Crane Creek Heights Apartments for Rent

If ever there was a neighborhood that could be described by the realtor’s mantra, “location, location, location,” it is Crane Creek Heights in Melbourne, Florida. Crane Creek is a small tributary of the Indian River, part of Florida’s intracoastal waterways. From the river, the creek proceeds from the Melbourne Harbor, home to the Melbourne Yacht Club and the Florida Technology Institute’s boathouse and dock. Crane Creek then narrows and winds westward, providing the perfect home for alligators, turtles, manatee, seagulls, and a variety of Florida cranes.

From the harbor, a wood promenade, currently being renovated, offers a walkway for observing the water creatures and feeding the seagulls. Across Melbourne Avenue, a small park, named for the winter-visiting manatee, offers a quiet place for a picnic while children play on the concrete manatee statues.

In the mid 1800s, when the first settlers arrived in the area, they chose to settle the banks of Crane Creek because of its easy river access, and abundant fishing and hunting. A large brick home stands on the north bank where Melbourne’s first permanent log cabin was built in 1866 by Richard Goode. His descendant, Harry Goode, is the present mayor of Melbourne.

Continuing upstream, accessible only by canoe or kayak, a jungle canopy can make a boater forget he is only a few feet from the busy streets of downtown Melbourne. At the farthest reaches of Crane Creek, a trail leads through the Florida Technological Institute botanical gardens and college campus. The creek ends at the Melbourne Municipal Golf Course.

Crane Creek Heights has been described as a “nautical, artsy, funky and quiet” neighborhood. However, it’s real value comes from its proximity to historic downtown Melbourne, where antique shops, restaurants, boutiques, pubs, and nightlife are abundant. The neighborhood features primarily single family dwellings, many of them older, established homes built between 1940 and 1969. A few historical homes date prior to 1939. The residents are a mix of retired couples and young upwardly-mobile singles, families with children, and college students.

Crane Creek Heights, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Melbourne, Florida is bordered on the east by US 1, the highway that stretches from the southernmost Florida Keys to Maine, on the west by Babcock Street, on the north by Melbourne Avenue and on the south by Crane Creek.