HOME BUYERCENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION thefloridahomebuyer.com Custom home by Derrick Builders Inc. summer 2022 REGIONAL RELOCATION GUIDE • ACTIVE ADULT COMMUNITIES • School Guide
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Bradenton Lakeland Sarasota 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 Lak Pa rish Selmon Expressw 275 275 275 275 275 St. Petersburg Lak Park FLORIDAMALL PREMIUMPREMIUMOUTLETSOUTLETS INTERNAORLANDOTIONALAIRPORT UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORID ALTAMONTEMALL LAKE MARY B VD INTL AIRPORT LAKE MONROE LAKE APOPKA LAKE HARRIS LAKE EUSTISMT. DORA STETSON UNIVERSITY SSPRINGSWEKIWATATEPARK EASTTOHOLAKE WALT DISNEY RESORTWORLD UNIVERSALORLANDORESORTSEAWORLDEOsceolaPkwy 4 4 4 4 4 4 528528 417 417 429 429 ATTHETOHOPEKALIGALAKEMALLMILLENIA 408 4 4 4 415 BEACHLINE MissionSummerbrookeInnResort & Club, Las WyndrushMezzanoAvalonColinasRidgeCreek CypressAviana Park Estates Tarpon MarisolBayPointe at MiraBay North River Ranch10945 87132 6 5 6 43 8 7 9 1 2Built for Family, by Family. Wesley Chapel Home and community information including pricing, included features, terms, availability and amenities are subject to change and prior sale at any time without notice or obligation. This material shall not constitute a valid offer in any state where prior registration is required or if void by law. 051822 HometownCENTRAL FLORIDA’S BUILDER 10
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Homebuyer: Central Florida Edition Winter 2022 is published quarterly by Winter Park Publishing Company LLC, 201 West Canton Avenue, Suite 125B, Winter Park, Florida 32789. Copyright 2022 by Winter Park Publishing Company LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Send all correspondence to Homebuyer: Central Florida Edition, 201 West Canton Avenue, Suite 125B, Winter Park, Florida 32789. Unsolicited manuscripts without return postage will not be returned. DISCLAIMER: Advertisements in this publication do not constitute an offer for sale in any state or country where prohibited or restricted by law.
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| SUMMER 2022 would, naturally, be vastly different than ours. So, what’s happening in Central Florida’s real estate market? Simply put, it is still a sell er’s market. Granted, the frenzied buying has slowed down and the number of homes avail able have increased slightly — but demand is still outpacing supply. Folks with the means to buy at the top of the market have bought, so they’re no longer in the market. Rising prices and interest rates have knocked other buyers out of the market. In normal times, we’d have about sixmonths’ worth of housing inventory locally. As of this writing, however, Central Florida was sitting at just over one months’ worth of inventory. Florida may see one three one is a custom home by Derrick Builders; one is a custom home by Silliman CitySide; and one is a custom home by Stonebridge Homes. M. MILLER of
Contributing Writers HARRY
JANE
General Counsel, Foley & Lardner LLP Community Partners Larry
Yep, it’s all over the headlines. The real estate market is tank ing; the sky is falling. Inventory is up; the world is coming to an end. Those talking heads do love to hear themselves spread doom and gloom throughout theTheland.problem is, most of them are looking at real estate trends in the country as whole — so we get bundled together with places like Yuma,BeforeArizona.yousay anything, yes, I have been to Yuma, Arizona. It’s a fine place for people who want to live in the middle of nowhere, where the landscape is various shades of brown, it’s always over 100 degrees and career opportu nities are limited. Let’s agree that type of community has lim ited appeal, so the housing numbers in Yuma FROM THE PUBLISHER FEATURED BUILDER For Jordan Homes, building dreams is a true family affair. By Patricia Letakis FEATURED COMMUNITY Bellalago wows buyers with a verdant setting on beautiful Lake Toho. By Patricia Letakis FEATURES MANOR Paul Waters says running a hands-on business is the secret to success in the custom-home market. By Patricia Letakis 14 CATCH THE WAVE Tavistock’s new hotel in Lake Nona offers an art impression experience. By Connie Sue White 20 THOUGHTFUL APPROACH Lake Nona’s new neighborhoods offer plenty of variety. By Michael Candelaria FROM THE
ABOUTAREN’TDOOMSAYERSTALKINGORLANDO
Edition
There’s something for everyone in Central Florida. Let’s take a tour and you can see for yourself. By Michael Candelaria PUBLIC SCHOOLS 60 COMMUNITIES
2 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION 24 OUR TOWNS
Contributing Editor Winter Park Publishing Company LLC RANDY
Officer ALLAN
RESOURCES 50
sunbridgefl.com Start your adventure at our Basecamp information center. 6197 CYRILS DRIVE, ST. CLOUD, FL, 34771 Sunbridge is an equal housing opportunity. Pricing is subject to change. © Tavistock Development Company 2022 HELLO WESLYN PARK. Ready to surround you with big Florida nature and a grand sense of adventure. New homes for all ages and stages, priced from the $400s. Models now open.
father’s advice to a son can be invaluable. Just ask Giovanni Jordan, who was inspired by his dad to become a homebuilder. As a youngster he accompa nied Larry Jordan, a general contractor, to job sites to help with small tasks. “Something my dad always told me as a kid: You notice more details on a home when you’re pushing a broom on a job site than anything else,” recalls Jordan, who has homebuilding in his blood. Best of all, his dad is still around, serving as CEO of Jordon Homes. And so is his mom, Janette, who’s the com pany’s vice president of sales. The younger Jordon is COO and vice president of operations. A homegrown guy, Jordan was raised in Oviedo. He studied civil engineering and environmental engineering before earn ing an MBA at the University of Central Florida. To the family, the Oviedo/Chuluota area is home, sweet home — they all live in this rapidly growing sector of north A FOR JORDAN HOMES, BUILDING DREAMS IS A TRUE FAMILY AFFAIR Seminole County. Says Jordan: “We want to improve and leave a positive impact for families and future generations here. Our goal is to improve our hometown as much as possible.”
4 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION PUBLISHER’S PICK: BUILDER JORDAN HOMES
Brentwood Landing, which will consist of two-story Craftsman-style townhomes, is planned for 58 units with two floorplans from which to choose. Homes will range in size from 1,877 to 1,964 square feet, with prices starting in the $420s.
In Winter Park, Jordan Homes is building Lake Killarney (townhomes priced from the $600s, with lakefront units priced from the $800s) and Vilasa Homes (12 townhomes and two single-family homes priced from $1 million).
The company currently has 500 homes planned in the next 12 months. In Oviedo, infrastructure is being finished on Brent wood Landing, right down the street from the Jordan’s office. The community, which will consist of two-story Crafts man-style townhomes, is planned for 58 units with two floor plans from which to choose. Homes will range in size from 1,877 to 1,964 square feet, with prices starting in the $420s. Groundbreaking was imminent at press time.
The two-story townhomes range in size from 2,319 to 2,660 square feet, while the pair of three-story single-family homes (with elevators, of course) boast 4,130 square feet of living area and are tucked among the townhome buildings on a cobble stone street that connects Canton and Swoope avenues. Located just blocks from Park Avenue, many passersby have seen Vilasa Homes and have been intrigued by their unique modern design and long footprint visible from the Canton. So intrigued, in fact, that the community is essentially sold out.
SUMMER 2022 5 Projects south of Orlando include Soho at Lakeside (Kis simmee, townhomes priced from the $350s) and Magic Village Resort (near Walt Disney World, upscale townhomes priced from the $400s).
However, Jordan has never forgotten his dad’s early advice. He and the company’s team personally walk through each and every home, taking the time to examine everything when it’s quiet and the crews have gone home. “Even to this day, our entire team places priority on details and what we need to do to build a quality home for our cli ents,” says Jordan. When a project is 100 percent complete, Jordan likes to visit the community to see residents grilling and washing cars, kids playing and families truly enjoying their homes: “It’s a sense of fulfillment that I don’t think anything else can provide.” n
Two other communities, Arisha Enclave (Kissimmee, sin gle-family homes priced from the mid-$300) and Summerville Resort (near Disney, townhomes priced from the $300s) are already sold out.
When it comes to the details, Jordan Homes customers can expect expert craftsmanship and upscale finishes. Homes in some communities come with such standard features as quartz countertops with waterfalls and premium appliances.
—Patricia Letakis Vilasa Homes in Winter Park has 12 townhomes and two single-family homes priced from $1 million. Lake Killarney townhomes (below), also in Winter Park, are priced from the $600s, with lakefront units priced from the $800s. Shown is the living room/dining room combination.
BELLALAGO WOWS BUYERS
he Bellalago community off Pleasant Hill Road in Kissimmee has some of the biggest granddaddy oaks dripping with Spanish moss, some of the tallest mag nolia trees with shiny deep green leaves and some of the most colorful aquatic plants blooming in the waters of Lake Tohopekaliga, which skirts its eastern edge.
The community, which began in November 2002, has ex panded to encompass 1,330 acres. But through all the growth, its commitment to eco-preservation remains steadfast. And today, Bellalago is truly blessed with an abundance of mature foliage — something that’s often absent in Central Florida’s newerAddingcommunities.toBellalago’s appeal are lakes and ponds within the gated community, many with waterfront homes. Seventeen neighborhoods boast names like Bella Vista, Lakeview Estate, Eagle Isle, Stillwater Landing and others. Earlier homes were built by Avatar Properties. Then, in October 2018, Taylor Morrison purchased the project. Stacie
6 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION PUBLISHER’S PICK: COMMUNITY BELLALAGO
WITH A VERDANT SETTING ON BEAUTIFUL LAKE TOHO Verdant Bellalago in Kissimmee, hugging the shores of Lake Tohopekaliga, is blessed with an abundance of mature foliage — something that’s often absent in Central Florida’s newer communities. Club Vialago (below) is the community’s social epicenter, where residents enjoy classes ranging from Zumba and Pilates to water aerobics.
T
Club Vialago, the community’s social epicenter, is where residents enjoy classes from Zumba and Pilates to water aer obics. Besides its community room, gym, pools and a restau rant called Flip-Flops Bar and Grille, the club has a boat lift, a boardwalk/pier and a waterway to Lake Toho.
Residents, from families and singles to retirees and empty nesters, are finding that Bellalago checks all the boxes. More recently, people who work from home have discovered the community, along with out-of-area buyers. “We are now seeing more prospects walking through the door from South Florida, Maryland and Virginia. Previously, we had huge traffic from the Northeast,” notes Cornell. She adds that there are no single-family homesites remaining in Bellalago for to-be-built homes and, as of press time, there were fewer than 40 remaining quick move-in homes under con struction.Taylor Morrison builds six different floorplans — three one-story and three two-story homes — that range in size from 1,768 to 3,422 square feet. All homes are stylishly Mediterra nean and have tile roofs. Next on the drawing board for Bellalago are townhomes. Cornell says there’ll be about 110 units available, ranging in size from 1,373 to 1,555 square feet with one-car garages. They’ll be conveniently located within walking distance from ClubOutsideVialago.the gated community, residents find everything they need from a Publix supermarket and a CVS Pharmacy to a brand-new Starbucks. Schools include Bellalago Charter Acad emy (K-8); Mater Brighton Lakes Academy (K-8); and Valencia College, Poinciana Campus. n Patricia Letakis
The Java model at Bellalago is a flexible design that fits a variety of needs. Featuring a three-way split plan centered on an openconcept kitchen and great room, this modern home is designed for comfortable everyday living.
SUMMER 2022 7
Cornell, regional marketing manager with Taylor Morrison, says that one of the community’s most important selling points is its vacation-style amenities.
There’s certainly no shortage of those. Bellalago has four resort-style pools: a zero-entry pool, a recreational pool (with a water slide!), a junior Olympic lap pool and a toddler pool. Other sports-related amenities include tennis courts, beach volleyball, basketball courts and, of course, boating with ac cess to one of Central Florida’s premiere lakes.
Representing the area’s leading custom home builders, the Master Custom Builder Council has pledged to maintain the highest professional standards in the home building industry, dedicating themselves to using their craft to make Central Florida an even finer place to live. “The Seal of Homebuilding Excellence” PSG WatersSillimanSorensonConstructionConstructionCitysideHomesStonebridgeHomesTheEinheitCompanyConstructionBuildersWoodruffConstructionandDevelopmentBasso Homes Cahill Homes Charles Clayton Construction Dave Brewer, Inc. DeLorenzo Homes, Inc. Derrick Builders, Inc. Farina & Sons, Inc. Goehring & Morgan Construction Hannigan Homes Hardwick General Contracting Issa Homes Jones Clayton Construction J. Richard Watson Construction LunDev Custom Homes McNally Construction Group Phil Kean Design Group Posada Custom Homes P.O. Box 536732 Orlando, Florida 32853 | 407.875.2121 custombuilt.com | MasterCustomBuilderCouncilfacebook.com/
MANOR THE GUIDE TO CENTRAL FLORIDA’S LUXURY BUILDERS AND COMMUNITIES This custom home by Paul Waters Builders is in Isleworth, one of Central Florida’s most exclusive neighborhoods.
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“I’m on the job every day. I’m my own superintendent,” says Paul Waters of Waters Custom Builders. “So there’s not a communication that doesn’t go through me.” That attention to detail is reflected in Waters’ gorgeous homes, like this one in Isleworth. Most of the family-owned company’s work is in upscale communities in southwest Orlando.
Paul Waters says running a hands-on business is the secret to success in the custom-home market.
SUMMER 2022 11 CUSTOM BUILDER PROFILE
For Paul Waters, hands-on is the way to run a business. That’s certainly how he runs his company, Waters Custom Builders, which he started in 2017. “I’m on the job every day. I’m my own superinten dent,” he says. “So there’s not a communication that doesn’t go through me.”
By PATRICIA LETAKIS
building trust, making friends
Waters graduated from the M.E. Rinker School of Building Construction at the University of Florida in 2005 and went to work with J. Richard Watson Construction, one of the top cus tom homebuilders in Orlando. It wasn’t until 13 years later that he got the itch to go out on his own. The opportunity came when he picked up a couple of large addition/renovation projects on custom homes. Then it was off to the races in a highly competitive business. Over the past five years, Waters Custom Builders has tackled projects in Isleworth, Keene’s Pointe and the town of Winder mere, all in southwest Orlando — for decades a custom-home hotspot.Mostof Waters’ home are in the vicinity of 4,500-plus square feet. But this year he landed a contract for a 13,700-squarefoot project — which he admits will skew the average some whatWatershigher.Custom Builders is a family company, run by Waters with one full-time employee, office manager Sarah Bowling. His daughter Michelle helps with administration, while his wife Gladys handles payroll and seeks ways that the company can give back to the community. What’s most rewarding about homebuilding, says Waters, is when a client is so thrilled with his work that he gets a referral — which happens frequently.
A true custom builder, Waters says no two homes in his port folio are exactly the same. “I don’t have a set of plans that we choose from,” he says. “We take the homeowner’s needs and design around them.”
12 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION
No two homes in Waters’ portfolio are exactly the same. “I don’t have a set of plans that we choose from,” he says. “We take the homeowner’s needs and design around them.” In this Windermere home, for example, the client was fond of dark, rich woods and — as is obvious from the simulator below — playing golf.
If you want a custom home but haven’t yet selected an ar chitect, Waters says, he can offer guidance: “I meet with each client, get a feel for what they’re looking to do, then match them with an architect who I think can create that vision.”
If you have an architect, Waters adds, then get the builder in the loop as quickly as possible. “Sometimes an architect draws something that looks really pretty, but it’s not going to fit a buyer’s budget or be feasible to build structurally,” he says. “We want to make sure the whole team is working together.” The same, he adds, goes for an interior designer. When asked by buyers for recommendations, Waters notes that he tries to match personalities since communication — and a level of ca maraderie — is so important to the interior design process.
One of Waters’s current projects is for a couple who’s down sizing. “We designed a home that would have extra-wide spac es for future wheelchair access,” he says. “Same with showers, which are roll-in. It’s not full ADA compliance — but it could become ADA compliant if it had to be.”
As the Orlando area becomes increasingly built out, find ing land on which to build a dream home has become more challenging. Although there are some vacant homesites in the communities where Waters now builds, he says teardowns are beginning to be predominate. He cites a current project in Isleworth as an example. Al though the client loved the neighborhood, the home was one of the first built in the exclusive community. It had termite dam age, outdated materials and wasn’t as energy efficient as homes built today. It just made more sense to tear it down, he says. Besides his hands-on work ethic, Waters is proud of his longterm relationship with his clients. “I get phone calls from homeowners who I did projects for back in 2010,” he says. “They still call and ask questions about their homes. I answer them and I help them.”
Creative kids’ bedrooms and lavish master bathrooms for the grownups can be found in Waters’ homes. “I love seeing everything come together,” Waters says, whether that means building a new home or rebuilding an old one to fit a new owner’s needs.
He considers his clients to be friends when he finishes build ing their homes: “I know their families, they know mine. It’s a long-term relationship.” Waters is a member of the Master Custom Builders Council, a highly selective organization whose membership criteria in clude financial stability and references from at least five former clients. All MCBC builders offer a limited 10-year structural war ranty for their homes. What’s his favorite thing about building? “I love seeing ev erything come together,” Waters says, whether that means building a new home or rebuilding an old one to fit a new owner’s needs. But most rewarding, he adds, is when a client is so thrilled with Waters’ work that he gets a referral — which happens fre quently. In fact, his company website is full of testimonials like this“Whatone: most impresses us about Paul, in addition to his knowl edge of building practices, is his integrity. We have complete trust in his ability as a builder and in his word as a gentleman.” n
SUMMER 2022 13
14 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION
Laurel Pointe
Models by the builder, Toll Brothers, didn’t open until this August — but the Houstons didn’t hesitate sight (and site) un seen. In the past, they had regularly visited Orlando as Walt Disney World annual passholders — and decided to move per manently post-pandemic. “We didn’t want to wait,” says Ryan, a Realtor. “We wanted more space and flexibility, and we liked the floorplan. It’s also brand new. We like building instead of going into something that was already established.” Wife Edina, also a Realtor, owns EDesigns and Co. LLC, a full-service interior design firm. The couple and their two sons, ages 5 and 7, moved north from Delray Beach in mid-May and are renting a house in Lake Nona’s nearby Laureate Park neighborhood until construction of their new home is complete.
Lake Nona’s new neighborhoods offer variety — which is key to the iconic project’s enduring appeal to buyers. By Mike Candelaria
Ryan and Edina Houston (above with their two children) are await ing completion of their new home in Laurel Pointe. They chose the Barbera by Toll Brothers (facing page), which is part of the company’s Collage Collection. The Barbera, at 4,413 square feet, has a choice of elevations as well as five bedrooms and four to five bathrooms. The home is priced starting at $1,089,995.
THOUGHTFUL APPROACH
SUMMER 2022 15
File this housing story under “The more things change, the more they remain the same.” Nearly 20 years after Lake Nona’s first home was purchased, buyers keep on coming, including Ryan and Edina Houston at one of four new single-family neighborhoods across Lake Nona’s 11,000 acres and 17 square miles in southeast Orlando. Last November, on the day after Thanksgiving, the Hous tons became the first buyers at Laurel Pointe, an intimate, gated community of 124 single-family homes with water and preserve views. One- and two-story homes — ranging in price from the mid$900s to $2 million-plus — include three to seven bedrooms in 3,000 to more than 5,800 square feet.
The Houstons’ chosen model is the two-story Barbera, with two of the five bedrooms earmarked for offices. Among the home’s highlights is a covered entry with double doors that open to an inviting foyer. There’s a spacious great room, a ca sual dining area and a covered lanai. Toll Brothers is offering two sets of models, the Collage Col lection and Mosaic Collection. (The Barbera model is part of the Collage Collection.) Community amenities include miles of trails, parks, a robust public art collection and autonomous shuttle service, among other perks. In addition, the Houstons were attracted to what Ryan calls “New Nona” — an area that attracts families with young children in which both parents have busy careers. Also, pointing to the neighborhood’s location at Narcoossee Road and Luminary Boulevard (which is under construction), he adds: “There are plenty of different opportunities to do dif ferentRyanthings.”makes special mention of one of Lake Nona’s most distinctive amenities, Boxi Park. Located in Lake Nona Town Center, Boxi Park opened in late 2018 as a 30,000-square-foot, family- and dog-friendly outdoor venue that offers a mix of restaurants and bars, beach volleyball courts and a live enter tainment stage. The park is among the first of its kind on the East Coast. The open-air entertainment destination is built using 12 re purposed shipping containers arranged in one- and two-story configurations.
While considered separate, Laurel Pointe is loosely part of an expansion of venerable Laureate Park, which opened in 2011. Laureate Park, with its brightly colored bungalows, townho mes, cottages and multistory homes, is adding new homesites to be built by Craft Homes and Dream Finders Homes.
When Adams arrived at Tavistock, his two daughters were ages 1 and 4. Now, they’re in college. “It’s just a large piece of property, and it takes some time to develop it, even in a very high-growth market like Orlando — given the approach we take, which is a very thoughtful approach,” says Adams.
16 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION
He adds: “We’re always active. With 11,000 acres, there’s always something happening. And we’re trying to get it right over that time. One of the bigger selling points of Lake Nona is we try to offer a wide variety of housing types.”
Visitors can explore an array of food and beverage options throughout the park, which also includes shaded seating, a playground and a fenced dog park. The outdoor stage hosts a variety of local performers with regular programming sched uled for weekdays and weekends.
Such thinking is evident at Isles of Lake Nona, the third of the new communities, which opened in April 2020. The gated neighborhood contains single-family homes, townhomes and bungalows with open-concept floorplans, designer finishes and energy-efficient features (including natural gas) by Pulte Homes. Homes range from two to seven bedrooms and two to 5.5 bathrooms, with prices starting at $471,990 for townho mes, $584,990 for bungalows and $629,990 for traditional sin gle-family homes. All totaled, there’ll be 508 new homes in Isles of Lake Nona Innovative Boxi Park, among the first of its kind on the East Coast, is an open-air entertainment destination built using repurposed shipping containers arranged in one- and two-story configurations. The park is a popular gathering spot for residents of all Lake Nona’s neighborhoods.
Isles of Lake Nona
Adds Fanning: “Home is more important than ever before. People are realizing the importance of great design and how that can elevate their daily lives.”
Laureate Park Expansion
Adams was the lead executive in the development, launch and management of fabulously successful Laureate Park — which has recorded more than 2,600 home closings since opening.Notsurprisingly, Adams describes the Laureate Park Expan sion as “a continuation of a close-knit neighborhood.” The same, in fact, can be said about all of Lake Nona — a continuation.
Laurel Pointe residents will enjoy all of the varied amenities, attractions and activities that this in novative and creative area offers,” says Brock Fanning, Division President of Toll Brothers Central Florida.
