Builder seeks insight from locals

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Canada’s largest homebuilder is finding its niche.

For two days this month, Mattamy Homes representatives led private focus groups to learn about its newest market — Lakewood Ranch.

The focus groups, held at Palm-Aire Golf & Country Club with local real estate agents and potential buyers who were hand-selected and compensated for their time, will help determine the look and feel of Harmony at Lakewood Ranch — Mattamy Homes’ planned 675-home community.

For Mattamy Homes, which closed on 235 acres just south of the Central Park community for $17.2 million in January, the focus groups have provided a look into the unique demands of a new market.

“We have spent 35 years in this business, so clearly we know what we are doing,” said Ed Suchora, president of Mattamy’s new Tampa division. “But every market has unique wants and needs that we need to understand. People like to feel valued and a part of the process.”

Suchora, who grew up in Bradenton, said Mattamy uses focus groups every time it enters a new market or has a large deal in an existing market.

For 30 years, Mattamy has worked with the same marketing research firm to orchestrate the focus groups.
Group participants must fit the buyer profile for Mattamy’s intended community and they have to be in the market for a home.

The focus groups at Palm-Aire averaged 10 participants per session.

Mattamy goes into every focus group with a rough plan for what it will build in the market.

For example, Mattamy’s plans for Harmony at Lakewood Ranch include 675 townhomes and detached single-family homes.

The residences will run at a lower price point than most others in Lakewood Ranch — with homes priced from $180,000 to about $270,000. Most home designs will be similar to what the company has already built in Jacksonville and Orlando.

But Mattamy will also prepare new home designs based on focus group feedback in Lakewood Ranch.
Suchora says the data gathered from focus groups is more qualitative than quantitative — Mattamy gleamed a few unanimous insights that it will incorporate in new designs.

“One big thing we learned about is how much covered lanais matter to people here,” Suchora said. “In Orlando and Jacksonville, covered lanais are not a big deal. Here, it’s a necessity and a requirement even for an entry-level home.”

During the focus groups, attendees could see and learn about Mattamy’s site and floor plans and planned amenities.

Many people recommended revisions to the plans.

One particular site plan that Mattamy had proposed called for an attached product with a single-family home feel.

There would be a living room and a kitchen — and the master bedroom would be on the second floor.

“People just didn’t care for that,” Suchora said. “No one in Lakewood Ranch wants a master bedroom on the second floor. In Tampa, they like that.”

Mattamy has previously said that amenities within the community will include a clubhouse and pool, as well as two large parks with a “tot lot,” dog park and walking trails.

But, as it turns out, Lakewood Ranch customers aren’t so demanding.

“The focus groups told us that people here don’t want very complex amenities,” Suchora said. “It’s very interesting. Usually people want more, more, more. But here, people want a pool and a clubhouse. They want their cost of living down and they want lots of green space.”

Suchora could not promise that input from the focus groups would precisely impact change — after all, the groups were small and you can’t please everybody, he said — but the new knowledge will help create an attractive product.

“We find the helpfulness of the focus groups to be very real,” Suchora said. “Because of them, we will have a better overall product that will not only perform well, but bring customer satisfaction.”

Mattamy plans to break ground on its homes this summer. The first homes will go on the market in spring 2015.

Contact Josh Siegel at [email protected].