GrowthSpotter | Published June 25, 2020

Meritage Homes closed on subdivision purchases in Osceola and Polk counties recently, adding to an already prolific development record in the area.

In St. Cloud, Meritage paid $5.65 million for more than 60 acres brokered by a partnership between Sovereign Land Company and Keewin Real Property Company, both based in Winter Park; and Meritage paid $950,000 for 5.3 acres on S. Eagle Road, brokered by Clyde Wells of Maury L. Carter and Associates.

The Osceola properties are part of a 77-acre subdivision called Silver Springs. Meritage bought the property from Anderen Holdings LLC, according to property records.

The 298-home community on Jones Road at the intersection of Eagle Road has an approved Preliminary Subdivision Plan, and developers submitted a Site Development plan in late January.

The community would have four product types: 50- and 45-foot front loaded lots, 60-foot side loaded corner lots and rear-alley loaded bungalow lots. The plan by Appian Engineering would include an extension of Zuni Road through the length of the property.

Amenities include a large central park with soccer field, a pool and cabana with tot lot and various trails. Bonnett Design Group is the landscape architect.

In Polk County, Meritage paid $4.36 million for 40.3 acres in Davenport, buying the land from Polk County Land Partners (PCLP), according to a recently recorded deed. Vistamar Villages, previously known as Fox Run, is located on the edge of Reedy Creek and is situated at the intersection of SR 17-92 and Kinney Harmon Road.

Vistimar Villages will have five floor plans with prices starting at $254,990 and homes up to 2,631 square feet, according to the Meritage website.

Fox Run plans by St. Cloud-based civil engineer Askey Hughey submitted to Polk County in December show 251 lots for single-family homes to be developed in three phases. Final development approval was granted Dec. 31 and is valid through Dec. 31, 2022.

Meritage has several other communities in Polk County, including Orchard Terrace in Haines City, Lucerne Park Estates and Villamar in Winter Haven and Tuscan Meadows in Davenport.

Source: https://www.growthspotter.com/news/osceola-county-developments/gs-news-meritage-silver-springs-vistamar-villages-20200625-pcpyu6ibcrdqvmi4vnb2aflfhe-story.html

GrowthSpotter | Published July 6, 2020

Homebuilder D.R. Horton is under contract to buy a 545-lot subdivision on Osceola County’s Alligator Lake, and it’s one of three residential projects that could add thousands of homesites to the Hickory Tree Road corridor in the coming years.

Snow Construction owner Nick Gross received site development plan approvals in 2014 for Buena Lago and completed the mass grading of the community, but the project stalled after that. It was initially approved for for a mix of townhomes and single family homes built around a 31.4-acre internal lake with its own beach and clubhouse. The lot sizes ranged from 100-foot estate lots on Alligator Lake to 75-foot internal lake lots, and 60-foot lots fronting on the existing state managed canal that connects Alligator Lake to Lake Gentry. A boat lift to the canal that would provide access to Alligator Lake was grandfathered in with the SDP.

In 2017, Osceola County Commissioners enacted an ordinance restricting marinas and boat lifts on the Alligator Chain of Lakes. In June D.R. Horton filed an amended SDP for Buena Lago that eliminates the boat lift and private docks, a move that should appeal to Commissioner Fred Hawkins Jr., who lives on Alligator Lake and was the main driver of the ordinance.

Gross said with the mass grading completed, D.R. Horton should be able to start construction as soon as the deal closes later this year.

Meanwhile, the Winter Park developer who paid $12 million last December for the 500-acre Triple H Ranch property, which abuts Buena Lago, is seeking a Large Scale Comprehensive Plan Amendment to change the future land use from Low Density Residential to Community Center. The application applies to 201 acres of the ranch property, according to county records.

The LDR future land use and zoning allows a density of 3-8 dwelling units per acre, but the Community Center designation would establish a residential density of 8-18 units per acre – with a minimum density of 18 units per acre in the center’s core. It also would require a mix of retail and other non-residential uses.

Douglas Partners CEO Douglas Hoeksema, who heads the family investment group that bought the ranch property, could not be reached for comment. The Hoeksema family followed its $12 million investment with several more acquisitions of neighboring properties for a total of $3.54 million. Those purchases expanded the family’s holdings by another 100 acres.

Clyde Wells, an agent for Maury L. Carter and Associates, represented Hoeksema on the $12 million acquisition. He said the family did not have immediate plans to develop the site.

“The plans were to buy it as a hold for a while, but he was going to go ahead and get moving on some of the entitlement work,” Wells said. “He’s certainly not in a rush to get it developed. The utilities are still quite a ways away.”

Meanwhile, a third development is in the works on Hickory Tree Road just south of the Nolte Road intersection. Jordan Companies President Thomas Jordan had an approved preliminary subdivision plan for Hickory Tree Reserve, a 14.5-acre townhouse development across from the Twin Lakes retirement community. A county-initiated CPA changed the future land use to community center, which allows the townhomes but also requires a portion of the property be set aside for non-residential use.

Jordan met with Osceola’s Development Review Committee last week to go over the revised plan before submitting it. The new plan would designate 2 acres closest to the intersection with Nolte for a commercial use, and the number of townhomes was reduced by 20 units, to 114. The project would include an east-west road linking Hickory Tree Road to Old Hickory Tree Road.

Jimmie Wells, an engineer at Jordan Companies, said the plan is to put the project on the market once the entitlements are approved.

Source: https://www.growthspotter.com/news/osceola-county-developments/gs-news-hickory-tree-20200706-t22cqxoetrcurdyc6zrymazwte-story.html#nws=true