Upscale neighbors move into Lake County
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 Wednesday March 2, 2005
MONTVERDE - Central Florida is about to get yet another deluxe community, one that by some accounts will rival the priciest addresses of Isleworth, Lake Nona and Heathrow.
But this time, the platial homes will be built in the unlikeliest of locations: Lake County is going ultra high-end.
At Bella Collina, people are paying top dollar for lots on the western shore of Lake Apopka, which for years has had a tarnished reputation as one of Florida's most-polluted lakes. About a doxen lots sold for more than $1 million each, with the most expensive at $1.5 million.
Bella Collina and other high-end developments, including Heathrow Country Estates near Sorrento and Loch Leven in Mount Dora, are part of an unprecedented surge in land prices amid a rel-estate frenzy in Lake County.
Eventually, the upswing could change the nature of the typically affordable area, where families fleeing the crowding of Orange County could be pushed even further out of a pricey market.
"There's a lot of people wh'd like to see us stay the way we were," said 74-year-old Clarence Harden, who grew up in once-rural south Lake. "We're past that now."
harden said he has watched development creep through Lake County in the past decade. So he's not surprised to see the latest trend of bigger homes and escalating land prices.
Even before the first home is built, Bella Colina aims to become one of Central Florida's priciest communities.
The developer, the Celebration based Ginn Co., hopes it will surpass posh neighborhoods such as Orange County's Isleworth, home to Tiger Woods, Shaquille O'Neal and other celebrities.
Ginn paid more than $20 million to acquire land just south of tiny Montverde, about 25 miles west of Orlando, according to the Lake County Property Appraiser's Office. The 1,900-acre project is nestled in a hilly area with tall oaks and some land that once included citrus groves and farms.
"The unique thin about this property is it has natural beauty," said Larry Smith, Ginn vice president of sales and marketing.
The eastern border of the site is on Lake Apopka. The large body of water appears health, but it has struggled to recover from decades of heavy pollution.
With years of water-quality problems, many consider Lake Apopka an unlikely place to build multimillion-dollar homes. But Ginn is hoping the lake's notorious image will change with state and local governments spending millions for environmental restoration projects.
Last April, the company invited hundreds of potential buyers to check out its vision of gated homes, golf and luxurious amenities. About 400 lots worth a total of $174 miillion wer sold in four hours, according to Ginn.
County records show buyers from as far away as England and Switzerland shelled out hundreds of thousands of daollars for lots of an acre or less.
Since then, some of the properties have sold again. Several that were originally bought for about $400,000 were resold within months for $600,000 or more, records show.
Some re-sales may be to home buyers who couldn't get one of the original 400 lots, Smith said. Others could be investors cahsing in on the area's sudden surge in property values.
Either way, Smith said his company is focused on building its exclusive community of upscale homes.
"You can't weed out all the investors even when you try," he said.
Some of the first model homes are expected to cost $1 million to $4 million.
Plans for Bella Collina, which is Itlian for "beautiful hill," call for more than 800 upscale homes, an Italian-themed clubhouse, a health and day spa, an equestrian center and a championship golf course designed by golf icon Nick Faldo.
A small army of construction workers is clearing land and installlinbg utilities and other infrastructure. A tunnel under County Road 455 connects the two sides of the large development.
Ginn has selected eight custom builders that could start construction on homes by early summer. Another 400 lots could go up for sale within a few months, Smith Said.
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.
Bella Collina is the most lavish example of Lake's red-hot housing market. Many homes and properties across the county are selling for at least twice what they were valued just treee or four years ago.
The increase likely is due to heavy demand for development an growing investment speculation that prices will continue to climb.
"It's a seller's market right now. When we list a property, it often doesn't stay on the market for more thatn one or two weeks," said John Roberts, a Eustis real-estate businessman and appraiser.
Two years ago, the county's total taxable-land values jumped by more than $1 billion-a first for an area dominated for years by cheap land, citrus groves and mobile homes.
Values rose again in 2004, and Lake Property Appraiser Ed Havill said he expects the record will be surpassed this year with properties continuing to sell for higher prices.
"I've never seen anything like it," said Havill, who has been Lake County's property appraiser for nearly three decades. "It's scary what is going on."
Still, he worries the county won't support the pace for too long before the demand stalls and prices drop.
"You just con't keep going up and up and up," he said.
Robert Sargent can be reached at
rsargent@orlandosentinel.com
or 352-742-5909
877.366.26355
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