The initial 227 homesites are now being brought to market, with a few hundred more to follow over the next few years, according to Rob Adams, who manages the for-sale residen tial neighborhood development and production builder pro grams for Lake Nona’s Tavistock Development Co.
Craft Homes has single-family homes and townhomes, rang ing in size from 1,650 to 3,413 square feet, with single-family homes priced from the mid-$500s and townhomes from the mid-$300s. There are three series of single-family homes — Ar tisan, Guild and Journey — and one townhome series, called Style.Dream Finders Homes is offering single-family homes with prices starting at $625,990 and reaching $835,990. Homes range in size from 1,976 to 4,024 square feet.
In addition, new amenities are planned, such as a commu nity garden, playground and trails connecting to the northern section of the older neighborhood.
Of course, Lake Nona Town Center, the hub of Lake Nona, features restaurants, boutiques, hotels, public art and event venues — 4 million square feet of premium shopping, dining and“Asentertainment.partofLakeNona,
SUMMER 2022 17 set amid a large, interconnected network of ponds much like Lake Nona’s established Village Walk neighborhood. At press time, there were nine model homes open for visitors. Community amenities include a clubhouse, sport courts, a fire pit, a splash pad, a fitness center and a resort-style pool and“Islescabana.ofLake Nona has something for everyone,” says Blake Lapinsky, Pulte’s vice president of sales for Central Florida. “And its location in Lake Nona makes it extremely convenient to access all that Orlando has to offer.”
The largest Craft Homes model is the 3,630-square foot Aus tin, which has four bedrooms and five bathrooms and is priced fromClearly,$789,990.throughout the four new neighborhoods, there are choices. “One of the bigger selling points of Lake Nona is that we try to offer a wide variety of housing types,” says Adams of Tavistock.
In Summerdale Park, Craft Homes is offering the Austin, with four to five bedrooms and 4.5 to five bathrooms in 3,630 square feet. The home is priced starting at $760,990.
The fourth new neighborhood is Summerdale Park, consist ing of homes on 50- and 60-foot homesites from Dream Finders Homes and Craft Homes. With abundant water frontage, a total of 208 homes are offered with prices starting in the mid-$500s.
Indeed, buyers remain attracted. Despite one change after another after another at Lake Nona, that fact has remained the same. n Among the models from which to chose at Isles of Lake Nona is the Whitestone by Pulte homes, which has four to five bedrooms and 2.5 to four bathrooms in 2,894 square feet. The home is priced starting at $704,990.
Summerdale Park
For example, Dream Finders’ Biscayne model measures 2,689 square feet with four bedrooms and three bathrooms and is priced at $642,990, while its Ellington model, with five bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms, is priced at $760,990.
Adams adds that buyers who love Laureate Park — which has smaller lots and garages in the back — aren’t necessarily prospects for Isles of Lake Nona, which is gated and features traditional architecture. But they all like living in Lake Nona. “People like living here for a lot of reasons,” continues Ad ams. “They like the housing choices. But they also really like the location — beyond the homes it’s the schools and what you can do here. There are dining destinations, you can walk in a park, there are events.”
The 17-story undulating exterior of curved glass — inspired by a wavelength of energy — is sophisticated and innovative. (The architectural design firm, Arqui tectonica, is also behind the Lake Nona Resort, the eight-story performance and wellness resort situated along the southern shores of Lake Nona.) On the inside, that sophistication and innovation is carried forward in the hotel’s 234 guest rooms, which feature tech-forward amenities such as inroom apps to control the environment and View Smart floor-to-ceiling windows.
ake Nona Wave Hotel, the latest addition to the Tavistock Hotel Collection’s port folio, opened its doors to the public in Central Florida’s fast-growing “smart city” in late 2021. The Tavistock Group, an international private investment organization, is also developing Lake Nona — an east Orlando master-planned com munity known for its leading-edge home designs, high-tech bells and whistles, world-class sports fa cilities, burgeoning health sciences campus and an iconic golf and country club. Now it’s also home to one of the coolest hotels in the region. Typical for Tavistock, its Hotel Collection is known for signature facilities with innovative architec tural designs — and the Wave Hotel doesn’t disappoint.
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At this writing, the hotel is the largest in the world equipped with smart-tech glass, which uses artifi cial intelligence to automatically adjust glass tint depending upon weather and lighting conditions. But while many of the technological innova tions are hidden, the hotel’s monumental art col lection is right out in the open. Beyond the guest rooms, the centerpiece of the hotel is the Living Room Lobby, where your art-centric journey begins. This area alone is decorated with some 300 pieces of curated art. (there are at least 500 pieces throughout the en tire property. )
TAVISTOCK’S NEW HOTEL IN LAKE NONA OFFERS AN ART IMMERSION EXPERIENCE. BY CONNIE SUE WHITE
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“Every corner here is meant to inspire and create new energy,” says Jessi Blakely, vice president of strategic communications for Tavistock. “While we’ve received national attention, it’s one of Orlando’s best kept secrets — but one that’s important to share with the community to enjoy.”
The Wave Hotel’s 17-story undulating exterior of curved glass — inspired by a wavelength of energy — is itself a work of art. But art also infuses the indoor spaces and sculpture garden.
Whether it’s during an after-work drink at the Living Room Bar or a delicious dinner at Bacán — one of the hotel’s two signature restaurants — lo cals are welcome to visit and take it all in. You can’t help but get a jolt of creative energy just by osmosis.
Not unlike the Alfond Inn in Winter Park, The Wave Hotel could be considered a sort of art museum in and of itself — and art is everywhere you look. Even elevator banks, for example, feature fully wrapped cabs. But the words “eclectic” and “vibrant” don’t ad equately describe the hotel’s unique ambiance.
Tavistock founder and chairman Joe Lewis, a British-based investor, told Amy Parry, the hotel’s art consultant, that he wanted guests to be sur rounded by works that are “fun” and “make people happy.”Mission accomplished. One of the first pieces you’ll see when entering the Living Room Lob by from the hotel’s main entrance is a large vin tage-type couch turned up on one of its ends, as if it’s about to be hauled out by movers.
The oddly positioned sofa, juxtaposed against colorful modern furnishings by the likes of Eero Saarinen, Warren Platner and Marcel Wanders, is both amusing and eye catching.
The hotel’s robust technology facilitates a 360-degree im mersion experience. A kinetic geometric sculpture and lighting by Melissa Borrell hangs over the Stadium Seating Area, which also serves as the staircase to the mezzanine level. Just off the Living Room Lobby is one of the hotel’s two sig nature restaurants, Bacán. Upon entering, it’s hard to miss the striking 10-by-20-foot vinyl mural overlooking the dining area by artist Amy Rader, who was recently selected to represent Tesla and Microsoft at Art Basel in Miami.
Another large space they had to fill was on the wall next to the Living Room Bar. The work of Canadian contemporary art ist Sarah Gee Miller, whom Parry discovered several years ago on Instagram, came to mind as an ideal solution.
The journey was a fruitful one, filled with whimsy, creativity andTake,innovation.forexample, the resin bear holding a balloon. The fan ciful piece was the result of a brainstorming session between Parry and one of the designers about what they could find for a larger space that they had yet to fill. Says Parry: “She suggested a gummy bear, but we needed something large and substantial, so we ended up having one designed and fabricated to meet our specs.”
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The lush piece, dubbed Pacha Mama by some of the staff, is a nod to Florida’s tropical environment and, if you look closely, also to The Glass House installation near Lake Nona’s Town Centre.The hotel’s interior design firm, Blue Lantern Studios, tapped Parry to curate a package that features works of inde pendent artists from around the world to complement their interior design.
Parry pieced together the Living Room Lobby’s 300-plus works of art — specifically commissioning some, doggedly hunting down others — as well as other pieces found through out the hotel over a period of 18 months.
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On the wall in the Living Room Bar (top) is a layered 20-foot-wide mural consisting of five panels with laser cuts through which colors of the rainbow can be seen. The Living Room Lobby (above) boasts 300-plus works of art, but perhaps the most instantly eyecatching ob ject is a couch whimsically turned on its side. Just off the Living Room Lobby is one of the hotel’s two signature restaurants, Bacán (right). Upon entering, you’ll see a 10-by-20-foot vi nyl mural overlooking the dining area. Even the elevator banks (facing page) highlight works of art with fully wrapped cabs.
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TAKING IT OUTDOORS
“I remember thinking ‘I hope he doesn’t like this one because I don’t know if I can find it again,’” says Parry. “Well, he loved it!” And sure enough, Parry couldn’t find the piece again — but she had a similar one fabricated based upon the image. By design and thoughtful consideration, art abounds at the Wave Hotel, beckoning in every nook and cranny. Among the ho tel’s treasures are the pink dogwood tree next to the Living Room Bar, the “wave of birds” ceiling sculpture in the Ballroom Foyer and the 18 “artistic suites.” As Parry says: “There are lots of twists and turns — you never know what you’ll en counter.” n
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For more about the Sculpture Garden, visit nona-sculpture-garden.lakenona.com/news/thing-place/lake-
The sculptures Faith (below), Empowerment, Time and Passion are part of the Baks Series by JEFRË, a Filipino-American artist whose temporary exhibition within the Sculpture Garden establishes figures as symbolic expressions of our culture that convey underlying emotional and spiritual meaning. Charging Bull (right), often referred to as the “Wall Street Bull,” is a 7,100-pound bronze sculp ture by Arturo Di Modica. Originally a work of guerrilla art, the sculpture was cre ated as a symbol of the “strength and power of the American people” following the 1987 stock market crash. Travelers and locals visiting the Wave Hotel would be remiss if they didn’t take the time to head outdoors and explore the adjacent 50,000-square-foot Lake Nona Sculpture Garden. The tropical enclave features 12 sculptures among some 300 palm trees representing six species, climbing vines, fragrant bushes and even night-blooming jasmine.“Wesee this space as an extension of the hotel — an outdoor living room,” says Lake Nona Wave Hotel General Manager Suzie Yang. “It’s a truly one-of-a-kind location for weddings, special events and so much more.”
“The caliber of artwork featured in the Lake Nona Sculpture Garden is unlike any thing else in the Southeast,” says Orlando Museum of Art Director and CEO Aaron H. De Groft. “Like the Orlando Museum of Art, the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg or the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, which also has a large outdoor sculpture collec tion, Lake Nona is a must-see destination for art lovers.”
“I’ve always loved her work,” notes Parry. “And when we had an opportunity to com mission a large-scale piece, I contacted her immediately.”Theresulting layered 20-foot-wide mu ral, comprised of five panels with laser cuts through which colors of the rainbow can be seen, is now one of Parry’s favorites. Lewis, who owns one of the largest pri vate art collections in the world, also had a hand in the selection process. He took a particular shine to an image of a bicycle with billiard balls in the basket, which Parry had found on Etsy.
Eight of the sculptures are from the per sonal collection of Tavistock founder and chairman Joe Lewis, including one of the most recognized bronze sculptures in the world, Charging Bull by Arturo Di Modica. Known by many as the “Wall Street Bull,” the iconic 7,100-pound bronze is one of five cast by the artist. In addition to this one and the one in Manhattan’s Finan cial District, the others can be found in Albany, New York; Nassau, Bahamas; and nearby Isleworth Golf & Country Club in Windermere.
In addition, the garden features sculp tures from rotating artists. Currently, there are four works by local artist JEFRË, whose Faith, Empowerment, Time and Passion were part of an Orlando Museum of Art exhibition. The artist’s iconic large-scale multimedia works can also be found throughout Lake Nona’s Towne Center.
The garden’s other distinguished sculptures include two Henry Moore bronze masterpieces, Mother and Child and Upright Motive. There’s also Leda and the Swan by Fernando Botero, Postmod ern Man by Eric Goulder, Jeté II by Enzo Plazzotta and Cloister Conspiracy and The Don by Philip Jackson.
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Orlando’s compact but lively downtown is highlighted by its iconic fountain on Lake Eola in the city’s signature park. Central Florida features an array of options for living, working and playing. OUR TOWNS THERE’S SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA. LET’S TAKE A TOUR AND YOU CAN SEE FOR YOURSELF. BY MICHAEL CANDELARIA
So, if you’re ready to move, then take your pick. Chances are very good that what you’re looking for is in Central Florida — from thriving urban settings to small rural towns; from historic neighborhoods to new master-planned communities. Follow ing is a county-by-county primer of regional highlights.
Land Area: 1,004 square miles Population: 1,420,000 2010-2020 Population Growth: 25% 2025 Projected Population Growth: 1,573,001 Mean Travel Time to Work (Minutes): 28.2 Mean Household Income: $54,335 Education: Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 34.6% At a OrangeGlanceCounty
Throughout Central Florida, like the multitudes of new residents who arrive each week, the accolades are steady and significant. The newcomers? At last count, more than 1,000 people move each week to Central Florida. In fact, the region has been adding at least that many people every week for the past 60 years, according to the Orlando Eco nomic Partnership. Just imagine.
The accolades? As only a cursory sampling, they include be ing ranked the No. 4 Best Market in U.S. for Development Op portunities (CBRE, 2021) and No. 1 in the country for Job Growth (U.S. Department of Labor, 2015-2018). Plus, it’s Florida — with all the lifestyle attributes for which the Sunshine State is known. There’s rich history, ample character and continual change. And, of course, there are the internationally known theme parks and attractions, as well as the beaches and generally boundless scenicTherebeauty.arethriving industries, too — including agriculture, ad vanced manufacturing, innovative technologies and corporate headquarters, as well as logistics and aerospace, life sciences and healthcare, aerospace and defense. That’s just for starters. When most people refer to “Orlando,” they’re actually talking about the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which encompasses the counties Orange as well as Lake, Osceola and Seminole. The combined popula tion: About 2.7 million. As the region’s transportation network has improved, onceremote Brevard, Polk and Volusia counties are now also con sidered part of the generic amalgamation of Central Florida counties that is often referred to generally as “Orlando.”
summer 2022 25 2020BUREAU,CENSUSU.S.STATISTICS:
Orange County is home to a roster of the world’s most famous tourist attractions, including Walt Disney World . That’s Cinderella’s Castle, of course, which looms near the park’s entrance.
At more than 31,000 acres, Lake Apopka is the third-largest lake in Florida. Ongoing restoration efforts by the St. Johns River Water Manage ment District and Orange and Lake counties have improved the water quality and helped return the lake to its longtime position as one of Central Florida’s most important natural resources.
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Gotha If you’re not a horticulturist, perhaps you’ve never heard of
Noted as “The Indoor Foliage Capital of the World,” Apopka’s foliage industry is a multimillion-dollar business. Cut flowers, blooming plants, roses and bulbs are also grown in abundance. Yet, agriculture is rapidly vanishing as dozens of muck farms, created when Lake Apopka was diked during World War II, were purchased by the state and shut down in an effort to re store the polluted body of water to a pristine state. Apopka is home to more than 43 trails covering 394 miles. The Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive can be experienced via automobile or bicycle, and such natural attractions as Wekiwa Springs State Park and Kelly Park are popular destinations for recreation. If you enjoy kayaking, paddleboarding or canoeing, then you won’t want to miss the 8.5-mile Wekiva River and Rock Springs Run. King’s Landing is an eight-mile scenic canoe trip, while Magnolia Park has boating, fishing, biking and hiking trails. The Apopka Birding Park is a 70-acre, passive birding park for upland birdwatching. Apopkans are also proud of the Northwest Recreation Com plex, which contains over 180 acres of practice and game fields as well as the 1,300 seat Apopka Amphitheater.
The region was settled in the 1840s and named after the Timucuan Indian word meaning “big potato,” or potato-eating place. Ironically, the farms that still surround the city grow just about everything but potatoes.
More growth — in land area, at least — could come if the city annexes the area known as South Apopka, an 80-block area bounded on the north by U.S. Highway 441, east by Sheeler Road, south by Lake Jewell and west by Marden Road. About 8,000 people live in the unincorporated area, although its an nexation is currently the subject of debate among city officials. College Park Although its residents may be getting younger, much about this beloved Orlando neighborhood, which was platted in the 1920s, remains the same. The 80-year-old commercial district along Edgewater Drive has always been home to an array of delightful mom-and-pop shops and eclectic eateries. The streets have always been qui et and the homes well-kept and charming. But there’s plenty happening. Most notably, progress on the Packing District — so named because it was once the site of a citrus-packing facility owned by Dr. Phillip Phillips, the man who invented flash-pasteurized orange juice. The 202-acre tract is at the corner of Princeton Street and Orange Blossom Trail. The $1 billion mixed-use project, developed by Dr. Phillips Charities, will encompass 1 million square feet of commercial and office space and 3,500 multifamily residential units as well as a YMCA Family Center, a Food Hall, a 105-acre regional park and a 40-acre urban farm along with a network of hiking and biking trails.
Apopka Apopka’s roots, literally and figuratively, are in agriculture. However, this booming city of more than 50,000 residents, lo cated in the northwest corner of Orange County, now encom passes some of the region’s most exclusive housing addresses.
The arts scene is further strengthened by the Maitland Art Center, founded in 1937 by sculptor André Smith. The center, originally intended to be a compound where artists could live and work, is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and features an open-air chapel that has become a popular place for weddings.
Since the 1960s, Maitland (population 17,000), has been a quintessential bedroom community. Some of the area’s first suburbs were built there to attract young families looking for large lawns and good schools. In the late 1970s, a sprawling office park called Maitland Center was built near the Interstate 4 interchange, also giving the city a distinctive business identity.
The Central Florida arts scene is strengthened by the Art Center at Maitland, founded in 1937 by sculptor André Smith. The cen ter, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, features an open-air chapel that has become a popular place for weddings.
Maitland
Under the umbrella of the Art and History Museums-Mait land is also the Victorian-era Waterhouse Residence and the small but intriguing Maitland History Museum. And every year since 1976, the Maitland Rotary Art Festival has been held on the shores of Lake Lily and features works by around 135 art ists and artisans. And the city has a charming public library, founded in 1896 and housed in a building that dates to 1907, that’s not part of the Orange County Library System. Additions to the building were made in 1959, 1972, and 1989. However, the city has been discussing ways to replace the building entirely. Stay tuned. Maitland has plenty of other history. It was established in 1838 as Fort Maitland, named in honor of Captain William S. Maitland, a hero of the Second Seminole War. Adjacent to Maitland is Eatonville (population about 2,100), founded in 1887. It’s thought to be the oldest city in the coun try incorporated by African Americans. Folklorist Zora Neale Hurston lived in Eatonville for a time and wrote about the com
Nehrling Gardens’ annual Holiday Amaryllis Festival in December offers a great opportunity to visit Gotha. The free community event features amaryllis bulbs for sale as well as blooming amaryllis and other plants.
In recent decades, other large mixed-use projects were developed throughout the city, giving Maitland’s somewhat nebulous downtown district a more cohesive look. Also in Maitland is Enzian Theater, the region’s only art-house cinema.
Gotha (population about 2,000), a tiny rural enclave located inconspicuously north of upscale Windermere. But if plants are your passion, you may know Gotha as the one-time cala dium capital of the world and home of Henry Nehrling, a hor ticulturist who specialized in growing tropical and subtropical plants.Nehrling, who moved to Gotha in 1884, established one of the most renowned botanical gardens in the world, as well as an experimental agriculture station for the study of exotic strains of bamboo, amaryllis, bromeliad, orchid, Ficus and, of course, the caladium, which Nehrling was the first in Florida to grow and sell.
Gotha, which was founded by German settlers in the 1870s, boasts a tree-shaded, one-block commercial district that fea tures the circa-1920 New Life at Zion Lutheran Church. And across the street is Yellow Dog Eats, a funky restaurant that occupies a circa-1879 structure that had previously been a private home and a general store. The unincorporated town borders Windermere and Winter Garden.
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But now the Falcone Group is looking to build a mixed-use complex with housing, office space and public amenities, and has held forums for community members to offer input about what they’d like to see on the site.
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Ocoee Ocoee remained an isolated citrus town clustered around Starke Lake until the 1980s. Now, with roughly 48,000 resi dents, it’s neck-and-neck with Winter Garden for the third most populous city in Orange County, behind Orlando and Apopka.
Elected officials still refer to Oakland as a town, although it was incorporated as a city in 1959. The city designation does seem a bit incongruous for this rural enclave, where voters have rejected proposals to pave the narrow clay streets for fear that more people might want to drive on them. The city — that is, the town — is home to the Healthy West Orange Arts and Heritage Center, whose mission is to preserve Oakland’s past, present and future. The center supports the mission of Healthy West Orange, a grassroots movement to inspire west Orange County to become the healthiest commu nity in the Programmingnation.is focused on Oakland’s heritage, culture and arts as well as health/wellness initiatives such as health screenings, health education, nutrition classes, and fitness and wellness activities. Oakland’s Jazz Night gatherings will be hosted at the center. Oakland is also home to the 93-acre Oakland Nature Pre serve, where wildlife abounds and paths and boardwalks line the shores of Lake Apopka.
The town is in talks with a developer to revitalize the 88acre site at the corner of East Kennedy Boulevard and Wymore Road, once the site of Hungerford Prep. The site has been va cant since 2009 and under contract multiple times.
munity in books such as Their Eyes Were Watching God
Oakland More than 100 years ago, Oakland was the industrial and so cial hub of Orange County. Today, the picturesque town, which lies two miles west of Winter Garden on the southern shores of Lake Apopka, is home to approximately 3,500 people.
The transformation began three decades ago, when devas tating freezes destroyed thousands of acres of citrus trees and opened west Orange and south Lake counties for develop ment. Today, Ocoee boasts a one-million-square-foot regional mall and at least three-dozen subdivisions with homes in all priceOcoee’sranges.beginnings were inauspicious. In the mid-1850s a physician named J.D. Starke led a group of enslaved people into the area and established a camp along the western shores of the lake that now bears his name.
In 2016, Ocoee adopted its Downtown Ocoee Master Plan Southern elegance describes the historic Withers-Maguire House in Ocoee, a fast-growing town with vestiges of its history. Built in 1888, the house is of a Gothic Stick style with beautiful heart-pine floors throughout the interior. The house was purchased in 1979 by the city of Ocoee and meticulously restored to its current beauty and charm.
Captain Bluford Sims, who hailed from Ocoee, Tennessee, arrived in 1861 and bought 50 acres from Starke. He then plat ted what would become downtown Ocoee. Through the years, Ocoee developed into a thriving citrusproducing center. Today, however, housing is the city’s hot test commodity. Florida’s Turnpike, State Road 408 (formerly known as the East-West Expressway) and State Road 429 (the Western Beltway) all pass through the city, meaning once-re mote downtown Orlando is a much shorter commute.
A comeback began during World War II, when Army person nel were stationed at the Orlando Army Air Base and nearby In 2021, downtown Orlando saw completion of Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, a worldclass performing-arts campus that features three distinct venues. Downtown is also booming with residential and commercial activity, while the expansion of Interstate 4 (the I-4 Ultimate Project) promises even more growth.
