Lakewood Ranch condo project scrapped?

Mike Driscoll, co-owner of The Fish Hole Miniature Golf at Main Street at Lakewood Ranch, sat with his wife, Debbie, on April 28 and looked out their office window to an unexpected scene.

The construction trailer for the 44-unit The Lakeshore condominium project, located on land north of The Fish Hole and south of Michael Saunders & Co., along the bank of Lake Uihlein, was being moved.

“They hooked up the construction trailer and took it away,” Mike Driscoll said. “Looks like they are going bye-bye.”

That has yet to be confirmed.

Workers removed construction fencing April 19 and installed sod the following day, Driscoll said.

The 1.32-acre property now is listed for sale on Realtor.com for $2.6 million.

The project’s developer, Fred Bullard, of the Bullard Group, declined to comment.

The luxury condos are priced from the low $600,000s to about $1.3 million and range from 1,887 to 3,446 square feet.

Kim Dowling, a broker associate with Wagner Realty, who is co-leading sales efforts for the condos, confirmed the property is for sale.

“The sale does include the Lakeshore concept, which may be developed or reimagined, ” she said. “We are confident that the ultimate goal of building what will be a landmark feature of downtown Lakewood Ranch will be accomplished. With the success we have already had with sales and marketing we want the site to reach its potential and transform the area.”

Bullard Group site work began in January. In February, it faced delays on starting vertical construction for the project at 10755 Rodeo Drive, with representatives citing excavation work that needed to be done to identify the project’s original foundations. Construction under another developer halted in 2008.

Representatives said excavation work would take eight to 10 weeks.

Bullard Group acquired The Lakeshore site in mid-2016 and planned to break ground in June 2016. It took extra time to revise floor plans to include larger master suites, expanded terraces and layouts to take advantage of natural light, among other design changes.

Developers hoped for The Lakeshore’s first residents to move in early 2018.

On the other side of Main Street, Homes by Towne is well underway on its three-building, 76-unit luxury condo project, with 11 homes sold of about 23 units in the first building.

Kitt Kearney, vice president of sales and marketing for Homes by Towne, said units range from about 1,300 to 2,600 square feet and are priced from $376,000 to $1,0240,000.

“It’s coming along really well,” Kearney said. “In Building One, we are hoping to have models done in July, so we’ll be starting to close units in Building One, then, as well.

“People want to see models,” she said. “Everybody’s very excited.”

Construction of the second and third buildings has begun, as well.

— Story updated May 3 to reflect a response by Kim Dowling.