APRIL FOOLS: Tiny house neighborhood to debut in Lakewood Ranch

Lakewood Ranch is expanding, and shrinking, its housing options at the same time.

Little For Less Inc., new to the tiny house market, has purchased 14 acres in Lakewood Ranch and will host a groundbreaking on April 1 for the area’s first tiny house community, about 300 units on a plot of land bordering the Esplanade community just to the east.

Tiny houses traditionally are homes constructed about the size of a travel trailer so they can be easily moved. The Little For Less homes will be about 8-by-16-feet and will contain a living area, sleeping loft, kitchen and bathroom. Homes will range from about 200 to 400 square feet of usable space with prices capped at about $68,000. Homeowners would own their lots, although their houses could be rolled away at any time.

“The tiny house movement is all about sustainability and portability,” project spokeswoman Penelope Pincher said. “We feel like this project embodies our commitment to be good stewards of the environment and also gives options to folks who want to live, work and play in Lakewood Ranch, but not in a traditional home model.”

Those who are so inclined can move up to the most expensive model, the Villa Lago Tinero, which has a Tuscan design and goes for $178,000. It has 450 feet of living space and has a laundry room and game room in addition to other amenities.

The new community, tentatively named Tiny Reflections, will feature a lifestyle component with a swimming pool and fitness center for its residents, since space inside homes is so limited.

“We want folks to enjoy living there and not go stir crazy,” Pincher added.

Lakewood Ranch officials said the tiny house concept will further diversify the community’s housing options and will make homes available to families on a tiny budget or to those who simply want a scaled-down lifestyle. A spokesman said, “Dishwashers and baggers need homes, too.”

“One of the wonderful things about tiny houses is how creative you can get within a small space,” Pincher said. “Cramming a family of four into a 200-square-foot space should be no problem. You’ve really got to experience it.”

Lakewood Ranch officials also noted the project will be a hit considering the shortage of houses in the Sarasota-Manatee markets for less than $100,000 and because tiny houses are earning national attention through television shows such as “Tiny House, Big Living” on HGTV.

If successful, the new development model could be adopted as Lakewood Ranch expands to the south. Affordable housing is a premium goal of the Waterside at Lakewood Ranch project that  will have 5,144 homes. Of those, about 40% must be considered “affordable” or “workforce” housing, meaning housing prices must be affordable to a family of four making 80% to 120% of the area median income of $61,900 annually. The requirement can be met through rental housing, but if a developer wanted to sell homes, that’s a home price starting at $183,000 — more than $100,000 beyond the cost of a typical tiny house.

Locations within Waterside have not yet been selected, but Pincher indicated a tiny house village could be placed along one of Waterside’s massive lakes to provide more of a “big living” feel to its residents.

Lakewood Ranch could even consider opening a tiny house hotel for visitors to the area who wish to enjoy the Lakewood Ranch lifestyle but relax on lakefront property. Such villages already exist in places such as Austin,  Gardiner, N.Y., and Olympia, Wash., among others.

“It definitely could be a fun way to showcase the area,” Pincher said.

Also on the planning table for the new development are a miniature golf course and a six-lane bowling alley.

**EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is fake. It is an April Fool's story.