FEATURE
"THEY ARE MORE INTERESTED IN MAINTAINING AS MUCH OF THE NATURAL AREA AS THEY CAN, SO THERE IS A LOT MORE GREENSPACE AROUND HERE IN THE NEW SECTIONS" –DON WILEY
movie theaters, shops, restaurants, etc., all built with the idea of a place retirees could live the dream in “Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.” According to the U.S. Census figures, The Villages was the fastest-growing metro area in the country, growing 39% from 93,000 in 2010 to 130,000 in 2020. The mega retirement community is in three counties, several municipalities, and there are no signs of The Villages slowing down any time soon as Mark, Jennifer, Tracy, and other members of the Morse family are committed to The Villages’ brand. They also have over 15,000 employees, which is bound to grow too. “People want to know about the future of The Villages, and it is right here. We are doing it every day,” Tracy says on the video, adding the younger generations of the Morse family are actively involved, too, living and working in The Villages in various and different capacities, “bringing incredible talent to the table and we are very proud of all of them.” “It’s not the final chapter,” Mark adds on the video. “We’re going to be around, our kids are going to be around, and we have a lot of work here to do for a long time.” BUILDING HOMES
Villager Don Wiley, a Navy veteran and retired construction project manager, marvels over the wellcoordinated system of The Villages’ construction of new homes, which averages about 350 homes a month. “It’s a well-oiled machine, and the coordination is just absolutely phenomenal … Here, they do the foundation and a day or two later the blocks. When they’re done, they move down the street,” Don says, adding the construction process resembles a smooth assembly line with different
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contractors keeping each other informed of when specific work is done at a unit and it’s ready for the next crew. “They got very tight schedules; they are able to keep the quality up because if they slack off, they don’t get work … I’ve met second- and-third-generation workers saying, ‘My grandfather poured concrete when Harold was around in the 1980s and 90s,’” adds Don. “The Villages provides a lot of financial stability for construction workers.” Don keeps up on construction of the new village neighborhoods as he shoots residential construction photos, aerial-view videos, and does drone photography for new Villagers’ homeowners who contract him through his company, Gold Wingnut Productions, LLC. He also uploads Villages residential and commercial construction projects on YouTube and has generated nearly 15,000 subscribers. “People come here, they buy a lot, contract to build a home, and then they have to go back up north. So, I watch the home for them as it’s being built. I try to shoot every house three times a week,” Don says, adding his current clients are from Washington state, Wisconsin, California, Pennsylvania, Virginia, etc., who are having custom homes built in The Villages, ranging from $500,00 to $1 million. “They like the fact that they get a bird’s-eye view of what is going on,” says Don. “The customer that I have from California is totally delighted with the value they are getting. They are moving from a much smaller home to a very large designer home that has been highly customized. It’s absolutely gorgeous. The pool is gorgeous and they’re right on the golf course.” Being a retired construction project manager, Don looks for obvious problems that might occur during the construction process. “When I walk into a house, I look at it with a different eye than the average resident,” he says, adding there’s rarely a problem that needs addressed.