The period from 1875 to 1895 is remembered as Orlando’s Golden Era, when it became the hub of Florida’s citrus indus try. The period ended with the Great Freeze of 1894-95, which forced many owners to give up their independent citrus groves. Citrus holdings were then consolidated in the hands of a few citrus barons, who shifted operations south, primarily around Lake Wales in Polk County. The freeze caused many Floridians, including many Orlandoans, to move elsewhere, mostly to the North, California or the Caribbean.
The boom ended when several hurricanes struck Florida in the late 1920s and the Great Depression plunged the nation into a prolonged financial crisis. By 1940, Orlando was the least-populated city in the South.
summer 2022 29 that called for more than a $44 million capital projects pro gram to enhance public spaces and key infrastructure. Projects included improved or expanded public spaces along the western shore of Starke Lake and expansion of the Lakeshore Center, an event destination. Bill Breeze Park and the historic Withers-Maguire House grounds have been up graded with new landscaping and outdoor event spaces.
At the same time, Ocoee retains vestiges of days gone by. For example, there’s the circa-1890 Ocoee Christian Church, with its gothic architecture and Belgian-made stained-glass windows, and a quaint downtown district boasting several vintage buildings.
Downtown Orlando Downtown continues to bustle. During the building frenzy of the early 2000s, scarcely a week passed without a new major condominium development being announced for the once-sleepy district. Then, with the economic downturn of 2007, growth slowed before roaring back.
In recent years, with construction of an arena (Amway Center), a performing-arts center (Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts) and a soccer stadium (Exploria Stadium) — plus the renovation of a football stadium (Camping World) — downtown is booming with residential and commercial activity, while the expansion of Interstate 4 (the I-4 Ultimate Project) promises even more growth.
In any case, The Town of Orlando was incorporated in 1875 with 85 inhabitants, 22 of whom were qualified voters.
Orlando proper, somewhat surprisingly, is not a particularly large city with 300,700 residents. Orlando proper was initially named “Jernigan” for Aaron Jernigan, an early settler. But it was renamed in 1857, probably — but not certainly — to honor Orlando Reeves, an Army sentry killed during the Seminole Wars. (Some historians believe that a local judge named the city for a character in Shakespeare’s As You Like It.)
Orlando became a popular resort during the years between the Spanish-American War and World War I. In the 1920s, the city — and most the rest of the state — grew rapidly during the Florida Land Boom, causing land prices to soar.
Southeast Orlando At roughly 100 square miles, the region generally referred to as southeast Orlando encompasses the University of Central Florida, Orlando International Airport and an array of masterplanned communities, as well as stretches of pastureland, pin ey forests and wetlands abutting the Econlockhatchee River.
The remaining rural areas are rapidly vanishing as the pace of growth accelerates, particularly in the form of those large master-planned communities that contain a mixture of singlefamily and multifamily homes clustered around retail and commercial development. Most notable is sprawling Lake Nona, consisting of residen tial, commercial, education and healthcare development, making it a prototypical modern metropolis.
Lake Nona is among the top-selling master-planned com munities in the U.S. with more than 22,000 residents. Measur ing 17 square miles, the 11,000-acre community is one-fourth the size of Washington, D.C., and three-fourths the size of Man hattan.Oneof the fastest-growing master-planned communities in the U.S., Lake Nona — which is being developed by Tavistock Development Company in south Orlando — is recognized for its thoughtfully designed neighborhoods, top-rated education facilities, leading-edge business and research clusters, and di verse retail and entertainment centers. Bisected by State Road 417, Lake Nona sits southeast of the Orlando International Airport and just north of Osceola County. While thousands of residents call Lake Nona home, there also are many nonresidential projects in the community — and many more on the way. When Lake Nona began to emerge about 15 years ago, the idea of investing in a community 25 minutes from downtown Orlando may have seemed like a gamble. But the once-remote area has since filled with more new residents and businesses of every variety. At the intersection of Lake Nona Boulevard and Tavistock Lakes Boulevard, the Lake Nona Town Center encompasses hotels, offices, restaurants and apartment buildings. Plans call for the open-air, urban district to eventually contain 6 million square feet of entertainment, shopping and dining space.
Pinecastle Army Air Field. Some of these service members stayed in Orlando to settle and raise families. Then, in 1956, the aerospace and defense company Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin) established a plant in the city and employed thousands. But the foundation for the second great boom came in 1965, when Walt Disney announced plans to build Walt Disney World. The vacation resort opened in October 1971, ushering in an explosive population and economic growth for the en tireTheregion.city is dotted with historic neighborhoods and new in fill development and is known for its signature body of water, Lake Eola, with its circa-1950s molded plastic fountain and swan boats.
Boxi Park Lake Nona is in the Town Center just south of State Road 417 on Lake Nona Boulevard. It offers a mix of restau rants and bars, beach volleyball courts and a live entertain
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Southeast Orlando’s Lake Nona is among the top-selling master-planned communities in the U.S. with more than 17,000 residents. Measuring 17 square miles, the 11,000-acre community is about three-fourths the size of Manhattan.
The UCF Health Sciences campus includes several facili ties. Established in 2006, the UCF College of Medicine is one of the first U.S. medical schools in decades to be built from the groundIncludedup.
Lake Nona’s health and life sciences cluster, also known as Medical City, is home to top medical and research facilities, including the University of Central Florida (UCF) Health Sci ences Campus and the UCF Lake Nona Cancer Center as well as Nemours Children’s Hospital, the University of Florida Re search & Academic Center and the Orlando Veterans Affairs MedicalTogetherCenter.they provide a unique collection of research, edu cation and medical care options — all state-of-the-art. So let’s take a deeper look at what, exactly, Medical City has to offer.
Near the hospital is the 175,000-square-foot UCF Lake Nona Cancer Center, which houses cancer researchers, clinical trials and treatment for patients. And there are other key components
The college is unique nationally because of the large under graduate and graduate programs in biomedicine offered through the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. The Burnett School boasts almost 3,000 undergraduates — making biomedical sci ences the third most popular major at UCF.
And coming soon is a 205-room Aloft Hotel, in which every room will include Aloft’s ultra-comfortable beds in an artful, clutter-free loft layout. There’ll also be a 10,000 square-foot conference center and full-service restaurant.
Visitors have several hotel choices with Marriott: Courtyard for short-term guests and Residence Inn for long-term stays. The Town Center buildings are adjacent and share a lobby. Each hotel offers more than 100 rooms and fitness centers.
The all-new Lake Nona Wave Hotel, the Town Center’s crown jewel, opened in 2021. With its curvilinear glass edges jutting 17 stories skyward, the hotel has 234 guest rooms and brings the community new entertainment options with two restaurants, a lounge and a pool that may be visited by locals.
is a 170,000-square-foot medical education facility, which features the latest in lab and classroom technology, as well as the 198,000-square-foot Burnett Biomedical Sciences building.
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ment venue to create an outdoor entertainment destination built using 14 repurposed shipping containers arranged in one- and two-story configurations. Among the first of its kind on the East Coast, the 30,000square-foot park is family- and dog-friendly. Customers can find food and beverage options showcasing different cuisines, along with two full-service bars serving a selection of cocktails. A beer garden features its own craft beer line.
In addition, the 204,709-square-foot UCF Lake Nona Hospital — a partnership hospital between HCA Healthcare’s North Florida Division and UCF Academic Health — opened in March 2021 adja cent to the medical school. The 64-bed teaching hospital provides healing for patients throughout Central Florida and beyond. It also educates health care providers of the future and supports the work of brilliant medical researchers that will lead to lifesaving care.
Lake Nona’s health and life sciences cluster, also known as Medical City, is home to top medical and research facilities, including the University of Central Florida Health Sciences Campus. Nearby are the Lake Nona Cancer Center, the Nemours Children’s Hospital, the University of Florida Research & Academic Center and the Orlando Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
The largest tennis facility in the country, the USTA National Campus features 100 courts and innovative developmental programs that make it a training destination for professional, collegiate and amateur players. Home to thousands of training players and teams and to hundreds of tournaments each year, the 64acre campus is open to the public and serves all levels of play for all ages. The campus has hosted 675,000 visitors and attendees since opening in 2017.
The VA facility is also home to the SimLEARN National Simulation Center, which is dedicated to improving the qual ity of healthcare services for veterans through the application of simulation-based learning strategies to clinical workforce development.TheUniversity of Florida Research and Academic Center at Lake Nona is a 110,000-square-foot facility where basic, clini cal and translational research in drug discovery and develop ment takes place. UF’s center also houses a nationally ranked Doctorate in Pharmacy program.
The 92,000-square-foot GuideWell Innovation Center, lo cated near the UF facility, is a medical innovation hub for start ups and healthcare entrepreneurs. The three-story building includes co-working space for startups on the first floor and houses clinical and research companies on the upper floors. Designed to promote collaboration and acceleration of groundbreaking ideas, the center provides the resources and collaborative environment innovators need to develop new solutions — and the connections to take concepts to market.
The 30,000-square-foot, first-floor collaboration space of fers leaders from around the globe access to the best thinking in health innovation. Also in the building: exhibit space for new medical technology, a presentation venue, a video production studio, a nutrition lab and meeting space.
32 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION of Medical City.
Healing gardens, nature trails, pet therapy areas and water features help create a peaceful environment that fosters both mental and physical healing.
The high-tech campus opened in early 2020 and focuses on enhancing the skills and services of KPMG professionals through immersive training in cutting-edge classroom and field environments. About 50,000 employees worldwide will train each year in various accounting disciplines.
The 630,000-square-foot Nemours Children’s Hospital is part of a state-of-the-art health campus that also includes Nemours Children’s Clinic, an ambulatory diagnostic center and extensive research and education facilities.
The Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute is a 35,000-square-foot global training center for the company’s employees. Also available through the institute are services to help everyone from athletes to executives be more productive and perform at their personal best in high-stress situations.
The 1.2 million-square-foot Orlando VA Medical Center serves the region’s 200,000 veterans by providing acute care, complex specialty care, advanced diagnostic services, and a large multispecialty outpatient clinic as well as administrative and support services.
Opened last summer, the Lake Nona Performance Club is 130,000 square feet — big enough to hold several grocery stores. The concept is a 360-degree approach to health for ev eryone from infants to seniors, with specialized equipment for rehabbing injured athletes. Aquatics include a leisure pool, lap pool and whirlpool. The
The institute’s campus includes the Corporate Athlete Course, a conference center, comprehensive testing and diag nostic facilities, a state-of-the-art fitness center and a worldclass tennis center.
Big Four professional services firm KPMG selected Lake Nona for its national training center from a competitive field of 50 prospective cities nationwide.
Current and former professionals who have visited, trained, coached and played at the facility include James Blake, CiCi Bellis, the Bryan Brothers, Jim Courier, Chris Evert, Ivan Lendl, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Madison Keys, Billie Jean King, Jack Sock, Frances Tiafoe and David Young.
Windermere Nestled among the spring-fed Butler Chain of Lakes, the cozy town of Windermere — at least, the unincorporated area surrounding the tiny town that has the advantage of a Wind ermere mailing address — has emerged as one of the hottest housing markets in Florida and the Southeast. With Lake Butler on the west, Lake Down on the east and While much of “Old Windermere” has looked the same for generations, like the historic Town Hall, the area around the quaint, lake-dotted community is now dotted with upscale custom-home neighborhoods.
The facility was selected as the host site of the NCAA Divi sion I Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships in 2019 and 2021, as well as the NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Ten nis Championships in 2022.
XL Soccer World opened a new 50,000-square-foot indoor athletic complex off Narcoossee Road, near Valencia College’s Lake Nona campus in 2020. The facility features two, six-ver sus-six 4G boarded turf fields and two multisurface fields.
summer 2022 33 studio space for yoga, barre and Pilates is larger than most houses.Thegymnasium features basketball and volleyball courts. And Lake Nona has partnered with Chopra Global, a leading whole-health company founded by wellness guru and best selling author Deepak Chopra, to create the Chopra Mind-Body Zone and Spa.
The camps feature adult leagues, a mini sports academy for youngsters (soccer, basketball, baseball and flag football).
In addition, there are Youth Soccer programs and even an XL National Team consisting of selected players who’ll have an opportunity to compete in Europe. The facility is working to expand with two outdoor fields by the end of 2022. And the hits just keep on coming. Enhancing Lake Nona’s high-tech luster is SIMCOM Aviation Training, which has an nounced plans to build a new global headquarters and train ing facility in the Town Center. The five-acre site will include 12 full-flight simulator bays and train an estimated 10,000 pilots per year.
The largest tennis facility in the country, the USTA National Campus features nearly 100 courts and innovative develop mental programs that make it a training destination for profes sional, collegiate and amateur players.
Home to thousands of training players and teams and to hundreds of tournaments each year, the 64-acre campus is open to the public and serves all levels of play for all ages. The campus has hosted more than 675,000 visitors and attendees since opening in 2017.
On Adventure Lake adjacent to the City of Orlando’s Heroes Community Park, the Nona Adventure Park is a watersports park that features a two-track Rixen Cable System for waterskiers and wakeboarders. It also offers an aqua park with a series of floating path ways, climbing obstacles, slides and trampolines. There’s even a summer camp, which pretty much always sells out. In ad dition, the park has a pro shop as well as a 60-foot climbing tower with a ropes course and climbing walls. The Wi-Fi-enabled main entrance houses an upscale café with food and beverages, and a dry seating area for spectators.
34 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION
Today the rustic-chic city of 48,000 is a destination for visi Winter Garden, in West Orange County, is considered one of the region’s coolest small cities, with a funky downtown historic district filled with mom-and-pop eateries and intriguing boutiques. The West Orange Trail runs through the center of town.
The ambitious settler operated a sawmill, a gristmill, a sugar mill and a cotton gin. Later, he built a tannery for making shoes and served as Orange County’s superintendent of schools from 1873 to Fast-forward1877.tothe 1920s, when Roper’s son Frank planted the area’s first orange trees, marking the humble beginnings of an industry that would sustain and define Winter Garden, which had been incorporated in 1903, for the next six decades.
The popular West Orange Trail, 22 miles long, passes directly through Winter Garden, thus converting the all-but-forgotten city into an oasis for thousands of ready-to-spend strollers. And most are charmed by what they see. As a result, Winter Garden is blossoming anew — this time as a scenic place to live in literally dozens of new communities.
The ritzy gated communities, such as Isleworth, known for its profusion of professional athletes, are in unincorporated Orange County. Winter Garden It was 1857 when W.C. Roper was riding through the back woods of west Orange County on horseback, seeking a place to build a home for his family waiting back in Georgia. Roper bought 600 acres along the shore, between presentday Winter Garden and Oakland, and returned a year later with his wife and 10 children.
Lake Bessie on the southeast, Windermere is a verdant penin sula where many of the homes are on the shoreline.
Not coincidentally, Windermere proper (population about 3,500) and the area surrounding it encompasses some of Cen tral Florida’s most upscale new communities, home to busi nesspeople, entrepreneurs and athletes.
Fast-forward again to the 1980s, when devastating freezes destroyed thousands of acres of citrus. Developers began buy ing up decimated groves for new homes, creating new subdivi sions seemingly overnight. Then came a brilliant project called Rails to Trails, through which abandoned rail beds across the country were converted into hiking and biking trails.
The lakes, in fact, attracted one of Windermere’s first inves tors, Joseph Hill Scott. Scott’s son, Stanley, homesteaded the property and supposedly named it after Lake Windermere in England.Littlechanged until 1910, when a pair of Ohio investors named D.H. Johnson and J. Calvin Palmer bought all the land they could piece together and formed the Windermere Im provement Company for the purpose of developing it.
Some old homes and buildings have been preserved and add to the charm of this small town — yes, it’s a town, not a city — nestled among the ancient oaks on an isthmus between lakes Down and Butler. In the early days of the construction of Walt Disney World, the 1960s and 1970s, many Disney executives lived in Wind ermere, including Don Edgren, Bob Allen and Admiral Joe Fowler.Small-town touches abound. There’s a weekly Farmers’ Mar ket every Friday along Town Square Park as well as a costume paraded and hayride for Halloween and a PetFest that features food trucks, a police K-9 demonstration, live music, and tons of fun for residents and their furry friends. Although the main drag is paved, most of the residential streets in Windermere proper aren’t — which is just the way the residents like it. But, of course, that’s “Old Windermere.”
Winter Garden’s picturesque downtown district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. It covers about 100 acres in the general area of Woodland, Tremaine, Henderson and Lakeview streets. West Plant Street, which runs east and west through the dis trict, is home to several dining and shopping choices. In addition, the popular Winter Garden Farmers Market sets up downtown each Saturday. It has been recognized as one of the country’s best farmers’ markets by the American Farmland Trust. Plant Street Market, housing more than 20 merchants includ ing the popular Crooked Can microbrewery, opened in 2014 on the site of a demolished apartment complex. The market hous es farm-to-table restaurants, a bakery, a butcher, a chocolatier, a wine bar and various sellers of artisanal food items.
In addition, the city partnered with the Winter Garden Arts Association to convert the old Boyd Street Fire Station into a hub for visual art that now houses a gallery and a teaching fa cility. It’s the first step toward creation of an Art and Design Dis trict, which will offer artists both living space and studio space.
Residents and visitors looking for a special night out can vis it the critically acclaimed Chef’s Table at the Edgewater Hotel on Plant Street. Diners and shoppers have even more choices in the Winter Garden Village, located off Daniels Road and just northwest of State Road 429. Winter Garden is still finalizing its ambitious East Winter Garden Plan, which concentrates on revitalization of 10th and Center streets, the intersection of Ninth Street and Story Road, and the corner of Ninth and Plant streets. The plan involves street improvements; additional street, bike and pedestrian connections; new buildings; additional parking locations; and upgraded open spaces.
While Orlando’s sunrise side burgeons with fast-growing Plant Street Market, housing more than 20 merchants including the popular Crooked Can microbrewery, opened in 2014 on the site of a demolished apartment complex.
The city’s Heritage Foundation operates two museums: The Winter Garden Heritage Museum, located in the old Atlantic Coast Line Depot, and the Central Florida Railroad Museum, located in the old Tavares & Gulf Railroad Depot. Both muse ums offer free admission.
The $2 million project extended downtown’s footprint be yond City Hall and further solidified Winter Garden’s reputa tion as a foodie’s dream and as a reminder of the city’s long history with agriculture. In addition, the New York Beer Proj ect, a New York-based brewery, opened a 24,000-square-foot facility earlier this year. The project, located on the corner of Seidel Road and Seton Creek Boulevard, features a gastropub, an indoor beer garden, a tap room, a sidewalk bistro and three Big Apple-themed event spaces. An icon of downtown Winter Garden is the restored Garden Theatre, a circa-1930s movie house. Now a performing-arts center, it hosts live theater, dance and musical programs as well as the annual Starlight Film Festival.
summer 2022 35 tors, residents and businesses. Incorporated in 1908, Winter Garden sits on the southern shore of Lake Apopka and is 20 minutes west of Orlando.
West Orange County
Horizon West is home to five unique villages and a town cen ter situated in the center of 28,000 acres — that’s just under 32 square miles, which is nearly the size of neighboring Walt Disney World. The village-centric design means that homes will be nearby schools, a village center and public parks, where wide path ways connect everything. Green spaces and nature preserves are found along pathways and throughout each village. Splitrail fences and orange-crate relief art distinguish community thoroughfares.Thatwasn’tthe
Lake Nona and seam-busting UCF, the region’s sunset side has emerged as just as much of a hot spot.
West Orange County also includes the 4.5-square-mile Dr. Phillips area (you’ll remember Dr. Phillip Phillips from earlier in this story). The former grove land now encompasses such neighborhoods as Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Country Club, Or ange Tree and Sand Lake Hills as well as the Butler Chain of Lakes. TheDr. Phillips area also boasts an array of retail and dining destinations, including Central Florida’s renowned “Restau rant Row” and The Mall at Millenia.
Once a haven for artists, writers and academicians, Winter Park was promoted in the late 1800s as a refuge for “the cultured and wealthy.” Those early boosters would almost certainly be pleased to see how it all turned out. Today, the city is home to 70-plus parks and nearly as many oak trees (20,000) as residents (approximately 31,000). Its eight square miles encompass lovely old homes, an upscale shop ping district, a prestigious liberal arts college, a plethora of gal leries and museums, and street signs that admonish motorists to “drive with extraordinary care.” Hamlin, in the heart of Horizon West, includes a Town Center with more than 2 million square feet of mixed-use com mercial space and up to 4,870 residen tial units at buildout. The Town Center is already ringed with residential com munities.
case decades ago, when Horizon West was home mostly to thousands of acres of orange groves. Repeat ed freezes in the late 1980s set into motion a plan by landown ers to develop the vast acreage, where citrus farming was no longer viable.
The landowners, mostly growers, presented an intelligent and comprehensive plan to Orange County that was unprec edented in its sheer scope. Horizon West began to take form when the plan was adopted in 1995. Six villages were proposed, which are now known as Lake side, Bridgewater, Town Center, the Seidel area (Village F), Hickory Nut (Village H) and Ovation (Village I). Later came Hamlin, which included a Town Center with more than 2 million square feet of mixed-use commercial space and up to 4,870 residential units at buildout. The Town Center is already ringed with residential communities. Development of a 3,624-acre central area, which spans all four quadrants of the State Road 429 exchange, will take up to a decade to fully complete and will act as a destination for the entire region with components that encompass dining, enter tainment, offices, hotels, medical, wellness, shopping, hous ing and Horizoneducation.West’svillages have been approved for 40,282 resi dential units, making the projected population at buildout 100,705. Because of faster than anticipated growth, it’s already more than halfway complete, according to county officials, and is currently home to about 25,000 people. Schools are also starting to keep pace with growth. An ambitious building program backed largely by a half-penny sales tax has helped ease the overcrowding. And Horizon West on its own has driv en a major expansion of public schools.
Winter Park
36 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION
On the north end of Park Avenue is the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, showcasing the world’s larg est collection of Tiffany glass. Several blocks farther west is Winter Park Village, a retail and entertainment complex on U.S. HighwayYear-round17-92.the city is alive with festivals and special events, highlighted by the renowned Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival, held in the spring and attracting artists from around the country, and the Autumn Art Festival, which is limited to Florida artists. On the shores of Lake Virginia is beautiful Rollins College, one of the highest rated liberal arts colleges in the country. And the city is also home to Full Sail University, one of the world’s top schools for entertainment technology.
leading employers
summer 2022 37 Park Avenue is the dining and retail hub of Winter Park, and one of the most eclectic commercial districts in all of Florida. It’s anchored by Central Park, a carefully manicured, 11-acre green space dotted with monuments to the city’s history. Walt Disney World Resort Universal Orlando Resort
The heart of Winter Park is Park Avenue, stretching 10 blocks and boasting more than 100 shops, from upscale national re tailers to one-of-a-kind boutiques. In addition, the downtown shopping district has spread west on New England Avenue as posh apartments and retail stores have sprung up.
