1445. Neighborhood streets. Lawns. Trees.

Those images are now historical documents.

The properties were assembled—individual parcels combined into a single 3.34-acre development site. This is a common practice for large projects, but for neighbors and longtime residents, it represents a visible change to the character of the area.

What Is Coming

Detail	Information
Project name	The Flats on Main Street
Size	78 apartments on 3.34 acres
Buildings	Two 3-story, 43-foot-tall garden-style apartment buildings
Unit mix	42 one-bedroom, 36 two-bedroom
Amenities	Clubhouse building, surface parking, common green spaces
Zoning	Multifamily Residential (MF-12.5)
Land	Use Residential Medium (RM)
Funding	$30 million in state tax credits, $10 million in housing vouchers, $610,000 from the city

All units will feature the same high-end finishes—granite countertops, energy-efficient appliances—regardless of the tenant’s income level.

The development is designed for households earning between 30% and 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI) . Twenty-four of the units (30% of the total) will be supported by Project-Based Section 8 Vouchers from the Pinellas County Housing Authority.

What It Looks Like Today

I stood at the edge of the construction site and took photographs.

The homes are gone. The lots are cleared. Heavy equipment moves earth where families once lived. It is noisy. It is dusty. It is progress—of a kind.

For some residents, this project represents long-overdue investment in affordable housing. For others, it represents the erasure of a quiet, familiar neighborhood.

Both things can be true.

A Contested Approval

The path to this moment was not smooth.

Neighbors fought the project at public hearings, arguing that three-story buildings would tower over their single-family homes, that the single access road could not handle the additional traffic, and that stormwater management was a legitimate concern.

City officials and the developer maintained that the project meets code, that stormwater infrastructure would be enhanced, and that the need for housing simply outweighs the objections.

The public hearings were held on April 9, May 8, and June 5, 2025 . The project was approved.

Now, the hard hats have arrived.

What Happens Next

Construction is underway. The goal is to deliver 78 units of affordable housing to a city that desperately needs them.

During the 2026 State of the City address, officials highlighted The Flats on Main Street as a priority project for the year—part of a larger vision for a “Connected Community.”

Mayor Moe Freaney put it this way:

“A Connected Community doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because of the organizations, the nonprofits, the local businesses, the civic partners, the volunteers, and the everyday residents who make Dunedin delightfully different.“

A Personal Note

I drove down Carnation Drive expecting to see construction. What I found was something else: a record of change.

The Google Maps images from a few years ago show a yellow house, small homes, neighborhood streets. My photographs from last week show dirt, fencing, and the bones of something new.

Both are true. Both are Dunedin.

I will keep driving by. I will keep taking photos. And I will keep asking what we gain—and what we lose—as our town grows.