Warehouses, More Homes, Amenities in Poinciana Plan

May 04, 2006

New developments in this huge and growing community are ranging from workhorse-style construction of warehouses to a series of home styles and an amenities center for Solivita.

Poinciana, the planned community that recently announced it had surpassed a population of 60,000, continues to expand at both ends, from the industrial park on the Osceola County side to Solivita on the Polk County side.

Two Orlando companies, Small Bay Partners and Poinciana Commercial Center LLC, have closed a deal to buy a 20-acre site at U.S. 17-92 and Poinciana Boulevard to build a pair of warehouse facilities at an estimated cost of $14 million.

"This is a joint venture between Small Bay and Poinciana Commercial Center," Small Bay Principal Geoffrey Longstaff told The Reporter.

About half of the site, he said, will be developed by Small Bay, which will build what are called small-bay warehouses, meaning they will be ground floor spaces starting at about 2,000 square feet.

The slightly larger portion will be developed by Poinciana Commercial Center and consist of large-bay warehouses 10,000 square feet in size and larger with raised docking areas. In all, about 220,000 square feet of warehouse space is to be built.

Longstaff said although no tenants have been identified yet, the expectation is that most of the businesses that will use the spaces will be those that support the construction trades.

"We think this project will lease up very quickly," he said.

The project is in the permitting stage with Osceola County and Longstaff said construction will probably begin in January with the total build out expected to be sometime in summer 2008. He estimated that, once completed, the facility could bring up to 700 jobs to the area.

Meanwhile, at the other end of Poinciana, a $6.5 million amenities center called The Palms is about to be built at Solivita, the 6-year-old community in Polk County.

Avatar Properties, the primary developer of Poinciana, announced it will begin construction on the 4.66-acre site in July with the main feature being a 19,000-square-foot Tuscan-style building that will have fitness and aerobics studios, a residents' business center, catering and staging kitchen, a members club room and a large multi-purpose room.

"We think The Palms will rival some of the finest five-star resorts and will compliment the outstanding recreational amenities already available to residents," said John Corners, Avatar's vice president of administration and lifestyles for Solivita.

Some of those who will use the amenities center when it is in place will be living in freshly styled homes.

Avatar recently closed its original model home center at Solivita and opened a new model home park that will give new options to the potential home buyer.

"It showcases all the new trends in housing designs from exterior elevations to interior appointments," said Pam Hecker, director of sales and marketing.

Solivita is a master-planned adult community on 4,000 acres. In 2005, there 711 new home sales totaling nearly $210 million in Solivita. Hecker said 2,700 homes have been built based on plans from the original group of models, which were in place for five years.

"It was time to start a whole new series," she said.

The 13 models include two with prices starting from in the high $100,000s, four from the low $200,000s, four from the high $200,000s and four from the high $300,000s.

Eventually, Hecker said, Solivita is expected to have a population of nearly 6,000. Up to now, construction has been all single-family homes, but Avatar has plans for multi-family units.

This article was in the May 5, 2006 Florida Associations of Realtors e-newsletter. It was taken from THE LEDGER written by Mike Grogan: