Lakewood Ranch expansion includes plans for another Del Webb retirement community
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Del Webb’s third 55-plus community in Manatee County would bring 1,200 single-family homes to the Bradenton area, with 432 of those planned for the first phase.
Developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch submitted paperwork to Manatee County Building Services in December for Del Webb’s planned Catalina community on 699 acres at 18940 State Road 64 E., the Bradenton Herald previously reported.
More recently, SMR requested administrative construction plan review for Catalina.
Del Webb owns and operates “active retirement” communities for residents over the age of 55 in more than 20 states. The company promotes resort-style amenities, social activities and flexible floor plans as prized features of its housing developments.
The planned development is part of a 2,141-acre parcel that SMR, developer of the master-planned Lakewood Ranch community, purchased for $13.5 million on Feb. 22, 2019.
Manatee County commissioners in late March voted 5-2 to allow development in the area, which had been previously been reserved for agricultural uses.
Del Webb plans 3rd Manatee community
The Del Webb property is southeast of the intersection of Bourneside Boulevard and State Road 64 East. It is part of SMR’s Taylor Ranch project, which also includes a race village on 140 acres near DeSoto Speedway.
In December, Josh Graeve, division president of the Southwest Florida Market for the Pulte Group, said his company was still more than a year and a half out from opening for sign-ups and had not closed on the parcel.
Sign-ups are when customers can begin reserving homes in a planned Del Webb community.
In December 2015, Del Webb began selling homes at its first Manatee County community off State Road 70 at 6805 Del Webb Blvd., Lakewood Ranch.
In 2021, Pulte Group began work on its second Manatee County project, Del Webb BayView, on about 500 acres at the intersection of Moccasin Wallow Road and Interstate 75.
The first Del Webb active adult lifestyle community, Sun City, was opened in the Phoenix area on Jan. 1, 1960, according to a company fact sheet.
In July 2001, Del Webb Corp. merged with Pulte Homes, which also operates Sun City and Solera communities.
Manatee County has been one of the fastest-growing counties in Florida. In 2022, the Bradenton Herald reported that in the last three years, more than 25,000 new residents had moved to the Bradenton area.
