$11M co. embraces custom market

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Lee Wetherington Homes, a homebuilder nearly crushed by the recession, has re-launched a custom lot division.

The firm, with $10.5 million in 2011 sales, recently sold four custom lots to homebuyers, according to a release. Three of those lots were in Panther Ridge, in east Manatee County, while a fourth lot was on Siesta Key. The homes are planned at more than 3,000 square feet and will be completed sometime next year, the company says.

Peter Mason, vice president of sales and marketing, says the custom home interest is in lockstep with the local real estate market recovery. “In the downturn we stopped marketing to this segment,” Mason says in the release, “but with the market heating up, we've been inundated with requests for custom homes on buyers' lots.”

The 14-employee company, in addition to the division re-launch, also rehired former executive Steve Nelson. The director of architecture, Nelson will help lead the custom homes unit. He worked for the company from 2000-2008, and was a key executive behind Wetherington Signature homes.

“I am ecstatic to be back, and the timing is perfect,” Nelson says in the statement. “There is a pent up demand for this unique product and we have so much interest with new clients...”'¨
Founded in 1981, Lee Wetherington Homes builds in Lakewood Ranch, Sarasota and Venice. For more on how the company survived the recession, click here.