The Villages starts building thousands of homes on land it bought from Leesburg in 2018
LEESBURG — The Villages retirement community has started building thousands of new homes on more than 1,200 acres it purchased from Leesburg in 2018.
Construction on 3,200 homes in Villages of West Lake started in August off County Road 470 and Florida’s Turnpike. Work is expected to be completed in 18 months, said City Manager Al Minner.
Plans also include a $100 million, 248-acre wellness village.
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The development will link up with homes being built in Sumter County just across the Lake County line.
On Oct. 24, city commissioners were presented with two plats for subdivisions within the development: one for 45 single-family homes and another for 50.
The Villages extends west to Wildwood, where the development in Sumter County features the Brownwood town square, a hotel and spa, and other commercial development along State Road 44.
Homes and commercial development are also in the Lady Lake area in Lake County and south Marion County.
The mega developer purchased 1,127 acres of a former wastewater sprayfield site for $7.5 million in November 2018.
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“It makes everything possible, because it’s not just about the sale price, but the taxes and fees that will be coming in for years,” said Dan Robuck, who was the mayor at the time.
The city’s utility sells gas, electricity and water and operates wastewater treatment plants.
The land sale allowed the city to continue the practice of spending on major capital projects without borrowing money. In the past few years, the city has built a new community building, made improvements to Venetian Gardens, opened a new swimming pool, and erected a teen center.
In 2021, the city approved the sale of an additional 18 acres to The Villages for $366,800. The addition will allow The Villages to come south with a road from SR 44 and develop more land along the west side of the turnpike. Work on that section is expected to be completed in 2023, Minner said at the time.
The fastest growing metro area in the nation
It’s not just the city that is welcoming the development with open arms. Last July, Lake County commissioners approved an economic development grant to help The Villages build a $100 million mixed-use complex that would include a regional hospital at CR 470 and the turnpike.
Currently, there are about 60,000 households in The Villages. It was listed by the U.S. Census Bureau as the fastest growing metropolitan area in the country from 2010 to 2020.
“It’s going to bring a lot of people to Leesburg," said Mayor Elise Dennison in 2020. “Over the next 20 years, Leesburg will be one of the larger cities in Florida."
Several other subdivisions have been approved and land annexed south of the city limits along U.S. 27.
This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: The Villages expands, building on land it bought from City of Leesburg
