Active adult buyers across the country rely on information from the internet when looking for a new home. The web pages they peruse during their searches provide a glimpse into the trends, amenities, and locations that are most popular with the 55-plus set.
Courtesy Minto Communities
In winter 2017, after Minto Communities announced it was launching a Jimmy Buffett-inspired community in Daytona Beach, visits to the popular home-searching site 55Places.com skyrocketed. The online publisher received four times as many page clicks and inquiries for Latitude Margaritaville than any other community last year.
Bill Ness, 55Places.com CEO, credits this rush of interest to the laidback lifestyle afforded by the music- and beach-focused development. The idea, created by Palm Beach, Fla., developer Margaritaville Holdings and Florida-based private builder Minto Communities, has brought Margaritaville on par with perennial baby boomer havens like On Top of the World and the Villages, both in Florida, and Sun City Hilton Head in South Carolina.
“This year’s list of most popular communities is a testament to how much the active adult lifestyle is constantly changing,” says Ness.
Since its November launch of nine model homes, the Daytona Beach location of Latitude Margaritaville has seen brisk sales, says William Bullock, president of Minto’s newly formed Latitude Margaritaville division. Three hundred and thirty homes have sold within phase one’s 378 homesites, and 24 homes have closed. Current plans call for 3,000 homes, with the possibility of a future expansion for a total of over 6,000 homes at build-out.
“Interest has been phenomenal,” Bullock says. “More than 130,000 prospective buyers have registered to receive more information on Latitude Margaritaville to date, and that number keeps growing.”
Courtesy Minto Communities
The Daytona sales center
Sales staff is finding that Margaritaville’s boomer clients are interested in the Daytona community for more than just its laidback lifestyle. They like the range of floor plans—both one-level, attached and detached—and options that allow them to personalize their homes, Bullock says. Three home collections include six attached villa floor plans and nine single-family home floor plans. It’s about a 50-50 split of buyers who choose attached versus detached, says Bullock, who was promoted in May from his position as Minto senior vice president to run the new division.
Villa homes range from 1,503 to 1,862 square feet, and include two bedrooms, den, two baths, a lanai, and a two-car garage. Villa pricing starts at $235,990. Single-family home models range from 1,684 to 2,564 square feet and feature two to three bedrooms plus den, two- to three-car garages, two to three-and-a-half baths, and a lanai. Pricing for single-family homes starts at $277,900.
Courtesy Minto Communities
The Daytona sales center
Floor plans and elevations were created in-house, and Minto’s designers worked closely with Buffett’s team on colors, aesthetics, and interior design. Buyers can peruse nine fully furnished model homes at the Daytona Beach location, and they are responding to the “contemporary coastal” vibe of the homes, Bullock notes.
Popular features include open floor plans that enhance large or small gatherings, spacious master suites with walk-in closets, and raised-height vanities in the master bath.
“They like the open floor plans that flow seamlessly from indoor spaces to outdoor living spaces,” he says.
The community’s resort-style amenities include a large outdoor pool, private beach club, fitness center with aerobics studio, indoor lap pool, spa, services offered by wellness partner Halifax Health, tennis, pickleball and bocce ball, a pet spa, and business center. A Publix grocery store will anchor the 200,000-square-foot, golf-cart accessible Latitude Landings retail center that is adjacent to Latitude Margaritaville.
Two more Margaritavilles currently are under way: One in Hilton Head that opened in late June with a planned build-out of 3,000 homes, and one near Panama City, projected to open in early 2020, entitled for 170,000 homes.
With so many new active adult projects in the works, the only question for Minto (No. 99 on the latest Builder 100 list with 441 closings in 2017) might be how to meet the surging demand. The newly formed Margaritaville division will help cope with the growth projections, says Minto Communities USA president Mike Belmont.
“Given our geographic diversification and growing business model, a stand-alone Latitude Margaritaville division and the realignment of our dedicated professional staff are needed at this time to better manage our growth in a seamless manner,” he says. B