Winter Park is known for its peacocks, generations of which have roamed its neighborhoods. They’re all descendants of the peacocks brought to their property between lakes Virginia, Ber ry and Mizell by Hugh and Jeannette McKean in 1945. Hugh McKean was a president of Rollins and Jeannette was an artist and the granddaughter of early Winter Park developer Charles Hosmer Morse, for whom the previously mentioned museum is named. Winter Park is also well known for its Scenic Boat Tour, which traverses the Winter Park Chain of Lakes through ver dant, manmade canals. Breathtaking views of opulent private homes and exquisite estates sprawling along the shores are also a key feature of the hour-long tour, which has been in op eration since 1938. And golfers can enjoy a historic 9-hole course at the northern edge of Park Avenue as well as an 18-hole layout in the Winter Park Pines neighborhood, both owned and operated by the city. Recent big projects in Winter Park have included a new Li brary & Events Center designed by celebrity architect David Adjaye. Soon to come, on downtown property dubbed “Innova tion Triangle” by Rollins College, is a new facility for the Rollins Museum of Art and the Crummer Graduate School of Business. The other edge of the triangle is the Rollins-owned Alfond Inn. It was recently expanded and houses the Alfond Collection of Contemporary Art, which is associated with the Rollins Museum of Art. The boutique hotel was named one of the 15 Best Resorts in Florida by the readers of Travel + Leisure in the magazine’s 2022 World’s Best Awards.
Authority University of Central Florida Lockheed Martin Corp. Resource Employment Solutions Darden Restaurants Inc.
GreaterPublixOrlandoAdventHealthHealthSupermarketsOrlandoAviation
Altamonte Springs
Although Altamonte Springs was incorporated in 1920, its population totaled only 5,000 as recently as 1970. But that was before developers turned this erstwhile whistle-stop into a thriving suburb. Today, Altamonte Springs, population 45,300, is known both for the Altamonte Mall, built in 1974 as the area’s first re gional mall, and the newer Uptown Altamonte, as well as for the presence of virtually every franchised eatery in the world.
Casselberry
38 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION
Multifamily housing also is plentiful, with approximately three-dozen apartment developments located within the city limits, primarily along Semoran Boulevard, also known as State Road 436. Apartment living, plus the convenience of shopping and entertainment venues, has made Altamonte Springs popular among young adults.
If all you know about Seminole County is what you see while driving along U.S. Highway 17-92, then you need to get off the beaten track and check out the county’s natural beauty, such as Lake Triplett in Casselberry. Seminole County has 148 lakes, 29 parks, 89 miles of trails and 6,000 acres of pre served wilderness areas.
Uptown Altamonte, which spans more than 25 acres on the shores of a 40-acre manmade lake, now has established itself as the pulse of Altamonte Springs and serves as an economic and aesthetic focal point. Many of the city’s subdivisions can be found along Palm Springs Drive, Maitland Avenue and Montgomery Road, not far from the mall. Some of the older developments are nestled around hidden lakes that seem far removed from the hustle and bustle.
2020BUREAU,CENSUSU.S.STATISTICS: Land Area: 298 square miles Population: 471,000 2010-2020 Population Growth: 11% 2025 Projected Population Growth: 492,260 Mean Travel Time to Work (Minutes): 27.5. Mean Household Income: $66,768 Education: Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 39.6% seminole County At a Glance
Founded by World War I veteran Hibbard Casselberry, who in 1926 bought 3,000 acres to grow ferns, Casselberry emerged as a suburban residential community after World War II. By the time it was incorporated in 1965, Casselberry encom passed numerous family-oriented subdivisions and a budding business district near the intersection of State Road 436 and U.S. Highway 17-92. In the decades that followed, the city continued to grow, and its population today stands at more than 30,000 people. As such, Casselberry is a quintessential bedroom community, also boasting more than 15 parks, two-dozen lakes and a mu nicipal golf course. The 2,500-square-foot Casselberry Art House in Lake Con cord Park offers community space for art classes, art exhibi tions, educational programs, workshops, artist lectures and musical performances for all ages. The park also has a sculp tureAdjacentgarden.to Casselberry is unincorporated Fern Park, which, as the name suggests, also traces its beginnings to the ferngrowing industry. Like Casselberry, it developed into a bed room community for Orlando, starting in the 1950s.
summer 2022 39 Lake Mary Lake Mary became one of Central Florida’s hottest growth ar eas, thanks in large part to the dogged persistence of Jeno Pau lucci, a self-made millionaire who made his first fortune selling frozen Chinese food and a second one selling frozen pizza. The city today continues to sit at the epicenter of Florida’s High-Tech Corridor, which follows Interstate 4 from Tampa through Seminole County and northeast to Daytona Beach. Along the route, government and industry have joined forces to attract leading-edge companies in such fields as telecom munications, medical technology and microelectronics.
In Lake Mary, with a population of about 18,000, dozens of such companies have set up shop in several sprawling busi ness centers that have combined to create a Central Florida version of Silicon Valley. But it all started as an isolated railroad station known as Bents Station, named for a local grove owner. In 1900, industry arrived in Bents Station when Planters Manufacturing Co. built a factory to produce starches, dextrins, farina and tapioca. The facility closed in 1910, however, and Bents — later renamed Lake Mary for the wife of a local pastor — seemed destined to remain an out-of-the-way country town. That was the case for another half-century, until the con struction of Interstate 4 and a successful campaign by com munity boosters to get a Lake Mary interchange tacked onto the project.
Longwood
Of all Seminole County’s municipalities, Longwood, popula tion roughly 17,500, has the most history to preserve, and has done the best job of preserving it. But it’s still a modern place, with a plethora of exclusive country club communities, office parks and shopping centers.
In 1873 a New Englander named Edward Henck homestead ed a tract of land that he named Longwood, after a Boston suburb he had helped plan. Henck was also the town’s first postmaster and its first mayor.
And in what may have been his spare time, Henck co-founded the South Florida Railroad and built a line connecting Sanford and Orlando, which enabled Longwood to boom as a citrus- and lumber-shipping center as well as a winter resort destination. But as crucial as Henck was to Longwood’s development, it was a carpenter named Josiah Clouser, a Henck employee, Of all Seminole County’s municipalities, Long wood, population roughly 17,500, has the most history to preserve, and has done the best job of preserving it. This most modern of cities boasts a remarkable historic district encompassing a two-block area on Warren and Church avenues near the intersection of County Road 427 and State Road 434.
The resulting tracts of easily accessible land caught the eye of Paulucci. In the late 1970s, he announced plans to build a luxurious residential development and business hub called Heathrow, where the American Automobile Association (AAA) has its Today,headquarters.suchdevelopments — both pricey and more mod erate — are plentiful, along with an array of complementary mixed-use developments featuring shops, restaurants and apartment complexes..
Since that time, Oviedo’s history has been rewritten, to a large extent, with orange groves and celery fields giving way to hous ing communities and a new mixed-use downtown, Oviedo on the Park, to accommodate the city’s soaring population. Most of the original two-block town was demolished so that State Road 434 (known as Central Avenue in Oviedo) could be widened.
Oviedo While Oviedo might be one of Central Florida’s oldest com munities, first settled some 140 years ago, this boomtown knows how to embrace newcomers. Indeed, few Central Florida municipalities witnessed the kind of growth Oviedo saw beginning in the early 2000s and con tinued for much of the past 15 years. The town’s population is about 45,000, more than a tenfold increase since 1980. Oviedo has a mall, too — called, appropriately, the Oviedo Mall. Oviedo’s growth was a long time coming. The area’s first set tlers, who put down stakes near Lake Jesup in the 1860s, called it Solary’s Wharf. In 1883, postmaster Andrew Aulin dubbed it Oviedo, supposedly after seeing a Spanish town of the same name on a Longtimemap.locals point to 1964 as perhaps the most signifi cant year in Oviedo’s history. That’s when a desolate 1,145acre tract in rural northeast Orange County, about seven miles east of the city, was selected as the site for Florida Technologi cal University (now the University of Central Florida). The ad jacent Central Florida Research Park, originally established in 1978, has since become the largest research park in Florida.
The city also has a Farmers’ Market every Saturday as well as a Cruise-In Car Show twice monthly and concerts and events at well-equipped Reiter Park. There are numerous annual events, including a Pirate Seafood Festival every March.
Sanford Located on the shores of Lake Monroe, Sanford once rivaled Orlando as the region’s largest city. A major distribution center for vegetables and citrus, it was known as “The Celery Capital of the World.” But agriculture is no longer king in Sanford (population Although it barely topped 2,000 resi dents in the early 1980s, the Seminole County city of Oviedo today has a population of more than 41,000. Much of the business activity has moved from the “old” downtown to Oviedo on the Park, a 50-acre town center on the north side of Mitchell Hammock Road. The site encompasses homes, businesses, a lake, an amphitheater and a boardwalk as well as municipal buildings.
But the small-town quirkiness isn’t gone. For several decades, broods of chickens have roamed the “old” downtown area, sometimes wandering into traffic. This, of course, gives literal meaning to the question: “Why did the chicken cross the road?”
A rooster is painted on signs designating the city limits.
40 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION whose legacy is most visible. Clouser, a Pennsylvanian, constructed most of the buildings still standing in Longwood’s remarkable historic district, a twoblock area on Warren and Church avenues near the intersec tion of County Road 427 and State Road 434. Among the notable buildings are the Inside-Outside House, built in 1872, which is so-named because its construction fea tures support studs on the outside. The prefabricated structure was built in New England by a former sailing captain and is be lieved to have been patterned after 19th-century whaling ships.
The chickens, whose origins are unknown, have been fea tured on Oviedo T-shirts and coffee mugs and a poster com memorating one of Oviedo’s yearly festivals, “A Taste of Oviedo.”
There are plenty of events to keep Longwood residents oc cupied. The annual Arts and Crafts Festival, held in November, features more than 200 artists and handcraft exhibitors selling unique items, fine jewelry and seasonal décor. Also, the Found ers Day Spring Arts and Crafts Festival is held each March.
Tuscawilla, eastern Seminole County’s first upscale golf course community, changed all that, along with a new city char ter getting adopted in 1972, which gave the city the new name of Winter Springs. In the past two decades, the city’s growth has rivaled that of adjacent Oviedo.
Sanford is home to Seminole State College of Florida and the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens as well as the Ritz Theater, a restored art-deco style movie house that hosts films and stage productions.
DeloitteConcentrixConsulting LLP Seminole State College of Florida Seminole County Government leading employers
Winter Springs Until the mid-1950s, Winter Springs was nothing more than several square miles of scrub pine and palmettos. That’s when developers Raymond Moss and William Edgemon bought the land, subdivided it and introduced the Village of North Orlando.
And, after years of stagnation, Sanford also is a city on the rise, thanks to a burgeoning airport, Orlando-Sanford International Airport — one of the fastest-growing in the country — and a downtown redevelopment initiative that has given life to a new dining, shopping and entertainment district, highlighted by the scenic Sanford Riverwalk along the shores of Lake Monroe.
Relocators to Sanford can choose from an array of new sub divisions on the city’s outskirts, or they can latch on to Victo rian fixer-uppers in the city center or they can enjoy emerging apartment living as part of downtown’s rebirth.
Leading that rebirth is San Leon, a, new mixed-use develop ment that hearkens back to the founding of the city and con sists of ground-level retail with residential uses on top floors.
summer 2022 41
The hope, according to city officials, is that the project will spark a resurgence of new projects in the downtown area.
The Seminole County city of Sanford was restored and rejuvenated about 20 years ago. Hugging the shores of Lake Monroe, Sanford today is a lively destination for shopping and dining, and boasts an array of antique empori ums and art galleries.
62,000, making it Seminole County’s most populous city). To day, it’s the Seminole County seat, making county government the leading employer.
Seminole County Public Schools Orlando Sanford International Airport AT&T CentralMobilityFlorida Regional Hospital Consulate Health Care LLC Chase Card Services
At the start of the 1970s, a time of rampant growth throughout Central Florida, the area contained one small grocery store and roughly 300 homes straddling State Road 434.
The population is now 38,500 and growing, bolstered by proj ects such as the sprawling Town Center at the corner of State Road 434 and Tuskawilla Road.
Perhaps Winter Springs’ best-known annual activity is the ARToberFEST Festival of the Arts, held in October, which fea tures German food and displays of arts and crafts.
Formerly called Allendale, the city began as a tiny trading post on the northern bank of Lake Tohopekaliga. It was in corporated in 1887 as Kissimmee — a Native American term meaning “long water.” It later became the Osceola County seat and, by the 1930s, cattle rivaled citrus as its main industry.
In addition, Kissimmee remains a sporting paradise, with numerous boat ramps on the shores of Lake Toho, which is known for excellent bass fishing.
Southport Park, for example, offers covered pavilions, grills and campgrounds, while picnic areas abound at Partin Trian gle Park and Whaley’s Landing. Hunters can enjoy the wideopen Osceola Plain, home to turkey, white-tailed deer and fox squirrels.Kissimmee is also culturally diverse. About 68 percent of its population identifies as Hispanic, and many arts and enter tainment venues reflect that burgeoning international flair.
2020BUREAU,CENSUSU.S.STATISTICS: Land Area: 1,385 square miles Population: 376,000 2010-2020 Population Growth: 45% 2025 Projected Population Growth: 452,100 Mean Travel Time to Work (Minutes): 34 Mean Household Income: $52,279 Education: Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 21.8% At a osceolaGlanceCounty
Kissimmee As a whole, Osceola County had Florida’s second-largest growth in population from 2010 to 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That growth has been especially evident in Kissimmee, its largest city at approximately 75,000 people.
To make certain that at least some of Kissimmee’s heritage is preserved, the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency con tinues to actively improve the historic downtown district near Main Street and U.S. 192 with appealing mixed-use projects.
But housing now powers the economy. With developable land becoming scarce in Orange and Seminole counties, much of the region’s residential growth for the next decade is expected to take place in and around Kissimmee, according to a study by the Urban Land Institute.
Osceola County’s Silver Spurs Rodeo, still held every year in Kissimmee, is a throwback to the days of the county’s stature as a cattle-ranching mecca. There are still plenty of cowboys, along with others who like the area’s afford able homes and array of recreational opportunities.
At the same time, by virtue of the vibe that continues to per meate the community, the one-time slogan for Kissimmee of “Big-time attractions, small-town hospitality” still fits. A friendly, down-to-earth place, Kissimmee is still recog nized for its biannual Silver Spurs Rodeo and its genuine cow boy panache. It just happens to exist alongside Walt Disney World, the world’s No. 1 tourist attraction.
42 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION
One example: City Centre Kissimmee, which consists of luxury residential units plus parking garages as well as retail, restaurants, financial institutions and professional offices. Also spurring growth around Kissimmee is NeoCity, a mixed use “smart city” and technology incubator that will eventu ally contain, in addition to its research and manufacturing fa cilities, a 1.4 million-square-foot retail and entertainment hub and 1,150 condominiums with nearly 400,000 square feet of amenities and common space.
summer 2022 43 year in the 65th Infantry Veterans Park in the expansive com munity of Buenaventura Lakes.
In fact, the county encompasses more than 1,000 lakes and 202 square miles of water.
For example, the city’s first-ever splash pad, inspired by Puerto Rico’s El Yunque National Forest, opened earlier this It’s called Lake County for a reason, dotted with big bodies of water like Lake Minneola.
School District of Osceola County
More than a century later, St. Cloud boasts one of Central Florida’s most charming downtown districts. It’s replete with antique shops occupying vintage storefronts, several excellent restaurants, a historical museum and Veteran’s Memorial Park. Meanwhile, growth continues, with St. Cloud’s population now exceeding 57,000. And there are some exciting commu nity amenities on the way for them to enjoy.
AdventHealth Celebration Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center
Orange Lake Resorts & Holiday Inn Club Vacations
Westgate Vacation Villas Osceola County Government Valencia College Osceola Wilson Resort Management leading employers St. Cloud St. Cloud, located on the southern shore of East Lake Toho pekaliga, has been called “A Soldier’s Colony,” “The Friendly Soldier City,” “The Wonder City” and “The City of Schools.” Also, it was known as an inexpensive place for tourists to stay while visiting Walt Disney World. In the 1970s, St. Cloud teamed with much-larger Kissimmee to market itself internationally as an affordable alternative for vacationers wishing to explore the theme parks without pay ing resort hotel prices. Yet, these days, city officials are working to downplay that tourism connection while promoting the charms of St. Cloud as a great place to live. The military references hearken back to 1909, when the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization for Union soldiers who had served in the Civil War, bought 35,000 acres for devel opment as a community for veterans.
The park, which already includes a highly acclaimed disk golf course, serves as a tribute to the 65th Infantry Regiment, which was nicknamed “The Borinqueneers.” The storied Puer to Rican regiment of the U.S. Army distinguished itself during the Korean However,War.considerable eye-popping growth is slated for just outside St. Cloud proper. This summer, a St. Cloud developer purchased the nearly 6,000-acre Green Island Ranch property south of Lake Tohopekaliga that could eventually encompass more than 17,000 homes along with office and commercial development.
Osceola Regional Medical Center
Walt Disney Company
The stage was set with construction of metro Orlando’s West ern Beltway, which has made a once-daunting commute quite manageable.Clermontis truly at the crossroads of Florida, located at the intersection of State Road 50, which runs east and west, and U.S. 27, which runs north and south. Bordered by Lake Minne haha on the south and Lake Minneola on the north, Clermont is on a chain of 16 lakes connected by the Palatlakaha River in the Ocklawaha Basin of tributaries of the St. Johns River.
“The Gem of the Hills,” as Clermont is sometimes called, also is popular among triathlon enthusiasts. Orlando Health South Lake Hospital’s all-in-one campus is home to the USA Triathlon National Training Center, which is designed to meet the needs of all ages and fitness levels. Growth, then, is both literally and figuratively healthy in and around Clermont. And it’s about to get even more so with Well nessTheWay.southeast portion of the county, formerly known as the South Lake Sector Planning Area, encompasses nearly 15,500 acres east of U.S. 27 and south of State Road 50. The mostly ru ral expanse has been poised for major development as a sort
The Citrus Tower, built in 1956, was once an awesome attrac tion that invited picnickers and tourists to its observation deck for panoramic views of Lake County’s sprawling citrus groves. The tower — now considered a kitschy relic of a bygone era — is still there, but the landscape has starkly changed. Now you’ll see thousands of new homes on the rolling hills that have always distinguished burgeoning Lake County from its geographically challenged neighbors. That isn’t to say sprawl has destroyed Lake County’s charm. There are still groves, woods, barns and more than 1,400 lakes scattered across 221 square miles. The county’s unpretentious municipalities still boast quaint business districts with momand-pop shops.
Clermont and South Lake County
44 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION 2020BUREAU,CENSUSU.S.STATISTICS: Land Area: 1,156 square miles Population: 370,000 2010-2020 Population Growth: 29% 2025 Projected Population Growth: 410,900 Mean Travel Time to Work (Minutes): 30 Mean Household Income: $54,513 Education: Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 24% At a Glance lake County
Yet, like other previously rural areas in Central Florida, Lake County is growing fast — particularly in south Lake County, which has increasingly become an attractive suburban alter native for people who work in more populous Orange and Seminole counties. The city of Clermont, population of more than 44,000 and steadily rising, is ground zero for the county’s housing boom.
The county mixes the past and the future, with the iconic Citrus Tower (left), built in the 1950s to provide views of citrus groves that are now mostly under development. n The future is represented by Olympus, a new healthoriented development that marks the beginning of Well ness Way.
Comparable to Horizon West, multiuse Wellness Way is divided into smaller sectors, including a Town Center. It will eventually include about 16,500 residential units, but that number remains somewhat fluid for now. Suffice it to say, it’ll beInfrastructurebig.
Activity has come in stages, beginning in 2018, when master plans were first outlined to the Lake County Commission by Winter Park-based Olympus Sports and Entertainment Group, the community’s developer. Although the infrastructure phase of Olympus didn’t be gin until last summer, during the next decade — if all goes as planned — Olympus is expected to create more than 5,000 jobs and generate more than $1.4 billion in local economic impact. Downtown Mount Dora is a busy and scenic place, filled with intriguing shops and restaurants. Southern Living magazine spotlighted the city in a story called “Small Towns We Love.” The business district is also home to a major annual art festival.
Athletes come to the rolling, lake-dotted area to train yearround on some of Florida’s rare hills. Nowhere else in Central Florida — or perhaps the state — do road signs declare “Cau tion: High Cyclist Activity” and “Cyclists May Take the Full Lane.”
is being planned or is underway with multiple new roads designed to literally connect into the future. This in cludes several new connector roads that will connect Horizon West to neighboring communities in Lake County.
Clearly, there are big visions for this rustic setting, which today is marked primarily by citrus groves, bumpy dirt roads, lakes and hills, and pastures where cows contentedly graze. All the while, homebuilders (and developers) have been watching and taking notice — and already have gotten busy with what surely will accelerate stark changes to the landscape.
As planned, the sports campus would include a tennis cen ter, an ice sports arena, an aquatics center, an area for beach volleyball and a field sports complex for lacrosse, soccer and rugby.You can kind of imagine svelte bodies sporting the Olympus logo on T- shirts: “Epic Every Day.” The arena, by the way, might accommodate concerts and other events.
summer 2022 45 of expansion — or even a duplication — of booming Horizon West in bordering west Orange County.
At the center of the initial activity is master-planned Olym pus, a 243-acre community in Clermont bordered to the west by U.S. 27 and 4,372-acre Lake Louisa State Park. Proximity of a development like Olympus to Clermont makes a lot of sense, if you know anything about Clermont. While some cities tout the names of corporations they land or public lands they acquire, Clermont lists the names of Olympians who train in their town. Last year, Triathlete maga zine named the city one of the nation’s top 10 for triathletes — putting the Lake County hamlet in the same league as San Diego, California; Austin, Texas; and Charlotte, North Carolina.
“This suburb of Orlando is quickly building a reputation as one of the country’s true tri meccas,” magazine editors wrote.
Essentially marking the start of Wellness Way, Olympus fea tures uncommon elevations and vistas, a natural lake and full entitlement for more than 1,000 residential units to accompa ny 1 million-plus square feet of office, medical, retail, restau rant and industrial space.
The planned centerpiece of this initial community will be the Olympus Athlete Center. It comes with all the right buzz words: “sports performance,” “athlete nutritional services” and “media and broadcast facilities.”
