$90M property transaction largest in Lake County history

CLERMONT — Pulte Homes has purchased 840 acres for homesites within the Wellway Way strategic corridor for $90 million, making it the most expensive property transaction in Lake County history, according to Property Appraiser Carey Baker.

Plans call for 122 townhouses and 1,152 single-family homes with varying lot sizes.

The goal is to break ground by the end of the year, with sales to begin in 2025, said Max Perlman, vice president of Land Acquisitions for Pulte Homes.

News of the July sale comes at a time when inflation and high interest rates have slowed Central Florida’s housing boom, Perlman said.

Track stars: Which Olympic star lives in Clermont? Who else made the track and field trials

“Affordability is a challenge in today’s market,” he concedes. “But we still see a demand for housing.”

County Commissioner Sean Parks, who helped create the 16,500-acre Wellness Way comprehensive plan in southeast Lake in 2010, hinted Friday that another development, one that is twice the size, could be coming “real quick.”  He declined to give further details.

Very little of Wellness Way has been developed so far, he said.

Wellness Way was created with the National Training Center in mind with its accent on top athlete instruction, nutrition, sports medicine and health services, including South Lake Hospital and Lake-Sumter State College.

Its “connectivity” to Orange County through nearby U.S. Highway 27, Florida’s Turnpike, Interstate 4 and the Central Florida Expressway is key, Perlman said. There is also, of course, State Road 50.

Wellness Way will eventually house upwards of 15,500 housing units and over 11 million square feet of non-residential uses, according to county officials.

The cost of building infrastructure and maintaining roadways within developments will be the developers’ responsibility – not taxpayers – Parks said.

Pulte has made significant donations of land for a wildlife corridor to Lake Louisa State Park, featuring among other things, underground tunnels for animal safety, Parks said.

Pulte, a nationwide developer out of Atlanta, teamed up with its partner Sun Terra Communities in its most recent purchase from G.T. Homes Wellness Way LP. It already owns Parkway Trails on Wellness Way Boulevard.

That project, already under development, calls for 242 townhouses and 705 single-family homes.

The new development, on Schofield Road, will snake around Lake Adain, which will provide some lakefront homes and amenities like kayaking, Perlman said.

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: $90M property transaction largest in Lake County history