Taylor Morrison returns to Ranch

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Taylor Morrison Division President Steve Kempton flips through a binder and lands on a picture of home sites woven around a series of lakes and lush greenery.

The 450-home community pictured is Esplanade, the company’s new development slated for a 195-acre parcel just east of Pope Road and north of Center Ice Parkway, adjacent to the former ice hockey arena site. Plans for the project — only the second to be constructed north of State Road 70 in Lakewood Ranch — were announced Jan. 10.

“(Esplanade is) an old word that was ‘fortress by the water’ or more appropriately, ‘walkway by the water,’” Kempton said of the community’s name.

Nearly every home site sits in front of a lake, and those that don’t instead are offered a view of vegetation. Taylor Morrison is leaving space for a trail along the northern entry road into the community and trails throughout it, which will be private, as well as for a 12-foot-wide trail along Pope Road, which will be accessible to the general public.

However, Esplanade’s focal point will be its community amenity campus, which will include tennis courts, a formal lawn, a dog park, a resort-style pool and spa, a fitness center, arts and crafts rooms and more. Kempton said a piece of land is being reserved for a later date so residents can pick the final amenity for the complex, whether bocce or basketball.

Once residents arrive, someone will be hired to run the amenities center and schedule activities for homeowners, Kempton said.

The age-targeted, active lifestyle community, which will offer a variety of Mediterranean style homes, will be similar to Taylor Morrison’s popular Palma Sola Trace project in Bradenton, Kempton said. Single-family homes and villas will range in size from 1,400 to 2,700 square feet on 42-, 52- and 62-foot lots and boast tile roofs, paver driveways and other features.

“We’re going to try to appeal to people who have a big home and raise their children in the club, but are trying to downsize into something that is still (luxurious),” Kempton said, noting Esplanade also will be a maintenance-free neighborhood. “It’s age-targeted but not age-restricted.

“Right now, everything is single story with a lanai and pool options,” he said.

Kempton said Taylor Morrison has been working on the project for about one year. The company — formerly Taylor Woodrow and Morrison Homes before the companies merged in 2007 — built homes in Greenbrook.

“It’s more of a return,” Kempton said of Taylor Morrison coming to the Ranch. “We’re excited (Schroeder-Manatee Ranch) trusts our ability to develop a pretty significant-sized community.

“We’re excited to have this partnership with the Ranch and to be able to offer an active lifestyle community,” he said.

Taylor Morrison will begin construction, starting with infrastructure for the project, in June or July. About 40% of the project — including the gates, amenities center and the first phase of homes — will be constructed up front. Home prices, although still to be determined, likely will start between $200,000 and $300,000, Kempton said.

Home sales are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2012.

For more information, visit www.taylormorrison.com.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].