Dunedin Company Joins Lakeside Plantation
Sun-Herald  - November 1, 2000

NORTH PORT -- Dunedin, Fla.-based Highmark Homes will make its mark on the planned Lakeside Plantation development in North Port.

Highmark has unveiled plans for a new 100-home, maintenance-free attached villa neighborhood in Lakeside Plantation, a 306-acre, 800-home residential community along Toledo Blade Boulevard. KEB Inc. is developing the property.

"We have six model homes under construction," said Liz Goodman, KEB Inc. marketing director. The homes and the clubhouse will be featured in an two-day open house on Nov. 11 and 12.

Highmark Homes hopes to break ground within the next 60 days and its model home center and anticipate construction will be finished by early spring, President Andy Strong said in a press release.

This development is the latest projects along the five-mile Toledo Blade corridor.

Toledo Blade Boulevard is seeing an explosion of growth that is likely to continue. Sam Jones, of the city's planning department, said plans for the corridor include a 300-unit apartment complex, an industrial and commerce park that is already about 50-percent sold, a gas station and the already existing Bobcat Trail golf course and Bobcat Village Center.

The North Port Area Chamber of Commerce recently signed a five-year lease with KEB Inc. for a 1,090 square-foot office in the Bobcat Village Center.

"About 95 percent of the city is platted for single-family residence," Jones said. "Only about 5 percent is plotted for commercial. The tax base very highly depends on single-family homes and a way to balance the comprehensive plan is to stimulate growth."

Jones said statistics from six months ago show that North Port was growing at a rate of 8 percent, a rate faster than other parts of Sarasota County. Goodman said of the 2,600 building permits filed with the county this year, about half were for construction in North Port.

Goodman and Jones said many of those looking to live in North Port will be commuting to Sarasota to work because of the convenience and affordability.

"There are so many GDC (General Development Community) plotted lots that can be bought for about $2,000 and a home built for about $95,000," Jones said. "In North County, it would cost twice as much."

Highmark Homes plan to gear its section to the retiree and professional home-buying markets, with homes expected to range from about $160,000 to $200,000.

Goodman said Lakeside Plantation will be an inter-generational community with tennis courts, a swimming pool, a billiard room, a library with Internet access, an aerobic room and a playground. Duplexes and condominiums, single-family residences, duplexes and four-plexes will also be included in the development.

Goodman said condominiums will start at about $80,000, single-family homes at $140,000.

KEB Inc.'s real estate holdings in North Port include 2,800 acres of land that will build out at 4,300 residential units and 2.5 million square feet of commercial, office and light industrial space. KEB Inc. is also developing Bobcat Trail, The Marketplace, Panacea Corporate Plantation and Panacea Gateway Plantation.

Lakeside Plantation is Highmark Homes' second-largest undertaking, having just finished the 120-lot Virginia Crossing subdivision in Dunedin. The company has built about 250 homes over the past seven years.

Despite a Florida Association of Realtors report showing an 8-percent increase over last year's existing home sales, Goodman said she does not believe the increase will affect the success of the development.

"There is a shortage of the product," Goodman said of single-family homes. "In the next 10 years, 12,000 to 15,000 people will be living in a KEB development along Toledo Blade."

By RENEE LePERE
Business Writer