Developer woos rich with Lake homesites
Bella Collina Articles 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 
Buyers snap up every last luxury home lot while nibbling on cheese - and we don't mean Cheez Whiz
By Robert Sargent - Orlando Sentinel Saturday April 23, 2005
MONTVERDE - Lake County's richest neighborhood will sell some of its remaining homesites today at an upscale party for wealth buyers.
Celebration-based Ginn Clubs and Resorts, the developer of the gated Bella Collina community under construction on County Road 455, will host the private event with food and entertainment for an estimated 3,000 people.
About half the guests registered for a chance to buy the project's approximately 400 available lots - many about a quarter-acre. Prices range from about $460,000 to more than $1.7 million, according to Ginn.
The company will provide guests with meals and helicopter tours of the 1,900-acre development. Entertainment includes kids' activities, grape stomping and marionette shows.
Two-time U.S. Open Champion Lee Janzen, a future Bella Collina homeowner and resident golf professional, will sigh autographs.
Plans for Bella Collina, which is Italian for "beautiful hill," call for 800 upscale homes, an Italian-themed clubhouse, a health and day spa, an equestrian center and a championship golf course designed by golfer Nick Faldo.
Construction on the project so far includes roads, utilities and othe infrastructure. Eight custom builders will start the first homes within a couple of months, the company said.
Some of the first modesl are expected to cost $1 million to $4 million.
Last year, Ginn sold many of the community's first 400 lots for $174 million in about for hours. Since then, some of the properties have sold again for increasingly higher prices.
One parcel, for example, sold for nearly $445,000 in June. It resold for about $675,000 in September and sold again last month for almost $1.2 million, according to the Lake County Property Appraiser's Office.
The project has gained strong intrest from buyers around the world with the help of referrals from homeowners in other Ginn communities and the company's advetisements in The Wall Street Journal, Golf Magazine, Southern Living and other publications, said Jim Matoska, executive vice president of the company's real-estate division.
Ginn's other big projects include Reunion Resort & Club in Osceola County; Hammock Beach and yacht Harbor Village, both near St. Augustine; and others in Port St. Lucie, South Carolina and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to the company.
Robert Sargent can be reached at
rsargent@orlandosentinel.com
or 352-742-5909
877.366.26355
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