Mount Dora
Mount Dora, the aptly named “New England of the South,” was founded in 1874, when homesteaders first discovered the gently sloping lakeside hills that rise to 184 feet -- hardly a mountain, but a formidable height by Central Florida standards. The city hugs the shores of 3,600-acre Lake Dora, named for Dora Ann Drawdy, who homesteaded two miles south with her husband in 1846. Today, downtown Mount Dora contains dozens of historic buildings housing antique shops, art galleries, boutiques and restaurants. Tree-shaded Donnelly Park occupies a full block in the center of town, inviting picnickers and tennis players to enjoy the lush surroundings. Within walking distance is Palm Island Park, adjacent to Gil bert Park, which boasts one of the most beautiful nature trails in the Thestate.downtown area also hosts an annual art festival, as well as numerous antique and craft fairs, specialty auto shows and historic home tours. The city has a respected community the ater, too, along with an art center and a historical museum. But this old-fashioned setting, like many others, is chas ing high-tech growth. For example, the 850 acres along State Roads 46 and 453 comprise the Wolf Branch Innovation Dis trict, a partnership begun in 2019 between the city and Lake County to attract new business. Publix
One of the major attractions in Polk County is Florida Southern College, which encompasses the largest number of buildings designed by legendary archi tect Frank Lloyd Wright. Just about every structure on the campus is a distinctive modernist masterpiece, all carefully restored and maintained.
CarrollLifestreamLowe’sCornerstoneTheWalmartOrlandoUFAdventHealthSupermarketsWatermanHealthLeesburgHospitalHealthSouthLakeHospitalSupercentersVillagesofLake-SumterInc.Hospice&PalliativeCareHomeImprovementCentersBehavioralCenterFulmerLogisticsCorp.
As part of the approved plan, the development will contain 48 acres of nonresidential land focused on agribusiness and community recreational facilities, along with a 200-foot buffer of trees and five miles of interconnected community trails for walking, hiking, biking and horseback riding.
To the north, Mount Dora, population 15,200, continues to be a center of development, with Eustis and Tavares also at tracting significant attention to the so-called Golden Triangle.
leading employers
46 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION
PolkAdventHealthBayCareCityGeicoAmazon.comWalmartofLakelandCountyBoard of County Commissioners leading employers In Polk County, Bok Tower Gardens is one of the most beautiful and peaceful places you’ll find anywhere. Its massive car illon tower was dedicated during the presidency of Calvin Coolidge.
Land Area: 1,874 square miles Population: 761,000 2010-2020 Population Growth: 20% 2025 Projected Population Growth: 766,400 Mean Travel Time to Work (Minutes): 27.8 Mean Household Income: $50,584 Education: Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 20.2% At a Glance polk County
Florida Resort in Winter Haven and the historic Bok Tower Gar dens in Lake Wales. Polk County has its share of bustling midsized cities, including its two largest: Lakeland (population 102,700) and Winter Haven (population 36,700). Laid-back Bartow (population 18,500) is the county’s seat, while Davenport (population 7,300) has emerged in recent years as one of the region’s hottest boomtowns for new development.LakeWales (population 16,000) has been named Florida’s population center by the U.S. Census Bureau — the result of a geographic calculation done every decade to summarize popu lation shifts across the country. It’s the closest city to the middle of Florida’s population. A thriving arts scene also is evident in Polk, with museums, art centers and theaters. Sports tourism is also a very big deal.
Publix Supermarkets Polk County School Board Lakeland Regional Health
Also, PCSM has been recognized as the Sports Organiza tion of the Year by both the Independent Softball Association and Youth Basketball of America. It’s an official division of Polk CountyHow’sgovernment.thisforatourist attraction in youth athletics? Lake Myr tle Sports Park in Auburndale is a multipurpose sports complex that encompasses nine collegiate-size baseball fields (sodded with type 419 Bermuda grass on all playing surfaces) and 11 lighted soccer fields. Events hosted there have ranged from the National Dog Agil ity Championships and regional rugby championships to the RussMatt Central Florida Baseball Invitational — which is the nation’s largest collegiate baseball tournament.
summer 2022 47 Shine a spotlight on Polk County, which sits in the geographi cal center of Florida, and you’ll realize that, despite its low pro file, the county is both distinct and growing — particularly in the Four Corners area where Polk, Lake, Orange and Osceola coun tiesGrowthmeet. is happening there by virtue of neighboring commu nities, including Horizon West and its five designated mixed-use villages, plus the bulging megadevelopments Celebration and Bay Lake, among others. Polk County has picturesque small towns and giant masterplanned communities; historic tourist attractions; a college (Florida Southern in Lakeland) designed by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright; a vibrant arts community; and a diversified economy.Tourism was thriving here many years before Walt Disney started buying land in Central Florida, and visitors continue to boost the local economy at attractions such as the Legoland 2020BUREAU,CENSUSU.S.STATISTICS:
Similarly, the AdventHealth Fieldhouse and Conference Cen ter in Winter Haven features a 58,400 square foot multiuse gym nasium space that accommodates six basketball courts or 12 volleyball courts and a second-floor observation area.
Polk County is home to more than 220 annual sporting events and serves as the headquarters for USA Water Ski and the Flori da Youth Soccer Association.
In fact, Polk County Tourism and Sports Marketing (PSCM) — part of Visit Central Florida — is the only organization in the state to earn both the Sports Organization of the Year award from the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and the Florida Sports Foundation’s Sports Commission of the Year Award.
In the winter, manatees seeking warmer water can be seen lolling around at Blue Springs State Park. In the summer, hu mans seeking relief plunge into the same bubbling blue oasis. Many of the changes in Volusia County involve Daytona Beach, especially around Interstate 95 and LPGA Boulevard.
Those interested in more natural settings, plus an unusual lunch, may head north on U.S. 17 to De León Springs State Park, where you can cook your own pancakes at the Old Span ish Sugar Mill and then paddle a canoe through the wilderness.
Geographically, Volusia County sits 50 miles northeast of Or lando, between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. But these days, in a region where the growth is pushing outward in all four directions, geography doesn’t mean as much as it onceIndeed,did. as metro Orlando spreads north and east along In terstate 4 through Seminole County, west Volusia is directly in growth’s path. Today the area, once identified almost exclusively with Day tona Beach (population 72,600), is emerging as a suburb of Orlando. For example, with 96,000 residents, Deltona has long since surpassed Daytona Beach as the largest municipality in the county. It has seen monumental growth since 1980. Much of the activity is spurred by commercial development along the High-Tech Corridor, which runs the length of Inter state 4 between Tampa and Daytona Beach. In addition, the widening of the Interstate 4/St. Johns Riv er Bridge alleviated one of the region’s most annoying traffic bottlenecks, making the western portion of Volusia an easy 30-minute commute to downtown Orlando.
Five or six years ago, big stories included the arrival of a Trader Joe’s distribution center, the opening of Tanger Outlets Mall and the Tomoka Town Center, and the completion of a new head quarters site for TopBuild Corp., a Fortune 1000 company.
Then came more retail, restaurants, apartment complexes and the massive live/work/play communities of Mosaic and Latitude Margaritaville. Daytona Beach’s brightly lit boardwalk is known to vacationers and spring breakers, of course. But the World’s Most Famous Beach is within easy driv ing distance of anywhere in Central Florida.
48 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION
Buyers have discovered the impressive stock of historic homes west of downtown DeLand (population 37,700), which is clearly one of the coolest small towns in Florida. The quaint downtown district, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is thick with eateries and antique shops. And stately Stetson University, which has been located here since 1883, adds an air of permanence.
2020BUREAU,CENSUSU.S.STATISTICS: Land Area: 1,103 square miles Population: 555,000 2010-2020 Population Growth: 14% 2025 Projected Population Growth: 573,800 Mean Travel Time to Work (Minutes): 25.9 Mean Household Income: $49,494 Education: Bachelor’s Degree or Higher: 23.7% volusia County At a Glance
AdventHealth System Halifax Hospital System Publix Embry-RiddleStetsonWalmartSupermarketsAssociatesInc.UniversityAeronautical University Florida Healthcare Plans Sykes Communications Winn Dixie Supermarkets Brunswick Corp. leading employers
Meanwhile, tiny Lake Helen (population 2,800) is holding its breath as Victoria Park adds 4,000 homes and 10,000 residents right near the city’s border. The rural enclave is expected to grow nearly 20 percent by 2025.
AVALONTAVARESPARK D.R Horton & Express 11 Plans to choose from 3-5 1,504-2,8072-CarBedroomsGaragesSq.Ft.^ from the low $300s* 2507 Avalon Park Blvd. Tavares 32778 ELMWOOD Express Homes 4 Plans to choose from 3-5 1,672-2,6012-CarBedroomsGaragesSq.Ft.^ from the mid $300s* 1806 Irby Court Tavares 32778 GREENBRIER Express Homes 5 Plans to choose from 3-5 1,672-2,8072-CarBedroomsGaragesSq.Ft.^ from the low $300s* 2804 Palatino Lane Tavares 32778 866-476-2601 | DRHorton.com D.R. Horton is an Equal Housing Opportunity Builder. *Home and community information, including pricing, included features, terms, availability and amenities, are subject to change and prior sale at any time without notice or obligation. Pictures, photographs, features, colors and sizes are approximate for illustration purposes only and will vary from the homes as built. ^Square footage dimensions are approximate. Certified Builder Contractor License # CBC1265174 Find Your Forever Home in TAVARES! LAKERESERVEHARRIS D.R. Horton 4 Plans to choose from 3-5 1,672-2,6012-CarBedroomsGaragesSq.Ft.^ COMING SOON! Woodlea Road Tavares 32778
50 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION n SCHOOL GRADES n STANDARDIZED TEST PASSAGE RATES n HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATES A special feature of Homebuyer: Central Florida Edition SCHOOLSPUBLICGUIDE2022-23TO
School grades provide an easily understandable way to measure the performance of a school. Schools are graded A, B, C, D or F, and the grade is determined using up to 11 components. There are four achievement components, which are calculated using student performance on statewide standardized assessments, including comprehensive assessments, end-of-course (EOC) assessments and Florida Alternate Assessments (FAA). The achievement components measure the percentage of full-year enrolled students who achieve a passing score. There are also learning gains components and a middle school acceleration component, as well as high school acceleration and graduation rate components. Each component is worth up to 100 points in the overall calculation. The four achievement components — English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies — are shown on the following pages. Also shown are school grades for two years, high school graduation rates and the percentage of students on free or reduced lunch programs. For more information about the complexities of school grading, and to see results of the other components that determine school grades, visit the Florida Department of Education website at fldoe.com. School grades were not given for two prior years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
MAKING THE GRADE
PUBLIC SCHOOLS SUMMER 2022 51 SEMINOLE COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS SEMINOLE COUNTY MIDDLE SCHOOLS ALTAMONTE 52 52 57 B C 71.7 BEAR LAKE 55 56 56 C B 56.4 BENTLEY 59 53 50 C B 65.4 CARILLON 72 71 72 A A 29.0 CASSELBERRY 60 72 48 A A 70.6 CHOICES IN LEARNING (CHARTER) 83 79 74 A A 21.7 CRYSTAL LAKE 68 64 66 B A 49.6 EASTBROOK 54 58 54 B C 59.1 ENGLISH ESTATES 51 48 51 C C 68.4 EVANS 74 78 80 A A 36.7 FOREST CITY 64 60 53 C C 68.0 GENEVA 63 70 70 B B 43.2 GOLDSBORO MAGNET 71 66 69 B B 41.4 HAMILTON 48 49 58 C C 83.8 HEATHROW 81 82 83 A A 20.8 HIGHLANDS 68 66 61 B B 59.9 IDYLLWILDE 43 46 43 C C 78.5 KEETH 75 73 71 B A 29.4 LAKE MARY 66 68 64 B A 46.5 LAKE ORIENTA 53 62 55 B B 69.8 LAWTON 74 77 66 A A 30.1 LAYER 63 55 60 C B 51.5 LONGWOOD 62 63 54 B A 59.5 MIDWAY 48 58 47 B C 84.8 PARTIN 81 79 82 A A 24.0 PINE CREST 27 27 30 D C 87.4 RAINBOW 81 86 76 A A 37.7 RED BUG 73 65 65 B B 48.1 SABAL POINT 77 86 84 A A 30.6 SPRING LAKE 40 42 37 C C 77.4 STENSTROM 72 68 64 B A 40.9 STERLING PARK 58 57 52 C B 54.3 WALKER 82 83 73 A A 25.2 WEKIVA 78 75 80 A A 36.1 WICKLOW 40 42 32 C B 82.6 WILSON 79 79 77 A A 24.3 WINTER SPRINGS 56 53 44 C C 76.5 WOODLANDS 76 76 65 A A 36.5 ArtsLanguageEnglish %Achievement HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementMathematics HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementScience HigherorSatisfactory AchievementStudiesSocial% HigherorSatisfactory 2022GradeSchool 2019GradeSchool EconomicallyofPercent StudentsDisadvantaged 2021-22RateGraduation ArtsLanguageEnglish %Achievement HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementMathematics HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementScience HigherorSatisfactory AchievementStudiesSocial% HigherorSatisfactory 2022GradeSchool 2019GradeSchool EconomicallyofPercent StudentsDisadvantaged 2020-21RateGraduation SEMINOLE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOLS CHILES 69 73 68 84 A A 29.2 GREENWOOD LAKES 55 50 53 76 B B 66.2 INDIAN TRAILS 61 61 66 76 B A 46.1. JACKSON HEIGHTS 67 73 71 88 A A 33.9 MARKHAM WOODS 55 63 59 73 B B 50.4 MILLENNIUM 48 49 51 69 C C 72.2 MILWEE 56 56 56 66 B B 65 ROCK LAKE 66 76 62 74 A A 37.1 SANFORD 66 69 68 82 A A 49.6 SOUTH SEMINOLE 53 56 48 74 B B 70.8 TEAGUE 52 57 48 78 B B 58.5 TUSKAWILLA 54 60 54 79 B B 54.8 CROOMS ACADEMY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 75 65 85 90 A A 42.8 100 HAGERTY 71 69 81 83 A A 23.6 98 LAKE BRANTLEY I B 47.1 LAKE HOWELL I B 54.5 LAKE MARY 59 43 67 68 B B 44.2 97 LYMAN 55 37 69 64 B B 54.7 97 OVIEDO 64 66 84 84 A A 32.5 99 SEMINOLE 51 37 61 60 B B 56.5 91 WINTER SPRINGS I B 52.6 SEMINOLE COUNTY VIRTUAL FRANCHISE I A 52.1 SEMINOLE COUNTY COMBINED SCHOOLS GALILEO SCHOOL FOR GIFTED LEARNING (K-8 CHARTER) 63 63 54 92 A A 30.4 SEMINOLE SCIENCE (K-8 CHARTER) 80 85 80 95 A A 29.8
PUBLIC SCHOOLS 52 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION OSCEOLA COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS BOGGY CREEK 49 41 42 C B 100 BRIDGEPREP ACADEMY OF ST. CLOUD (CHARTER) 61 53 38 B 51.5 CENTRAL AVENUE 30 28 18 D C 100 CHESTNUT SCHOOL FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING 44 39 34 C B 100 CREATIVE INSPIRATION JOURNEY SCHOOL OF ST. CLOUD (CHARTER) 48 29 33 D 34.3 CYPRESS 38 40 36 C B 100 DEERWOOD 43 41 37 C C 100 EAST LAKE 47 50 42 C B 78.2 FLORA RIDGE 38 36 34 C C 95.7 HARMONY 68 65 54 B A 37.4 HICKORY TREE 57 61 48 B B 41.3 HIGHLANDS 37 30 28 D C 100 KISSIMMEE 39 39 37 C B 95 KOA 30 36 35 C C 100 LAKEVIEW 52 55 48 C B 93.7 LINCOLN-MARTI (CHARTER) I 66.7 MICHIGAN AVENUE 56 57 41 C B 85.5 MILL CREEK 44 45 51 C C 100 NARCOOSSEE 65 64 59 B A 33.1 NEPTUNE 47 51 55 C C 91.6 PARTIN SETTLEMENT 51 48 47 C C 62.6 PLEASANT HILL 42 44 39 C C 100 POINCIANA ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS 43 33 33 C C 100 REEDY CREEK 40 35 42 C C 97 ST. CLOUD 59 62 43 C B 70.3 SUNRISE 44 38 38 C B 91.1 THACKER AVENUE SCHOOL FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES 37 39 40 C C 100 VENTURA 49 45 44 B C 100 VICORY (CHARTER) I 83.5 ArtsLanguageEnglish %Achievement HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementMathematics HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementScience HigherorSatisfactory AchievementStudiesSocial% HigherorSatisfactory 2022GradeSchool 2019GradeSchool EconomicallyofPercent StudentsDisadvantaged 2020-21RateGraduation OSCEOLA COUNTY MIDDLE SCHOOLS OSCEOLA COUNTY HIGH SCHOOLS OSCEOLA COUNTY COMBINED SCHOOLS DENN JOHN 31 31 36 59 C C 100 DISCOVERY INTERMEDIATE 33 22 39 57 C C 100 HARMONY 55 59 55 74 B 35.3 HORIZON 40 40 51 73 C B 70.7 KISSIMMEE 32 33 32 56 C C 100 NARCOOSSEE 56 58 61 83 B A 52.3 NEPTUNE 52 51 55 65 B B 82.7 PARKWAY 35 28 34 53 C C 94.7 SPORTS LEADERSHIP ARTS MANAGEMENT (CHARTER) 72 85 85 100 A D 69.9 ST. CLOUD 48 55 62 79 B B 79.2 CELEBRATION 51 40 63 62 B B 56.8 94 FOUR CORNERS UPPER (CHARTER) 45 41 39 61 B B 35.7 100 GATEWAY 45 37 57 59 C C 85.3 88 HARMONY 46 40 55 66 B B 35.7 95 LIBERTY 32 14 39 43 C C 96.1 89 MATER BRIGHTON LAKES PREPARATORY (CHARTER) 43 29 29 32 D 76.9 NEOCITY ACADEMY 95 86 90 A A 28.4 NEW DIMENSIONS (CHARTER) 60 55 71 84 A A 79.9 99 OSCEOLA 33 25 55 51 C C 88.4 91 POINCIANA 32 17 44 51 C C 92.4 93 PROFESSIONAL & TECHNICAL 85 70 87 97 A A 69.3 99 ST. CLOUD 51 39 65 75 B B 66.7 97 TOHOPEKALIGA 43 28 47 61 C D 54 97 ArtsLanguageEnglish %Achievement HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementMathematics HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementScience HigherorSatisfactory AchievementStudiesSocial% HigherorSatisfactory 2022GradeSchool 2019GradeSchool EconomicallyofPercent StudentsDisadvantaged 2020-21RateGraduation OSCEOLA COUNTY SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS (6-12) 89 87 83 94 A A 33.4 100 OSCEOLA SCIENCE (K-8 CHARTER) 64 60 56 80 A B 63.7 OSCEOLA VIRTUAL (FRANCHISE) 77 55 67 81 A A 14.7 98 P. M. WELLS ACADEMY (K-8 CHARTER) 47 44 35 65 C A 83.4 RENAISSANCE AT BOGGY CREEK (K-8 CHARTER) 50 50 44 71 C C 68.7 RENAISSANCE AT POINCIANA (K-8 CHARTER) 48 49 52 69 B A 88.7 RENAISSANCE AT TAPESTRY (K-8 CHARTER) 44 48 49 76 B B 77 ST. CLOUD PREPARATORY ACADEMY (K-8 CHARTER) 37 30 35 59 C C 75.6 100 VICTORY (6-12 CHARTER) 24 17 18 33 D C 80.5 97 WESTSIDE (K-8) 41 35 42 69 C B 76.3 AMERICAN CLASSICAL ACADEMY (K-12 CHARTER) 60 49 54 85 B 12 BELLALAGO ACADEMY (K-8 CHARTER) 50 40 45 78 C B 80.4 BRIDGEPREP ACADEMY OSCEOLA COUNTY (K-8 CHARTER) 32 30 22 49 D D 79.6 CANOE CREEK ACADEMY (K-8) 59 59 61 79 B 43.7 CELEBRATION SCHOOL (K-8) 67 66 71 88 A A 28.8 FLORIDA CYBER ACADEMY AT OSCEOLA (K-12 CHARTER) I C 70.2 FOUR CORNERS (K-8 CHARTER) 52 59 52 B B 79.7 KISSIMMEE ACADEMY (K-8 CHARTER) 48 37 42 51 C C 79 MATER ACADEMY ST. CLOUD (K-8 CHARTER) 44 35 33 67 C C 60.3 MATER BRIGHTON LAKES ACADEMY (K-8 CHARTER) 40 37 28 47 C B 80.9 MATER PALMS ACADEMY (K-8 CHARTER) 55 51 39 71 B A 70.5
