Neal Communities' relentless expansion into Southwest Florida just exploded again with the acquisition of the long-time Verandah community off State Road 80, east of Interstate 75 and the purchase of land to build the new Windsong development in South Fort Myers.
In 2012, Neal Communities wasn’t even in the area, but a year later the developer was creating six neighborhoods in Lee and Collier counties. Since then, they have been purchasing land and building new communities. Verandah is the first place in this area where they have acquired an already existing development.
"Verandah is an enormous and successful community," said Pat Neal, chairman of the executive committee of Neal Communities. "We do intend to complete Verandah. We like master-planned communities. We mostly develop them ourselves, but with Verandah, the opportunity came and we thought we should take advantage of it. Typically we do not take over other people’s communities. We did this just because an opportunity became available. It’s a great place. It has lots of amenities, a great location, and lovely golf and sports amenities. There are lots of good reasons to be at Verandah."
Since 2003, people have been moving into Verandah, a gated community that spans 1,500 acres with 1.7 miles along the Orange River. The development has 36 holes of golf, eight miles of pedestrian walkways and fitness trails, and 420 acres of wetland preserves and lakes. There is also a resort-style pool, a clubhouse, tennis, fitness center and kayaks. Verandah was built by Bonita Bay Group and purchased by Kohler in 2012 and recently bought by Neal Communities.
Neal said plans are underway for 300 to 350 more homes. Right now Neal is looking to build single-family homes, but said he might add paired villas too. The developer is now working on plans to build move-in ready homes.
"Forty percent of our homes are move-in ready," Neal said about his company. "We believe that is particularly useful for a customer that cannot wait seven to eight months for the building process. If it is Jan. 15 and it is below 0 degrees in Connecticut, they want to move-in quickly. We have homes built and in the process. We like to carry featured homes so we have things available."
Neal also plans to have plenty of move-in ready product in the new community, called " Windsong," planned for Fort Myers. Windsong will have 104 paired villas when complete.
"Paired villas are the product of choice for second-home buyers in the $300,000 range," Neal said as he explained why he has been building a lot of paired villas, also called carriage homes. "In Collier and Lee it is hard to produce a new home for less than $400,000, so we want to provide the quality and amenities and location, and with paired villas in the $300,000 range. As prices are going up in 2018, we plan to do more paired villas in the future."
Homebuyers in Windsong will have a choice of two plans: The 1,632-square-foot Sandcastle and the 1,842-square-foot Tidewinds. The development will also feature a small recreation center with a pavilion, bathrooms, outdoor grill, pool and spa. A dog park will also be created. Neal said the location just south of Penzance Road and west of Interstate 75 will be coveted.
"It is minutes to beaches, across from the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve with its 3,400 acres of wetlands, and Whole Foods will be a mile away," Neal said.
Windsong sits on just over 24 acres
"I call it infill," Neal said about the small size of the property. "It is close to filling in well within the urban boundary. Both in Naples and Fort Myers, we are looking for more infill sites."
Windsong will have its grand opening Oct. 13.
That is just the beginning of Neal’s plans for Southwest Florida.
Marquesa Isles on Country Barn Road in Naples opens in November. Richmond Park in Naples just held its grand opening this week. Richmond Park will have 104 luxurious carriage homes with lake or preserve views. The two- and three-bedroom carriage homes range from 1,335 to 1,725 square feet priced from $276,990 to $305,990. The community will also have a resort-style pool and clubhouse.
Neal Communities, based in Sarasota, broke records in 2017 with 1,183 sales. That beat the 1,109 sales in 2016, the 1,107 sales in 2015, the 864 sales in 2014 and the 794 sales in 2013.
Joe and Carol Cafferelli are part of those sales. They have purchased three Neal homes in the past two years. The couple now lives in Reflection Lakes in Naples.
"It is supposed to be a happy time when you buy a house, and it is when you buy from Neal," Joe Cafferelli said. "I have never seen a builder like this and we move around a lot."
Joe Cafferelli said he loves that there are no HOA fees and the maintenance fees in Neal Communities are low.
"They do a good job," he said.
Neal said while he is busy with his new acquisitions, he is also actively looking for more. His popular communities of Canopy, Estero Place and Reflection Lakes have little product left. Watermark in Fort Myers is 75 percent sold. Neal Communities also has Villas Palmeras, Colonial Lakes, Coastal Key, Coconut Cove, Daniels Place, Cypress Walk, Oaks of Estero and Avalon in Lee and Collier counties.
Neal said there are also unnamed future developments planned near State Road 80 and Estero Bay Preserve State Park in Lee County and a couple more unnamed properties in Collier County.
"We have all of those and they are all very successful," Neal said. "We’re busy. We are still full steam ahead."