Builder launches new models

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Neal Communities will offer two new home plans when it opens its latest community this month in Manatee County.

The development, River's Reach, is at the headwaters of the Manatee River, halfway between Parrish and Lakewood Ranch. The model center for the first phase, with 124 lots, will be open to visitors in early June, according to a release. A second phase, currently in the planning and engineering stages, is expected to open for sales in 2013.

Homes in River's Reach, which features its own preserve area next to the Manatee River, will range from 2,161 to 3,117 square feet. Prices start in the high $100s. “River's Reach combines a beautiful riverine, rural setting of old Florida with the active lifestyles of today's homebuyers,” Lakewood Ranch-based Neal Communities President and CEO Pat Neal says in a release.