PUBLIC SCHOOLS SUMMER 2022 53 ORANGE COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ALOMA 57 62 48 B C 89.5 ANDOVER 60 66 64 A A 67.3 APOPKA I B 79.8 AVALON 79 83 73 A A 23.7 AZALEA PARK 54 58 51 B C 100 BALDWIN PARK 79 79 77 A A 31.9 BAY LAKE 71 77 72 A A 31.7 BAY MEADOWS 72 76 71 A B 31.8 BONNEVILLE 49 56 59 B C 100 BROOKSHIRE 65 65 69 B B 37.8 CAMELOT 58 60 49 C A 78.7 CASTLE CREEK 53 59 51 B C 100 CASTLEVIEW 74 75 74 A 29.8 CATALINA 24 31 25 F C 100 CHENEY 53 63 54 B B 100 CHICKASAW 49 46 46 C B 100 CITRUS 55 54 53 B C 98.1 CLAY SPRINGS 53 55 53 C C 90.4 COLUMBIA 71 79 81 A A 83.1 CONWAY 44 47 41 C B 100 CYPRESS SPRINGS 67 74 76 A A 65.7 DEERWOOD 71 76 74 A A 71.5 DILLARD STREET 47 48 37 C C 89.7 DOMMERICH 89 93 92 A A 13.9 DOVER SHORES 54 55 45 B B 100 DR. PHILLIPS 71 76 65 B A 28.6 DREAM LAKE 50 60 49 B B 100 EAGLE CREEK 80 80 75 A A 24 EAGLES NEST I C 100 EAST LAKE 63 58 49 C B 80.1 ECCLESTON 31 32 37 C C 100 ENDEAVOR 67 64 66 B A 66.9 ENGELWOOD 34 38 32 C C 100 FORSYTH WOODS 50 52 52 B B 100 HIAWASSEE 36 40 34 C C 100 HIDDEN OAKS 57 59 59 B B 77.8 HILLCREST 87 84 88 A A 27.2 HUNGERFORD 39 47 41 C C 100 HUNTERS CREEK 67 72 67 A B 38.4 INDEPENDENCE 83 88 85 A A 18.8 IVEY LANE 33 56 40 B C 100 JOHN YOUNG 61 61 70 B A 89.4 KEENES CROSSING 80 77 75 A A 19.1 KILLARNEY 49 42 43 B A 100 LAKE GEM 39 43 39 C D 100 LAKE GEORGE 53 65 43 B B 94.2 LAKE SILVER 41 36 34 D C 100 LAKE SYBELIA 49 51 52 C C 85.1 LAKE WESTON 25 47 33 C B 100 LAKE WHITNEY 82 89 81 A A 18.2 LAKEMONT 61 62 59 B A 71.6 LAKEVILLE 38 48 39 C C 100 LANCASTER 32 40 34 C B 100 LAUREATE PARK 82 82 73 C B 13.9 LAWTON CHILES 48 63 64 A A 100 LITTLE RIVER 50 51 42 C C 100 LOCKHART 36 36 38 C D 100 LOVELL 36 42 40 C C 100 ArtsLanguageEnglish %Achievement HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementMathematics HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementScience HigherorSatisfactory AchievementStudiesSocial% HigherorSatisfactory 2022GradeSchool 2019GradeSchool EconomicallyofPercent StudentsDisadvantaged 2020-21RateGraduation LUCIOUS & EMMA NIXON ACADEMY (CHARTER) 58 63 B D 100 MEADOW WOODS 46 54 39 C C 100 METROWEST 46 48 44 C C 88.2 MICHAEL MCCOY 42 54 49 B C 100 MILLENNIA 43 37 31 C C 77.5 MILLENNIA GARDENS 33 30 27 D C 100 MOLLIE RAY 26 52 23 C C 100 MOSS PARK 72 76 73 A A 24.9 NORTHLAKE PARK COMMUNITY 77 85 80 A A 21.1 OAK HILL 44 45 56 C C 100 OAKLAND AVENUE (CHARTER) 65 65 74 B B 21.8 OAKSHIRE 57 66 42 B B 81.7 OCOEE 43 44 38 C C 100 ORANGE CENTER 38 56 45 B D 100 ORLANDO SCIENCE (CHARTER) 78 81 76 A A 32.5 ORLO VISTA 34 52 31 C C 100 PALM LAKE 64 68 71 A A 41 PALMETTO 32 42 42 C C 100 PHILLIS WHEATLEY 31 58 64 B D 100 PINAR 45 54 54 B B 100 PINE HILLS 35 36 27 C C 100 PINECREST ACADEMY AVALON (CHARTER) 75 80 63 A A 38.5 PINECREST CREEK (CHARTER) 76 68 A A 87.6 PINELOCH 25 30 25 F C 100 PINEWOOD 43 46 38 C D 100 PRAIRIE LAKE 48 51 57 B C 90 PRINCETON 77 69 73 A A 31.7 RIDGEWOOD PARK 32 33 31 C C 100 RIVERDALE 51 53 53 C B 100 RIVERSIDE 40 48 49 C B 100 ROCK LAKE 23 56 30 B C 100 ROCK SPRINGS 46 50 53 C A 91.4 ROLLING HILLS 30 32 34 D B 100 ROSEMONT 31 46 33 C B 100 SADLER 26 36 33 C D 100 SALLY RIDE 50 53 45 C A 100 SAND LAKE 69 69 63 A A 34.7 SHENANDOAH 58 64 56 B C 91.3 SHINGLE CREEK 38 46 47 C C 100 SOUTHWOOD 63 69 63 A B 85.2 SPRING LAKE 47 52 52 C B 100 STONE LAKES 76 81 73 A B 25.8 SUMMERLAKE 77 82 72 B 15.7 SUN BLAZE 72 77 65 A A 23.9 SUNRIDGE I B 76.9 SUNRISE 77 77 77 A A 29.8 SUNSET PARK 66 70 66 B B 24.3 SUNSHINE 55 57 45 B 71.7 TANGELO PARK I C 100 THORNEBROOKE 80 83 78 A A 30.3 THREE POINTS 38 42 39 C C 100 TILDENVILLE 66 69 73 A A 60.6 TIMBER LAKES 77 79 77 A A 30.4 UNION PARK I D 100 VENTURA 43 52 37 B D 100 VILLAGE PARK 67 76 63 A 28.9 VISTA LAKES 65 68 66 B A 47.5 ArtsLanguageEnglish %Achievement HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementMathematics HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementScience HigherorSatisfactory AchievementStudiesSocial% HigherorSatisfactory 2022GradeSchool 2019GradeSchool EconomicallyofPercent StudentsDisadvantaged 2020-21RateGraduation
PUBLIC SCHOOLS 54 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION ORANGE COUNTY COMBINED SCHOOLS ORANGE COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ORANGE COUNTY MIDDLE SCHOOLS VISTA POINTE 55 67 63 A 84.4 WASHINGTON SHORES 27 19 19 F C 100 WATER SPRING 72 74 70 A 21 WATERBRIDGE 49 53 52 B C 87.4 WATERFORD 68 65 62 B C 66 WEST CREEK 65 68 63 A A 31.9 WEST OAKS 37 35 37 C C 100 WESTBROOKE 72 83 75 A B 37.2 WESTPOINTE 68 67 54 A B 68.2 WETHERBEE 68 72 69 A B 68.5 WHISPERING OAK 85 89 83 A A 16.2 WILLIAM FRANGUS 43 45 35 C C 100 WILLIAM S. MAXEY 57 71 47 B A 100 WINDERMERE 85 89 85 A A 9 WINEGARD 40 49 33 C C 100 WOLF LAKE 64 74 68 A A 35.3 WYNDHAM LAKES 60 63 51 B C 71.3 ZELLWOOD 40 43 39 C C 95 APOPKA I C 91.5 AVALON 70 79 66 87 A A 20.8 BRIDGEWATER 71 73 70 86 A A 16 CARVER I C 100 CHAIN OF LAKES 37 42 40 54 C B 77.2 COLLEGE PARK 31 37 39 61 C C 100 CONWAY 38 47 38 58 C C 96.6 CORNER LAKE 49 51 56 65 B C 86 DISCOVERY 52 65 61 79 B A 43 FREEDOM 45 56 48 72 B B 67.5 GLENRIDGE I B 69.8 GOTHA 54 53 52 64 B B 70.3 HORIZON WEST 64 74 65 81 A 24.3 HOWARD 77 76 66 83 A A 29.9 HUNTERS CREEK 60 74 57 75 A A 37.4 INNOVATION 62 68 62 90 A A 29.1 JUDSON B. WALKER I C 100 LAKE COMO 53 59 46 67 B B 84.7 LAKE NONA 69 79 74 88 A A 25.8 LAKEVIEW 45 48 37 70 C C 77.4 LEGACY I C 84.2 LIBERTY 42 38 42 60 C C 100 LOCKHART 32 37 31 58 C C 100 MAITLAND 58 61 63 77 B A 37.7 MEADOW WOODS I C 81.6 MEADOWBROOK 28 41 37 53 C C 100 MEMORIAL 29 30 29 68 C C 100 OCOEE 41 42 50 63 C B 85.1 ODYSSEY I B 71.5 PIEDMONT LAKES I C 100 PINECREST COLLEGIATE ACADEMY (CHARTER) 92 92 A 50 ROBERTO CLEMENTE 41 43 40 55 C C 100 ROBINSWOOD I C 100 SOUTH CREEK 49 50 43 70 C B 70.6 SOUTHWEST I A 63.6 SUNRIDGE 69 75 62 88 A A 24.6 TIMBER SPRINGS 58 71 63 77 A A 39.7 UNION PARK 31 36 28 54 C D 100 WESTRIDGE 27 38 35 45 C c 100 WOLF LAKE 50 61 58 68 B B 70.8 ArtsLanguageEnglish %Achievement HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementMathematics HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementScience HigherorSatisfactory AchievementStudiesSocial% HigherorSatisfactory 2022GradeSchool 2019GradeSchool EconomicallyofPercent StudentsDisadvantaged 2020-21RateGraduation ArtsLanguageEnglish %Achievement HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementMathematics HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementScience HigherorSatisfactory AchievementStudiesSocial% HigherorSatisfactory 2022GradeSchool 2019GradeSchool EconomicallyofPercent StudentsDisadvantaged 2020-21RateGraduation ORANGE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOLS APOPKA 45 26 58 71 C B 66.8 98 COLONIAL 35 18 51 65 C B 96.6 99 CORNERSTONE CHARTER ACADEMY 61 52 79 75 B A 34.3 99 CYPRESS CREEK 41 23 53 61 C B 68.9 99 DR. PHILLIPS 44 23 51 66 C B 68.7 98 EAST RIVER 43 33 59 69 B B 71.3 99 EDGEWATER 44 17 54 61 C B 81.8 99 FREEDOM 52 39 54 71 B B 43.4 100 HORIZON 65 52 77 75 B 18.5 INNOVATION MONTESSORI (CHARTER) 56 46 72 81 B A 32.7 JONES I C 100 LAKE BUENA VISTA 48 29 54 71 C 38.7 LAKE NONA 67 49 72 77 A A 29.7 100 LEGACY (CHARTER) 63 53 79 53 B B 0 100 MAYNARD EVANS 27 20 45 58 C C 98 100 OAK RIDGE 28 19 49 55 C B 98 100 OCOEE 39 35 64 76 B C 80.1 99 OLYMPIA 52 26 61 76 B A 39.4 98 TIMBER CREEK 68 52 80 86 A A 25.9 99 UNIVERSITY 49 34 62 80 B A 70.2 98 WEKIVA I C 95.8 WEST ORANGE 61 35 70 76 B B 29.9 97 WILLIAM R. BOONE 59 39 68 76 B A 37.8 98 WINDERMERE 66 52 74 68 A B 19.5 98 WINTER PARK 64 47 75 81 A A 30.4 99 ARBOR RIDGE (K-8) 67 78 66 82 A A 64.9 BLANKNER (K-8) 72 77 75 75 A A 32.5 BRIDGEPREP (K-8 CHARTER) 31 22 18 51 C D 100 CENTRAL FLORIDA LEADERSHIP ACADEMY (K-8 CHARTER) 33 29 37 82 C B 43.9 93 CORNERSTONE ACADEMY (K-8 CHARTER) 67 71 70 81 A A 32.7 HOPE (K-8 CHARTER) 74 78 59 78 B A 0 INNOVATION MONTESSORI OCOEE (K-8 CHARTER) I A 21 LAKE EOLA (K-8 CHARTER) I A 0 LEGENDS ACADEMY K-8 (CHARTER) 39 46 23 65 C C 100 OCPS ACADEMIC CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE (PK-8) 23 21 19 47 C C 100 ORANGE COUNTY PREPARATORY ACADEMY (K-8 CHARTER) 40 31 18 76 D C 95.8 ORANGE VIRTUAL (FRANCHISE) I A 0
PUBLIC SCHOOLS SUMMER 2022 55 POLK COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ArtsLanguageEnglish %Achievement HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementMathematics HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementScience HigherorSatisfactory AchievementStudiesSocial% HigherorSatisfactory 2022GradeSchool 2019GradeSchool EconomicallyofPercent StudentsDisadvantaged 2020-21RateGraduation ALTA VISTA I D 100 ALTURAS 45 54 39 C B 100 AUBURNDALE CENTRAL 39 33 22 D C 100 BARTOW ACADEMY 73 61 57 B B 51.2 BELLA CITTA 47 49 37 C 77.6 BERKLEY (CHARTER) 72 80 52 A A 29.3 BETHUNE ACADEMY 54 51 45 B C 100 CARLTON PALMORE 45 52 46 C B 100 CHAIN OF LAKES 58 62 39 C A 73.8 CLARENCE BOSWELL 39 53 25 C B 100 CLEVELAND COURT 72 83 68 A A 81.7 COMBEE ACADEMY OF DESIGN & ENGINEERING 44 47 44 C C 100 CRYSTAL LAKE 26 28 29 D D 100 DALE R. FAIR BABSON PARK (CHARTER) 61 69 63 B A 68.2 DAVENPORT 38 36 22 D 100 DIXIELAND 28 50 25 C D 100 DR. N.E. ROBERTS 41 49 40 C C 100 DUNDEE ACADEMY 57 55 33 C B 91.8 EAGLE LAKE 36 45 31 D C 100 EASTSIDE 37 45 29 C D 100 EDGAR L. PADGETT 41 46 29 C C 100 ELBERT 30 21 16 F C 100 FLORAL AVENUE 44 49 41 C C 100 FRANK E. BRIGHAM ACADEMY 72 74 62 B A 62.9 FRED G. GARNER 32 36 29 C D 100 FROSTPROOF BEN HILL GRIFFIN JR. 41 41 34 C D 100 GARDEN GROVE 42 49 36 C C 89.6 GRIFFIN 39 42 39 C D 100 HARTRIDGE ACADEMY (CHARTER) 89 91 63 A A 74.9 HIGHLAND CITY 48 60 61 C A 91.2 HIGHLANDS GROVE 64 77 63 A B 69.8 HILLCREST (CHARTER) 57 68 39 B B 98.1 HORIZONS 41 36 26 C C 86 INWOOD 33 33 44 D D 100 JAMES E. STEPHENS 24 25 35 D D 100 JAMES W. SIKES 54 55 41 B B 71.5 JANIE HOWARD WILSON (CHARTER) 32 38 25 D C 100 JESSE KEEN 22 26 28 D C 100 JOHN SNIVELY 46 55 43 C D 100 KATHLEEN 39 30 34 D C 100 LAKE ALFRED 47 54 41 B B 96.2 LAKE SHIPP 40 36 17 D C 100 LAKELAND MONTESSORI SCHOOL HOUSE (CHARTER) 87 81 53 A A 3.5 LAUREL I D 100 LENA VISTA 42 39 35 C C 100 LEWIS ANNA WOODBURY 42 39 26 C C 100 LINCOLN AVENUE ACADEMY 86 83 89 A A 40.7 LOUGHMAN OAKS 44 35 26 D C 75.9 MCKEEL CENTRAL ACADEMY K-6 78 85 78 A A 36.6 MEDULLA 43 50 49 C B 100 NORTH LAKELAND 37 33 36 C C 100 OSCAR J. POPE 33 33 32 C D 100 PALMETTO 33 24 28 D D 100 PHILIP O’BRIEN 33 38 23 C D 100 PINEWOOD 46 50 26 C B 100 POLK AVENUE (CHARTER) 34 35 36 D B 100 POLK CITY 43 43 38 C C 100 PURCELL 37 44 39 C D 100 R. BRUCE WAGNER 48 51 40 C C 92.3 R. CLEM CHURCHWELL 48 54 34 C B 96.4 SANDHILL 37 33 32 C C 100 SCOTT LAKE 56 69 55 B B 72.2 SLEEPY HILL 44 47 40 C B 100 SOCRUM 36 36 26 D C 100 SOUTH MCKEEL ACADEMY K-7 (CHARTER) 72 76 53 B A 30.6 SOUTHWEST 43 60 60 B B 100 SPESSARD L. HOLLAND 55 54 45 C C 87.4 SPOOK HILL 31 26 28 D D 100 VALLEYVIEW 74 75 67 A A 57.1 WAHNETA 33 46 24 C C 100 WALTER CALDWELL 39 37 34 C C 100 WENDELL WATSON 51 50 48 C B 78.9 WILLOW OAK SCHOOL 44 49 39 C 100 WINSTON ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING 74 74 59 A B 75.8 ArtsLanguageEnglish %Achievement HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementMathematics HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementScience HigherorSatisfactory AchievementStudiesSocial% HigherorSatisfactory 2022GradeSchool 2019GradeSchool EconomicallyofPercent StudentsDisadvantaged 2020-21RateGraduation ArtsLanguageEnglish %Achievement HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementMathematics HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementScience HigherorSatisfactory AchievementStudiesSocial% HigherorSatisfactory 2022GradeSchool 2019GradeSchool EconomicallyofPercent StudentsDisadvantaged 2020-21RateGraduation ArtsLanguageEnglish %Achievement HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementMathematics HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementScience HigherorSatisfactory AchievementStudiesSocial% HigherorSatisfactory 2022GradeSchool 2019GradeSchool EconomicallyofPercent StudentsDisadvantaged 2020-21RateGraduation ORLANDO GIFTED ACADEMY (2-6) 96 95 89 98 A A 22 ORLANDO SCIENCE (6-12 CHARTER) 82 84 80 90 A A 34.2 99 PASSPORT (K-8 CHARTER) 49 40 28 73 C C 100 PERSHING (K-8) 56 56 55 78 B C 63.1 PINECREST PREPARATORY ( K-8 CHARTER) 77 84 77 96 A A 75.6 RENAISSANCE AT CHICKASAW TRAIL (K-8 CHARTER) 36 38 32 67 C C 100 RENAISSANCE AT CROWN POINT (K-8 CHARTER) 47 42 39 53 C B 59.7 RENAISSANCE AT GOLDENROD (K-8 CHARTER) 35 34 34 64 C C 66.2 RENAISSANCE AT HUNTER’S CREEK (K-8 CHARTER) 56 60 54 79 A A 52 WEDGEFIELD SCHOOL (K-8) 62 70 71 82 A A 40.6 WINDY RIDGE (K-8 CHARTER) 62 70 71 82 A A 40.6 ORANGE COUNTY COMBINED SCHOOLS
PUBLIC SCHOOLS 56 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION POLK COUNTY HIGH SCHOOLS AUBURNDALE 34 29 43 44 C C 84.5 90 BARTOW 48 32 57 63 C B 69.9 96 CHAIN OF LAKES COLLEGIATE (CHARTER) A A 0 100 DAVENPORT 40 26 51 42 D 72.7 DISCOVERY (CHARTER) 50 35 57 67 C C 69.2 97 GEORGE W. JENKINS 53 39 61 62 B B 59.1 97 HAINES CITY 34 20 49 56 C C 92.9 86 KATHLEEN 31 17 54 47 C C 92.7 89 LAKE GIBSON 40 24 54 51 C C 79.5 95 LAKE REGION 26 13 33 32 D C 95.5 89 CITRUS RIDGE - A CIVIC ACADEMY (K-8 CHARTER) 38 38 28 77 C C 88.4 CYPRESS JUNCTION MONTESSORI (K-8 CHARTER) 73 65 35 88 B C 0 DAVENPORT SCHOOL OF THE ARTS (K-8 CHARTER) 71 70 59 95 A A 62.7 FORT MEADE (6-12) 41 41 36 56 C C 100 97 FROSTPROOF (6-12) 37 35 40 55 C B 96.2 90 JEWETT SCHOOL OF THE ARTS (K-8 CHARTER) 51 46 41 70 C B 72.2 MAGNOLIA MONTESSORI ACADEMY (K-7 CHARTER) 87 75 38 92 A A 5.5 POLK COUNTY COMBINED SCHOOLS LAKE WALES (CHARTER) 48 44 59 61 C B 58.2 91 LAKELAND 54 33 64 71 B B 66.5 88 MULBERRY 37 22 49 67 C C 92.3 91 POLK PRE-COLLEGIATE ACADEMY (CHARTER) 76 68 84 56 A A 27 POLK STATE COLLEGE COLLEGIATE (CHARTER) A A 0 100 RIDGE COMMUNITY 38 22 57 57 C C 83.2 90 TENOROC I D 100 WINTER HAVEN I C 81.2 MCKEEL ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY (7-12 CHARTER) 73 75 77 85 A A 35.1 100 MI ESCUELA MONTESSORI (K-8 CHARTER) 55 37 C 40 NAVIGATOR ACADEMY OF LEADER SHIP DAVENPORT (K-8 CHARTER) 46 44 33 60 C 22.9 POLK VIRTUAL I 0 RIDGEVIEW GLOBAL STUDIES ACADEMY K-8 (CHARTER) 75 68 64 87 A A 88.4 ROCHELLE SCHOOL OF THE ARTS K-8 (CHARTER) 58 58 51 90 B B 75.9 ROSABELLE W. BLAKE ACADEMY K-8 (CHARTER) 45 38 35 85 C B 100 ArtsLanguageEnglish %Achievement HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementMathematics HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementScience HigherorSatisfactory AchievementStudiesSocial% HigherorSatisfactory 2022GradeSchool 2019GradeSchool EconomicallyofPercent StudentsDisadvantaged 2020-21RateGraduation ArtsLanguageEnglish %Achievement HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementMathematics HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementScience HigherorSatisfactory AchievementStudiesSocial% HigherorSatisfactory 2022GradeSchool 2019GradeSchool EconomicallyofPercent StudentsDisadvantaged 2020-21RateGraduation POLK COUNTY MIDDLE SCHOOLS BARTOW 33 36 36 61 C C 98.3 BERKLEY ACCELERATED (CHARTER) 70 78 76 81 A A 33.7 BOK ACADEMY (CHARTER) 52 52 44 82 B A 61.8 CRYSTAL LAKE 29 30 32 52 C C 100 DANIEL JENKINS ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY 44 43 36 74 C B 93.9 DENISON 27 31 28 61 C D 100 DISCOVERY ACADEMY OF LAKE ALFRED (CHARTER) 46 47 35 74 C B 74.8 DUNDEE RIDGE 51 58 45 73 B A 89.9 EDWARD W. BOK ACADEMY NORTH (CHARTER) 53 51 36 70 C C 57.5 JERE L. STAMBAUGH 24 25 27 59 C C 100 JEWETT ACADEMY MAGNET 56 42 49 79 C B 72.5 KATHLEEN 30 35 32 53 C C 100 LAKE ALFRED POLYTECH ACADEMY 42 47 49 61 C C 95 LAKE GIBSON 36 35 33 56 D C 88.9 LAKE MARION CREEK 27 22 16 45 D C 100 LAKELAND HIGHLANDS 49 60 52 82 B B 62.5 LAKELAND MONTESSORI (CHARTER) 87 83 A A 15.4 LAWTON CHILES MIDDLE ACADEMY 71 68 66 80 A A 45.3 MCLAUGHLIN FINE ARTS ACADEMY 38 37 28 60 C D 100 MULBERRY 39 35 31 71 C C 98.9 SHELLEY S. BOONE 25 30 22 52 C C 98.7 SLEEPY HILL 32 32 34 75 C C 100 SOUTHWEST 35 29 29 59 C C 100 UNION ACADEMY 68 64 68 81 A A 53.9 WESTWOOD 25 22 19 72 D C 100 thefloridahomebuyer.com Won’t you be our friend? Okay, well, at least like us? Check out Homebuyer: Central Florida Edition’s Facebook page, and like us for a chance to win a $500 Publix Gift Card.
SUMMER 2022 57 PUBLIC SCHOOLS LAKE COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ALTOONA (CHARTER) 57 68 57 B C 74.3 ASTATULA 53 50 49 C B 96.3 BEVERLY SHORES 36 40 36 C F 100 CLERMONT 40 40 33 C C 100 CYPRESS RIDGE 80 80 77 A A 32 EUSTIS 41 52 46 C C 100 EUSTIS HEIGHTS 42 48 41 C C 100 FRUITLAND PARK 44 48 43 C C 100 GRASSY LAKE 65 60 50 C A 54.3 GROVELAND 28 24 31 D C 100 LEESBURG 31 41 24 C D 100 LOST LAKE 66 65 51 C A 53.9 LAKE COUNTY MIDDLE SCHOOLS MASCOTTE (CHARTER) 45 43 35 D C 100 PINE RIDGE 54 58 53 C A 61 ROUND LAKE (CHARTER) 72 81 62 87 A A 53.1 SAWGRASS BAY 44 46 47 - C C 82.3 SEMINOLE SPRINGS 56 61 47 B B 92.2 SORRENTO 53 58 46 C C 80.8 TAVARES 46 49 42 C C 100 THE VILLAGES ELEMENTARY OF LADY LAKE 60 61 53 B A 100 TREADWAY 53 58 46 C C 100 TRIANGLE 37 43 33 D B 100 UMATILLA 55 61 52 B B 89.2 CARVER 39 42 45 61 C C 100 CLERMONT 48 49 52 62 B B 78.2 EAST RIDGE 60 67 61 75 A A 57.7 EUSTIS 40 48 33 58 C C 94.2 GRAY 40 41 44 64 C B 80.2 MT. DORA 44 49 47 64 C C 82.3 OAK PARK 33 31 36 54 C C 100 TAVARES 39 44 35 72 C B 97.7 UMATILLA 44 56 50 68 C B 93.6 WINDY HILL 54 56 58 72 B B 61.8 LAKE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOLS EAST RIDGE 49 38 69 73 B B 54.6 98 EUSTIS 42 53 54 64 C C 71.6 96 LAKE MINNEOLA 52 47 67 65 B A 47.6 98 LEESBURG 35 24 46 47 C C 97.8 87 MT. DORA 48 40 53 72 B C 63.1 97 PINECREST LAKES PREP (CHARTER) 75 76 89 A 27.1 SOUTH LAKE 40 31 51 62 C C 66.9 96 TAVARES I C 74.1 UMATILLA 40 45 76 59 B C 87.7 89 LAKE COUNTY COMBINED SCHOOLS IMAGINE SCHOOLS AT SOUTH LAKE (K-8 CHARTER) 77 87 74 96 A A 19 LAKE POINTE ACADEMY (K-8) 43 40 28 69 C 57 LAKE VIRTUAL (FRANCHISE) I B 28.7 MINNEOLA CONVERSION (PK-8 CHARTER) 65 66 64 90 A B 56.2 PINECREST ACADEMY FOUR CORNERS (K-8 CHARTER) 55 51 49 86 B 56.2 PINECREST ACADEMY TAVARES (K-8 CHARTER) 74 68 56 93 A 34.8 PINECREST LAKES ACADEMY (K-8 CHARTER) 82 84 69 99 A A 31.1 SPRING CREEK (PK-8 CHARTER) 46 47 44 81 C B 100 ArtsLanguageEnglish %Achievement HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementMathematics HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementScience HigherorSatisfactory AchievementStudiesSocial% HigherorSatisfactory 2022GradeSchool 2019GradeSchool EconomicallyofPercent StudentsDisadvantaged 2020-21RateGraduation ArtsLanguageEnglish %Achievement HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementMathematics HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementScience HigherorSatisfactory AchievementStudiesSocial% HigherorSatisfactory 2022GradeSchool 2019GradeSchool EconomicallyofPercent StudentsDisadvantaged 2020-21RateGraduation
PUBLIC SCHOOLS 58 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION VOLUSIA COUNTY HIGH SCHOOLS VOLUSIA COUNTY MIDDLE SCHOOLS CAMPBELL 29 30 29 50 D C 91 CREEKSIDE 62 67 71 77 B A 42 DAVID C. HINSON SR. 48 49 55 74 C B 59.9 DELAND 38 38 43 59 C C 69.8 DELTONA 38 38 46 49 C C 78 GALAXY 39 33 51 59 C B 74.8 ATLANTIC 46 27 65 66 C B 61.4 92 DELAND I C 56.7 DELTONA 49 39 70 60 B B 68.6 97 MAINLAND 36 24 55 61 C C 71.3 88 NEW SMYRNA BEACH 51 38 75 67 B B 48.5 96 BURNS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SCHOOL (K-8 CHARTER) 69 68 71 95 A A 58.4 HOLLY HILL (K-12) 29 30 44 58 C C 87.5 IVY HAWN SCHOOL OF THE ARTS (K-8 CHARTER) 70 66 71 84 A A 37.5 VOLUSIA COUNTY COMBINED SCHOOLSHERITAGE 36 42 55 62 C B 76 NEW SMYRNA BEACH I C 62.7 ORMOND BEACH 54 61 63 74 B B 57.6 RIVER SPRINGS 48 45 50 69 C B 59.4 SILVER SANDS 52 55 60 77 B A 67.6 SOUTHWESTERN 45 45 46 74 C C 74.3 PINE RIDGE I C 69.7 SEABREEZE 51 32 66 61 C B 45.7 92 SPRUCE CREEK 58 33 75 67 B B 41.8 93 UNIVERSITY 45 28 63 65 C B 58.6 92 T. DEWITT TAYLOR (6-12) 34 33 40 53 C C 74.4 91 VOLUSIA VIRTUAL (FRANCHISE) I B 36.2 VOLUSIA VIRTUAL (PROGRAM DISTRICT PROVIDED) I 42.9 VOLUSIA COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS BEACHSIDE I C 78.4 BLUE LAKE 35 32 40 D C 83.4 CHAMPION 41 47 55 C D 82.4 CHISHOLM 67 73 72 A C 57.2 CITRUS GROVE 60 57 66 B B 70.2 CORONADO BEACH 76 77 84 A A 34.5 CYPRESS CREEK 76 76 73 A B 41.2 DEBARY 64 69 74 B A 42.5 DELTONA LAKES 52 54 47 C C 77.9 DISCOVERY 41 42 53 C C 85.8 EDGEWATER 57 66 71 B C 77.6 EDITH I. STARKE 28 54 47 C C 95.2 ENTERPRISE 46 52 47 C B 79.6 FOREST LAKE 57 54 60 B B 74.1 FREEDOM 56 57 62 C B 56.3 FRIENDSHIP 41 38 49 C C 84 GEORGE W. MARKS 54 53 54 B C 74.4 HORIZON 61 63 57 B B 64.1 INDIAN RIVER 56 61 68 C B 74.1 LOUISE S. MCINNIS 39 47 56 C C 84.1 MANATEE COVE 50 50 54 C C 73 ORANGE CITY 41 34 37 D C 82.1 ORMOND BEACH 71 81 77 A B 70 OSTEEN 56 53 74 B B 69.3 PALM TERRACE 34 40 33 C D 92.2 PATHWAYS 67 65 65 B A 49.6 PIERSON 42 41 56 D C 82.8 PINE TRAIL 70 74 71 A A 52.7 PORT ORANGE 58 63 62 B B 75.2 PRIDE 45 39 51 D C 75.8 R. J. LONGSTREET 55 54 74 A C 73.6 READ-PATTILLO 58 59 65 B B 68.5 READING EDGE ACADEMY (CHARTER) 51 55 42 C A 7.1 SAMSULA ACADEMY (CHARTER) 56 60 61 B C 4.5 SOUTH DAYTONA 40 43 40 C D 85.9 SPIRIT 49 49 64 C C 80.3 SPRUCE CREEK 61 71 65 B B 65.6 SUGAR MILL 60 59 59 B B 76.2 SUNRISE 35 28 44 D C 78 SWEETWATER 79 85 89 A A 42.7 TIMBERCREST 59 66 61 B B 71.9 TOMOKA 63 66 56 B A 55.2 TURIE T. SMALL 27 28 34 D C 94.8 VOLUSIA PINES 51 52 64 B C 76.9 WESTSIDE 32 32 32 C D 91 WOODWARD AVENUE 46 50 54 C C 77 ArtsLanguageEnglish %Achievement HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementMathematics HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementScience HigherorSatisfactory AchievementStudiesSocial% HigherorSatisfactory 2022GradeSchool 2019GradeSchool EconomicallyofPercent StudentsDisadvantaged 2020-21RateGraduation ArtsLanguageEnglish %Achievement HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementMathematics HigherorSatisfactory %AchievementScience HigherorSatisfactory AchievementStudiesSocial% HigherorSatisfactory 2022GradeSchool 2019GradeSchool EconomicallyofPercent StudentsDisadvantaged 2020-21RateGraduation Visit Central Florida’s largest searchable new-home database at thefloridahomebuyer.com
TrustcoBank.com Since 1902. Home Town in every way Home sweet home town bank. The trusted services you need to live the life you’ve always dreamed of. The reliable home town service you need to get your Orlando home. Finding the right mortgage is like finding that perfect home all over again. At Trustco Bank we want you to feel right at home. With many plan options and a genuine interest in your life, we provide friendly, helpful financial advice, right around the corner. Plus, we’ll stick by your side every step of the way! We’re a home town bank you can rely on. Low closing costs No borrower paid No points or appraisal Friendly, neighborhood servi Over 50 Florida branch locations NEW Home Town F Checking accou Learn more at Trustco or by calling 800-670 PMI- Private Mortgage Insurance. Lender paid Private Mortgage Insurance on loans over 89.5% Loan to value. Subject to credit approval. Please note: we reserve the right to alter or withdraw these products or certain features thereof without prior notification. NMLS#474376 EQUAL LENDERHOUSING
Schools/Grades: Eagle Creek (A); Lake Nona (A); Lake Nona (A)
10109 Brocksport Circle, Gotha, FL 34734 * taylormorrison.com
Amenities: Pool, bike trails, dog park, pocket parks, fitness center, community garden Builders: Ashton Woods Homes, 407-543-6451; Cardel Homes, 813-612-8001; Craft Homes, 407-443-0528; David Weekley Homes, 407-865-8296; Dream Finders Homes, 904-738-0165; Pulte Homes, 866-300-4793; Taylor Morrison Homes, 407-671-8838
Schools/Grades: Thornebrook (A); Gotha (B); Olympia (B)
Amenities: Internet and cable included; each home has a private balcony and a one-car garage Builder: Beazer Homes, 321-445-5050 Products/Prices: Condominiums, from the $400s Notes: 55-plus active-adult community featuring new condos with elevator access; residents enjoy maintenance-free living with easy access to Lake Nona’s Medical City and S.R. 417 (the Central Florida GreeneWay).
R Your Home Town Bank TRUSTC O BANKORANGE COUNTY
Products/Prices: Single-family, from the high $400s Notes: Easy access to S.R. 429 (the Western Beltway); nearby shopping, dining and entertainment. Gatherings of Lake Nona
Schools/Grades: Eagle Creek (A); Lake Nona (A); Lake Nona (A)
Fire Creek
Products/Prices: Single-family and townhomes, call for pricing details
Notes: Village Center with an elegant hotel planned; near Lake Nona’s Medical City and Orlando International Airport; 40 minutes to the Atlantic beaches. Laureate Park at Lake Nona South Narcoossee Road, Orlando, FL 32827
SPONSORED
• lakenona.com/live/neighborhoods/laureate-park
Schools/Grades: Zellwood (C); Wolf Lake (B); Apopka (C)
• beazer.com
COMMUNITIES
Amenities: Gated community, tot lot Builder: Taylor Morrison Homes, 407-756-5025
60 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION
Amenities: Gated community; golf course, tennis courts, pool, health/fitness center, clubhouse Builder: Jones Homes USA, 407-636-9261
On the following pages you’ll find some of our favorite Central Florida new-home communities in Orange County. In addition to addresses, prices, product types, amenities and builders, the listings also show designated public schools. Elementary schools are first, middle schools are second and high schools are third. In parentheses alongside the schools are the 2022 school grades, which are based on Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT) scores, among other factors. School grades were not given for the 2020-21 or 2021-22 school years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Products/Prices: Single-family, call for pricing Notes: Intimate community of 42 oversized homesites offering easy access to S.R. 429 (the West ern Beltway), I-4, theme parks, entertainment and shopping. BY- SELECTED NEW-HOME Eagle Creek 10350 Emerson Lake Boulevard, Orlando, FL 32832 • joneshomesusa.com
Schools/Grades: Eagle Creek (A); Lake Nona (A); Lake Nona (A)
• drhorton.com
Amenities: Walking trails, pool and cabana Builder: D.R. Horton Homes, 321-733-2080
Bridle Path 5486 Palomino Place, Apopka, FL 32712
7573 Laureate Boulevard, Orlando, FL 32837
Products/Prices: Single-family, from the mid $400s to over $1 million; townhomes, from the low $400s Notes: Traditional neighborhood development adjacent to Lake Nona’s Medical City; variety of architectural styles available; planned Village Center; streets named for Nobel Prize winners.
Phillips Grove 7965 Wandering Way, Doctor Phillips, FL 32836 • pulte.com
Schools/Grades: Sandlake (A); Southwest (I); Dr. Phillips (C). Amenities: Gated community, lawn care included, outside summer kitchen, pool and cabana, sports courts. Builder: Pulte Homes, 407-449-8039 Product/Prices: Single-family, from the high $800s
San Sebastian Reserve
SUMMER 2022 61 SPONSORED BY R Your Home Town Bank TRUSTC O BANKORANGE COUNTY - SELECTED NEW-HOME COMMUNITIES Oakland Park 15211 East Oakland Avenue, Winter Garden, FL 34787 • liveatoaklandpark.com
Product/Price: Single-family and townhomes, from the low $400s
Product/Prices: Single-family, from the low $600s Notes: Tucked among the trees off of Lake Pickett in East Orlando; features a private community boat ramp, a lakefront open-air pavilion and a children’s playground; located near S.R. 417 (the Central Florida GreeneWay) and S.R. 408 (the East-West Expressway).
Builder: Pulte Homes, 407-845-9049
Notes: Located within minutes of I-4; near Central Florida’s “Restaurant Row;” convenient to schools and shopping; limited number of lakefront homesites on the Butler Chain of Lakes available.
Amenities: Gated community, resort-style pool, cabana, playground, dog park
Amenities: Gated community, private boat ramp, lakefront pavilion, children’s playground
Schools/Grades: Rock Springs (C); Apopka (I); Apopka (C)
Products/Prices: Single-family, from the $500s Notes: Close to S.R. 429 (the Western Beltway), 414 (the Apopka Expressway) and Florida’s Turnpike. Sunset Preserve 4125 Sunset Preserve Boulevard, Orlando, FL 32820 • pulte.com
Pinewood Reserve 5973 Wooden Pine Drive, Orlando, FL 32829 • pulte.com
Builders: Brierhill Homes, 407-363-6913; David Weekley Homes, 407-865-8295; J&J Building, 407-476-7520; RCB Homes, 407-876-0729; Rockwell Homes, 407-890-0425
Notes: Easy access to S.R. 417 (the Central Florida GreeneWay) offers easy access to top shopping and dining areas such as the Waterford Lakes Town Center and the Lake Nona Town Center.
Schools/Grades: Hidden Oaks (B); Odyssey (I); Colonial (C) Amenities: Pool and cabana, playground, dog park
Builder: K. Hovnanian Homes, 321-263-2644
Products/Prices: Single-family, from the high $400s
Builder: Pulte Homes, 407-676-7843
Schools/Grades: East Lake (C); Corner Lake (B); East River (B)
Notes: Located just minutes from historic downtown Winter Garden on the shores of Lake Apop ka; certified green homes in a traditionally styled neighborhood.
Schools/Grades: Tildenville (A); Lakeview (C); West Orange (B)
Amenities: Pool and recreation area, pocket parks, West Orange Trail runs through community, charming streetscape with sidewalks
2100 Emerald Springs Drive, Apopka, FL 32712 • khov.com
2424 Park Ridge Street, Apopka, FL 32712 • tollbrothers.com
Westhaven at Ovation 8818 Lakeshore Pointe Drive, Winter Garden, FL 34787 • tollbrothers.com
Waterleigh 10482 Atwater Bay Drive, Winter Garden, FL 34787 • drhorton.com
62 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION SPONSORED BY R Your Home Town Bank TRUSTC O BANK ORANGE COUNTY - SELECTED NEW-HOME COMMUNITIES
Builder: Toll Brothers, 407-753-6191
Amenities: Waterfront or water access; walking and nature trails; exercise and fitness center; two resort-style amenity centers; lakes, ponds and swimming pools; tot lots and sports fields; beach volleyball and minigolf; a community garden Builders: D.R. Horton Homes, 407-395-9707; Emerald Homes, 407-395-9707
Schools/Grades: Riverdale (C); Corner Lake (B); University (B)
Amenities: Bike lane leading directly into College Park; food hall and beer garden, futuristic regional park with a pond overlook, 40-acre urban farm, sports fields, pavilion, entertainment stage, scenic walking and jogging trails, and more.
Schools/Grades: Zellwood (C); Wolf Lake (B); Apopka (C) Amenities: Future swimming pool, cabana, tot lot, two parks with walking paths
Amenities: Walking Trails, community playground Builder: Ashton Woods Homes, 407-787-9995
Product/Prices: Single-family, from the $400s Notes: Located in the Horizon West area with 1,400-plus acres encompassing more than a dozen lakes and clear water ponds; near shopping, dining, major attractions and top-notch medical facili ties; served by excellent schools. Waverly Walk 9119 Waverly Walk Drive, Orlando, FL. 32817 • ashtonwoods.com
Product/Prices: Townhomes, from the high $500s Notes: Near downtown Orlando and College Park; an exclusive community featuring 135 townho mes; home designs will feature urban, transitional and industrial-inspired architecture.
Products/Prices: Single-family, from the mid $400s Notes: Located less than a mile from S.R. 429 (the Western Beltway) and near I-4 and major roadways, residents have easy access to schools, entertainment, shopping and dining, and neigh boring cities; nearby outdoor recreation includes hiking, biking and swimming in a natural spring at Wekiwa Springs State Park.
Schools/Grades: Panther Lake (NA); Water Springs (A); Horizon (B) Amenities: Community pool and cabana, wetlands and water features
Builder: Toll Brothers, 877-431-0444 Product/Prices: Townhomes, from the mid $400s Notes: Nestled in a natural setting; embodies tranquility with a picturesque location just minutes to shopping, dining, entertainment and schools.
The Oaks at Kelly Park
Product/Prices: Single-family, from the mid $600s Notes: Close to the University of Central Florida and S.R. 417 (the Central Florida GreeneWay); four parks and vibrant dining and shopping scene nearby.
Schools/Grades: Lake Silver (D); College Park (C); Edgewater (C)
Schools/Grades: Water Spring (A); Bridgewater (A); Windermere (A)
Builder: Toll Brothers, 877-431-0444
The Brix at The Packing District 3025 Edgewater Drive, Orlando, FL 32804 • tollbrothers.com
Winding Bay 15131 Mayberry Drive, Winter Garden, FL 34787 • rockwell-homes.com
lake highland preparatory school “#1 K–12 Private School” by Niche.com | www.lhps.org
Product/Price: Single-family, from the $400s Notes: Great location with easy access to S.R. 429 (the Western Beltway); Zellwood Station Golf Club and the West Orange Trail are nearby as are shopping and entertainment venues. • 407-206-1900
SUMMER 2022 63 SPONSORED BY R Your Home Town Bank TRUSTC O BANKORANGE COUNTY - SELECTED NEW-HOME COMMUNITIES
Schools/Grades: Zellwood (C); Wolf Lake (B); Apopka (C)
Amenities: Pool and cabana with splash pad, playground, dog park, activity field Builders: Rockwell Homes, 407-890-0425
Amenities: Park, tot lot, pool and cabana Builders: D.R. Horton Homes, 877-415-0030
Westridge Park 11142 Amber Ridge Drive, Zellwood, FL 32798 • drhorton.com
Schools/Grades: Water Spring (A); Bridgewater (A); Windermere (A)
Product/Price: Single-family, from the mid $500s Notes: Just minutes from S.R. 429 (the Western Beltway), which provides easy access to all major highways; 30 minutes from Orlando International Airport and Downtown Orlando and just 10 minutes from Walt Disney World, the Orlando Health Horizon West Hospital and the Horizon West Town Center.
ext. 1 EDUCATION CHARACTER EMPOWERED BY DEFINED HighlandersBYreceive an unparalleled education with long-lasting life lessons rooted in integrity, grit, and grace. BeatrizGradeBeraha8 The main reason I love being a Highlander is the surroundedatmospherewelcomingandbeingbyjoyandkindness.Itmakeslearningsomuchfun!
Schools/Grades: Hamilton (C); Markham Woods (B); Seminole (B) Amenities: Recreation area, dog park, green space Builders: Hanover Family Builders, 407-565-7450
Products/Prices: Townhomes, call for pricing Notes: Walk to Longwood, SunRail station, close to heavily amenitized Reiter Park.
Schools/Grades: Eastbrook (B); Tuskawilla (B); Lake Howell (I)
On the following pages you’ll find some of our favorite Central Florida new-home communities in Seminole County. In addition to addresses, prices, product types, amenities and builders, the listings also show designated public schools. Elementary schools are first, middle schools are second and high schools are third. In parentheses alongside the schools are the 2022 school grades, which are based on Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT) scores, among other factors. School grades were not given for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Products/Prices: Single-family, from the high $300s Notes: Located less than a mile from the Downtown Sanford Historic District with its award-win ning restaurants, boutique shops, eclectic art galleries, tree-lined streets, parks and nature trails as well as a spectacular marina with boating, fishing and dinner cruises. BY Riverbend 4101 Silverstream Terrace, Sanford, FL 32771 • drhorton.com
Schools/Grades: Midway (B); Millennium (C); Seminole (B) Amenities: Pool and cabana, park Builders: D.R. Horton Homes, 407-878-2284
Amenities: Abundant water features Builders: D.R. Horton Homes, 877-415-0030
Products/Prices: Townhomes, call for pricing Notes: Walk to Longwood, SunRail station, close to heavily amenitized Reiter Park.
SPONSORED
Grayson Square Jergo Road and Orava Lane, Winter Park, FL 32792 • pulte.com
Product/Price: Single-family, from the high $300s Notes: Minutes to shopping and dining in downtown Winter Park, three miles to S.R. 417 (the Central Florida GreeneWay) FINAL OPPORTUNITY Eastgrove 3230 Eastgrove Terrace, Sanford, FL 32771 • drhorton.com
64 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION
Celery Oaks 2040 Celery Avenue, Sanford, FL 32771 • LandseaHomes.com
Schools/Grades: Midway (B); Millennium (C); Seminole (B)
SEMINOLE COUNTY - SELECTED NEW-HOME COMMUNITIES R Your Home Town Bank BANK TRUSTCO
Amenities: Abundant water features Builders: D.R. Horton Homes, 877-415-0030
Products/Prices: Single-family, from the low $400s Notes: Easy Access to I-4 and S.R. 417 (the Central Florida GreeneWay); convenient to Orlando International and Sanford International airports and nearby Lake Mary and Historic Downtown Sanford. Monterey East Palmetto Ave, Longwood, FL 32750 • drhorton.com
Amenities: Gated community, pool and cabana, walking trails Builders: D.R. Horton Homes, 877-415-0030
Schools/Grades: Longwood (B); Milwee (B); Lyman (B)
Alexander Park 2652 Ham Brown Road, Kissimmee, FL 34746 • mybellavista.com
SUMMER 2022 6565 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION
BANK TRUSTCO
Schools/Grades: Wilson (A); Sanford (A); Seminole (B) Amenities: Gated community, tot park, walking trail Builder: Bellavista Homes, 407-873-6316
On the following pages you’ll find some of our favorite Central Florida new-home communities in Osceola County. In addition to addresses, prices, product types, amenities and builders, the listings also show designated public schools. Elementary schools are first, middle schools are second and high schools are third. In parentheses alongside the schools are the 2022 school grades, which are based on Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT) scores, among other factors. School grades were not given for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Schools/Grades: Sunrise (C); Horizon (C); Poinciana (C) Amenities: Community pool, cabana, tot park, recreation field Builder: Bellavista Homes, 407-873-6316 Products/Prices: Townhomes, new phase coming soon, call for pricing Notes: Intimate townhome community offering easy access to major roads and employment centers as well as shopping and dining.
River’s Edge 1501 Missouri Avenue, Sanford, FL 32771 • mybellavista.com
SPONSORED BYCOUNTY Home Town Bank TRUSTC O BANK
Products/Prices: Townhomes, from the mid $300s Notes: Located in a highly rated Seminole County school district, this gated community is near major transportation arteries and the Seminole Towne Center, the Downtown Sanford Historic District, Lake Monroe and the Central Florida Zoo.
SPONSORED BY Home Town Bank
Pine Avenue, Oviedo, FL 32765 • pulte.com
OSCEOLA
Schools/Grades: Hamilton (C); Millennium (C); Seminole (B) Amenities: Gated community, private residents’ clubhouse with a cabana and a swimming pool Builder: Toll Brothers, 407-605-6377 Products/Prices: Single-family, from the high $400s Notes: Located along the St. John’s River, close to golf courses, the Sanford Riverwalk and the Downtown Sanford Historic District; near regional universities and colleges, shopping and dining, beaches, and major highways, including I-4 and S.R. 417 (the Central Florida GreeneWay).
Schools/Grades: Lawton (A); Jackson Heights (A); Oviedo (A) Amenities: 22 homesites nestled in three cul-de-sacs
Riverside Oaks 3682 Arbordale Loop, Sanford, FL 32771 • tollbrothers.com
Notes: Located just minutes from the Cross Seminole Trail and S.R. 417 (the Central Florida GreeneWay).
Veranda Pines
SEMINOLE COUNTY - SELECTED NEW-HOME COMMUNITIES R Your
- SELECTED NEW-HOME COMMUNITIES R Your
Builder: Pulte Homes, 407-214-3011 Products/Prices: Single-family, from the mid- to high $700s
Product/Prices: Single-family, from the low $400s
Bellalago 1520 Gateway Lane, Kissimmee, FL 34746 • taylormorrison.com
SPONSORED BY R Your Home Town
FINAL OPPORTUNITY
Products/Prices: Single-family, call for pricing Notes: Village Shoppes at Bellalago, located just outside the community, encompasses shops, restaurants, banks and a Publix supermarket with a drive-through pharmacy.
Notes: Located on Poinciana Boulevard within walking distance of the Kissimmee SunRail station; interest list now forming.
Products/Prices: Single-family, from the mid $400s Notes: Unique waterfront community on the Alligator Chain of Lakes. Bank
Builder: Taylor Morrison Homes, 407-853-8598
Glenwood 5354 Douglas Fir Drive, St. Cloud, FL 34771 • drhorton.com
Schools/Grades: Flora Ridge (C); Kissimmee (C); Poinciana (C) Amenities: Community pool, playground, walking trail, half-court basketball Builder: Centex Homes, 407-863-6587 Products/Prices: Townhomes, from the mid $300s Notes: Located just minutes from The Loop and area attractions.
Hanover Lakes 3325 Hickory Tree Road, St. Cloud, FL 34772 • LandseaHomes.com
Cypress Cay 4511 Cypress Cay Way, Kissimmee, Florida 34746 • centex.com
66 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION
Schools/Grades: Bellalago Academy (K-8) (C); Liberty High (C) Amenities: Two 7,000-square-foot clubhouses, lifestyle center, multipool aquatic center, fitness cen ter, water park and tot lot, tennis and basketball courts; nature and bike trails including a 1,300-foot lakefront boardwalk with gazebo; fishing pier and community boat ramp and lift
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Schools/Grades: Hickory Tree (B); St. Cloud (B); Harmony (B) Amenities: Resort-style pool and splash pad; boat access to pristine chain of lakes; homesites with private docks available; nature park with dock and pavilion; low HOA dues Builder: Landsea Homes, 407-315-2628
Notes: Located just off Florida’s Turnpike and near Lakeshore Park, with a beachfront playground, outdoor dining, a boat ramp and marina, picnic pavilions, a children’s splash pad and more; easy access to the Cocoa and Melbourne beaches, Orlando International Airport, Lake Nona’s Medical City, and regional attractions via S.R. 417 (the Central Florida GreeneWay) and S.R. 528 (the Beachline Expressway).
Cypress Hammock 1237 Regal King Drive, Kissimmee, FL 34758 • LandseaHomes.com
Amenities: Clubhouse, pool, playground Builder: Landsea Homes, 407-305-3701
Products/Prices: Townhomes, from the high $300s; single-family, from the low $400s
Schools/Grades: Narcoossee (B); Narcoossee (B); Harmony (B) Amenities: Pool, walking trails Builder: D.R. Horton Homes, 407-850-5207
Schools/Grades: Reedy Creek (C); Horizon (C); Poinciana (C)
Schools/Grades: BellaLago Charter Academy K-8 (C); New Dimensions (A) Amenities: Pool and cabana, playground, dog park Builder: Taylor Morrison, 407-756-5025
Builder: Pulte Homes, 407-554-4438
Schools/Grades: Neptune (C); Neptune (B); Gateway (C) Amenities: Clubhouse, pool, cabana, tennis, trails, playground, pavilion picnic areas, dog park, beach volleyball court, soccer fields
SUMMER 2022 67 SPONSORED BYOSCEOLA COUNTY - SELECTED NEW-HOME COMMUNITIES R Your Home Town Bank TRUSTC O BANK
Products/Prices: Single-family, from the mid $300s
Schools/Grades: Neptune (C); Neptune (B); St. Cloud (B)
Products/Prices: Single-family, call for pricing Notes: Located within the city of St. Cloud; easy access to Florida’s Turnpike as well as the employ ment and retail corridors of Narcoossee Road and U.S. 192. Kindred 1508 Park Side Avenue, Kissimmee, FL 34744 • drhorton.com
Builders: Lennar Homes, 866-495-4059; Pulte Homes, 407-550-5534; Pulte Active Adult, 407-554-53733
Amenities: Community pool, cabana, tot lot, ponds and conservation areas
Product/Price: Townhomes, call for pricing Notes: Featuring thoughtfully designed floorplans from Taylor Morrison’s Canvas Studio.
Products/Prices: Single-family, from the $500s Notes: Located just 3 miles south of Lake Nona with no CDD; dining and shopping located off Narcoossee Road.
Notes: Located in the heart of Kissimmee, with direct access to Florida’s Turnpike, Osceola Parkway, I-4; Osceola County’s NeoCity, a master-planned tech center, is nearby. Reedy Reserve Townhomes
Amenities: Resort-style pool, clubhouse and events room, fitness center, tennis courts, playground and 5 miles of community trails
3921 Southern Vista Loop, St. Cloud, FL 34772 •taylormorrison.com
Schools/Grades: Michigan Avenue (C); Saint Cloud (B); Saint Cloud (B)
3312 Reedy Glen Drive, Kissimmee, FL 34758 • taylormorrison.com
Builder: D.R. Horton Homes, 407-978-6035
Schools/Grades: Narcoossee (B); Narcoossee (B); Harmony (B)
split oak reserve Franklin Road and Leon Tyson Road, St. Cloud, FL 34771 • pulte.com
Amenities: Resort-style pool, playground, walking trails
Builder: Taylor Morrison Homes, 407-250-8109
1706 Flourish Avenue, Kissimmee, FL 34744 • tohoqua.com
Notes: New amenities center now open; located adjacent to a 370-acre conservation area with trails to Lake Tohopekaliga; 5 minutes from Florida’s Turnpike and walking distance to schools; wide variety of home designs and prices.
TOHOQUA
southern Pines
Products/Prices: Townhomes, from the mid $300s; single-family, from the high $300s
Products/Prices: Single-family, from the low $400s
Builder: Landsea Homes, 407-965-2274
Schools/Grades: Grassy Lake (C); East Ridge (A); Lake Minneola (B)
Products/Prices: Condominiums, from the $300s; single-family, from the $500s to over $1 million
Sawgrass Bay Boulevard, Clermont, FL 34714 • homedynamics.com
Crestview 2691 Ridgetop Lane, Clermont, Florida FL 34711 • taylormorrison.com
Product/Prices: Single-family, call for pricing Notes: Gated community tucked in the rolling hills of Lake County; offers easy access to commut er routes and major job centers like Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, Maitland Center and downtown Orlando. BYSawgrassCOMMUNITIESBay
68 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION
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Bella Collina 16690 Cavallo Drive, Montverde, FL 34756 • bellacollina.com
Schools/Grades: Sawgrass Bay (C); Windy Hill (B); East Ridge (B) Amenities: Nature trails, playground, pool and cabana, conservation areas
Builder: Home Dynamics, 352-988-5955 Products/Prices: Single-family, from the mid $600s Notes: Near Chain of Lakes, Lake Louisa State Park and Lakeridge Winery; 25 miles west of down town Orlando; Sawgrass Bay Elementary School on site; close to championship golf courses.
Schools/Grades: Astatula (C); East Ridge (A); Lake Minneola (B) Amenities: Tot lot, dog park, 60-acre green space. Builder: Ashton Woods Homes, 407-787-9995 Product/Prices: Single-family, from the $400s Notes: Located just off Lake Apopka; near Winter Garden as well as Lake Louisa State Park.
Builders: Dream Finders Homes, 888-208-0483; Vogel Building Group, 407-230-4660; Primo Homes, 407-632-4501; J. Drewes Construction, 407-744-3133
Amenities: Nick Faldo-designed championship golf course, tennis club, fine-dining clubhouse, com munity pool, full-service spa and fitness center.
Notes: Near Florida’s Turnpike, S.R. 429 (the Western Beltway) and S.R. 528 (the Beachline Express way). Ardmore Reserve 1312 Blarney Street, Minneola, FL 34715 • LandseaHomes.com
Schools/Grades: Lost Lake (C); Windy Hill (B); Eastridge (B)
Amenities: Planned amenities include gated entrance, resort-style pool, splashpad and cabana as well as tots lots and pocket parks. Builder: Taylor Morrison Homes, 407-756-5025
R Your Home Town Bank TRUSTC O BANKLAKE COUNTY - SELECTED NEW-HOME
FINAL OPPORTUNITY
Schools/Grades: Grassy Lake (C); East Ridge (A); Lake Minneola (B)
Hills of Minneola
2394 Gold Dust Drive, Minneola, FL • ashtonwoods.com
On the following pages you’ll find some of our favorite Central Florida new-home communities in Lake County. In addition to addresses, prices, product types, amenities and builders, the listings also show designated public schools. Elementary schools are first, middle schools are second and high schools are third. In parentheses alongside the schools are the 2022 school grades, which are based on Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT) scores, among other factors. School grades were not given for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Notes: Located in the rolling hills of Minneola, close to elementary and high schools and just minutes from shopping, restaurants, and indoor and outdoor entertainment options, including the Minneola Athletic Complex and the South Lake Trail.
thefloridahomebuyer.com
The Canyons at Highland Ranch 516 Bellflower Way, Clermont, FL 34715 • taylormorrison.com
Schools/Grades: Eustis (C); Eustis (C); Eustis (C) Amenities: Dog park, walking trail, playground Builder: Landsea Homes, 407-392-2601
Summerbrooke 2250 Natoma Boulevard, Mount Dora, FL 32757 • parksquarehomes.com
SPONSORED BYLAKE COUNTY - SELECTED NEW-HOME COMMUNITIES R Your Home Town Bank TRUSTC O BANK Visit
Schools/Grades: Groveland (D); Gray (C); South Lake (C)
Products/Prices: Single-family, from the mid $300s Notes: The stylish boutiques and restaurants of Eustis and the charm of historic downtown Mount Dora are both just a short drive away; greater Orlando is also easily accessible.
Amenities: Park, pool, cabana, splash pad, mail kiosk, pet stations, 4 miles of walking trails Builder: Taylor Morrison Homes, 407-756-5025
Amenities: Conservation areas Builder: Landsea Homes, 407-325-9838 or 352-348.5949
SUMMER 2022 69 preserve at Sunrise 121 Green Branch Boulevard, Groveland, FL 34736 • LandseaHomes.com
Schools/Grades: Triangle (D); Mount Dora (C); Mount Dora (B)
Schools/Grades: Grassy Lake (C); East Ridge (A); Lake Minneola (B)
Products/Prices: Single-family, call for pricing Notes: Three beautiful collections of homes are offered; easy access to the 7-mile South Lake Trail; five public golf courses nearby. Central Florida’s largest new-home database at
Products/Prices: Single-family, from the high $300s Notes: Set among the rolling hills of Lake County, the scenic beauty of Mount Dora is perfect for enjoying nature walks and the outdoors; just 2 miles from Mount Dora’s historic downtown shopping district. lake lincoln 19530 Lake Lincoln Lane, Eustis, FL 32736 • LandseaHomes.com
searchable
Product/Prices: Single-family, from the mid $300s Notes: Low HOA dues, convenient to Florida’s Turnpike
Amenities: Pool, trails, basketball courts, fitness center, tot lot, clubhouse, dog park Builder: Park Square Homes, 407-529-3108
• ashtonwoods.com
Notes: Historic Deland, known as “the Athens of Florida,” offers easy access to Orlando, Lake Mary and Daytona as well as popular beaches, regional parks and one of Florida’s oldest private colleges, Stetson University.
Halifax Plantation 3500 Merritt Drive, Ormond Beach, FL 32174 • halifaxplantation.com
Rivington 660 Kimber Lane, DeBary, FL 32713 • khov.com
• venetianbay.info
Schools/Grades: DeBary (B); River Springs (C); University (C)
Products/Prices: Townhomes, from the low $300s; single-family, from the low $400s
Amenities: Gated community; clubhouse, restaurant, lounge, golf course, tennis courts, pool, fitness center Builders: D.R. Horton Homes, 877-415-0030, Landsea Homes, 407-759-6329, Vanacore Homes, 888-519-1309 Products/Prices: Single-family, from the mid $300s Notes: Minutes to the Atlantic Ocean, the Intercoastal Waterway and Tomoka State Park.
Schools/Grades: Pine Trail (A); Ormond Beach (B); Seabreeze (C)
Notes: A 296-acre master-planned community adjacent to the St. Johns River, west of U.S. Hwy. 17-92 and south of Konomac Lake; easy access to Lake Mary and Sanford employment centers and just a quarter mile from the DeBary SunRail station.
Product/Prices: Single-family, from the high $300s
On the following pages you’ll find some of our favorite Central Florida new-home communities in Volusia County. In addition to addresses, prices, product types, amenities and builders, the listings also show designated public schools. Elementary schools are first, middle schools are second and high schools are third. In parentheses alongside the schools are the 2022 school grades, which are based on Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT) scores, among other factors. School grades were not given for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Schools/Grades: Chisholm (A); New Smyrna Beach (I); New Smyrna Beach (B)
SPONSORED BY R Your Home Town Bank TRUSTC O BANKVOLUSIA COUNTY - SELECTED NEW-HOME COMMUNITIES
Amenities: Community amenity center with pool and indoor/outdoor common areas
Products/Prices: Single-family, from the mid $300s; townhomes, from the low $300s Notes: Close to beaches; miles of trails for walking or biking. Lincoln Oaks 2011 Buckhanon Trail, Deland, FL 32720
Builder: K. Hovnanian Homes, 321-263-2681
Amenities: Golf course, driving range, putting green, splash pad, pool, clubhouse, restaurant, lounge Builders: Paytas Homes, 386-402-8185; Platinum Home Builders, 386-690-5339; The Johnson Group, 386-767-8000; D.R. Horton Homes, 844-509-7695; Meritage Homes, 855-588-6374
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70 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION
Schools/Grades: Citrus Grove (B); Deland (C); Deland (I)
Amenities: Community pool and cabana, nature trail Builder: Ashton Woods Homes, 321-204-6254
Venetian Bay 424 Luna Bella Lane, Suite 122, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168
Providence 131 Chadwick Drive, Davenport, FL 33837 • providenceflorida.com
Lake Lucerne 108 Sunfish Drive, Winter Haven, FL 33881 • kbhome.com
Products/Prices: Single-family, call for pricing Notes: Convenient to major employers including Walt Disney World Resort, Sea World and Universal Studios; nearby Posner Park, an 80-acre open-air shopping mall, offers an impressive variety of stores and restaurants as well as a Cinepolis IMAX Theater.
Schools/Grades: Fred G. Garner (C); Denison (C); Winter Haven (I) Amenities: Near Lake Eva Park and Lake Eva Beach
Builder: KB Home, 407-587-3580
Products/Prices: Single-family, from the low $300s
Notes: Exclusive waterfront and golf course homesites available. Tierra del sol 5219 Tuscany Lane, Davenport, FL 33897 • taylormorrison.com
Schools/Grades: Loughman Oaks (D); Shelley S. Boone (C); Ridge Community (C)
Schools/Grades: Bella Cita (C); Citrus Ridge — A Civics Academy (C); Davenport (D)
On the following pages you’ll find some of our favorite Central Florida new-home communities in Polk County. In addition to addresses, prices, product types, amenities and builders, the listings also show designated public schools. Elementary schools are first, middle schools are second and high schools are third. In parentheses alongside the schools are the 2022 school grades, which are based on Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT) scores, among other factors. School grades were not given for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amenities: Gated community; Michael Dasher-designed 18-hole championship golf course; clubhouse and restaurant, resort-style pool, tennis courts, fitness center, volleyball court, children’s playground and picnic area Builders: ABD Development Company, 863-427-7528; Lennar 877-821-4943; FID Capital Group, 407-868-0186 Products/Prices: Single-family and townhomes, from the mid $300s
SUMMER 2022 71 We are proud to announce that HOMEBUYER is now available in more than 300 in ORANGE, SEMINOLE, OSCEOLA, LAKE, POLK, VOLUSIA, BREVARD, MARION AND PINELLAS COUNTIES. thefloridahomebuyer.com
SPONSORED BYPOLK COUNTY - SELECTED NEW-HOME COMMUNITIES R Your Home Town Bank TRUSTC O BANK
Amenities: Pool, cabana, tot lot Builder: Taylor Morrison Homes, 407-934-0075
Notes: Near 50 lakes for fishing, boating and skiing; convenient to employers, including Winter Haven Hospital and Publix corporate headquarters; near resorts, including Legoland Florida Resort and Westgate River Ranch Resort & Rodeo; easy access to shopping and dining in Winter Haven; convenient to U.S. 27 and Polk Parkway.
Another reason I balk at photo walls is the pressure they put on visitors to your home. Whenever I’m in someone’s fami ly shrine, I never know how long to linger. Not long enough seems rude; too long seems creepy. Does anyone know the protocol here? Then there’s the issue of what to say. “Oh, you look just like your mother!” “That’s my father.”
So what do you do? I wanted a personal but not cheesy, tasteful not tacky, budget-friendly solution that didn’t nec essarily look budget friendly. After some brainstorming with professionals, we determined that taking your photos (or self-impressions) to a new level can be a great way to stylishly inject yourself or your family into your wall art. Here are some ways to do that: n BE ABSTRACT. Companies like canvaspop.com will take your favorite photos, stylize them so they have a vintage, sepia-toned, cartoon-like, stippled, or posterized effect, en large them and mount the images onto stretched canvas. For instance, you can take the same photo and have it made in four different treatments or divide one photo across three ver tical rectangular canvases to form a triptych.
n MAKE IT SUBTLE. Work images discreetly into other works of art. Another friend who lives in a Tuscan villa style home has in her entryway a floor-to-ceiling textural painting, which looks like a medieval tapestry. Look closer and that’s her daughter riding the unicorn, and her son wearing armor.
AT HOME WITH MARNI JAMESON BY Marni Jameson
PHOTO WALLS THAT DON’T LOOK DORKY
n COPY WARHOL. Some companies will take your photo and reproduce it in a series of bold colors — yellow and tur quoise, orange and fuchsia — turning your stills into pop art.
Marni Jameson is the author of six home and lifestyle books, including What to Do With Everything You Own to Leave the Legacy You Want; Downsizing the Family Home: What to Save, What to Let Go; and Downsizing the Blended Home: When Two Households Become One. Reach her at marnijameson.com.
hh, the family room photo wall. Just the phrase “family photo wall” makes me lift a nos tril. They’re tricky to get right. Yet, when faced with the task of capturing our blended family of five in pictures in — where else, the family room — I was stumped.Notthat a wall of fami ly photos can’t look great, but they almost always don’t. The ones I’ve seen suffer from too many photos, many of which are faded and discolored, and hang crookedly with bad spacing in cheap mismatched frames.Ontop of that, the family historians tend to keep adding photos as time marches on until they need to add another wing on the house. An interior designer put it this way: “A collection of photos of people who have meant a lot to you in your lifetime is won derful to have and use to make a decorative impact. But put these collections in good, coordinating frames and arrange them on long side tables or built-in shelves, not on the walls. Photo walls are very hard to do well, and usually wind up look ingDorky.dorky.”That’s precisely the word. Another issue, which probably requires therapy, is that these family photo walls just make me feel so inadequate as a mother and stepmom. In reality, all that stands between me and having a dorky family photo wall is the fact that my photos never get out of my camera and into a frame. “You should thank me,” I say to the kids when they ask why I don’t have more pictures of them out, “for not lining our walls with awkward images of you naked on a sheepskin or lurching through bad hairstyles and orthodontia.”
n GET AN ARTIST’S IMPRESSION. If you have a fabu lous photo of a loved one, have a painter, whose work you also love, create a stylized painting from the snapshot. A friend of mine has a lovely oil painting of her black terrier hanging in her home. Where a framed photo would be cute, a painting looks even better.
n LEAVE YOUR MARK. At DNA11.com, a New York-based company, you can have your DNA, fingerprints or lip prints, digitized and turned into one-of-a-kind images fit for your liv ing room. Go online to pick the size and colors you want for your impression and order a kit for your samples. (The DNA sample is a cheek swab, and the lip print involves applying lip stick they provide and kissing something.) If you’re ever want ed, this also makes it easier for the FBI. n
72 HOMEBUYER // CENTRAL FLORIDA EDITION
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