Neal Communities buys land for Colonial Lakes on Winkler

BUYER: NC Naples 132 LLC (principals: Neal Communities of Southwest Florida LLC, Michael Storey, James Schier and Priscilla Heim), Lakewood Ranch
SELLER: Toll Ft. Myers Limited Partnership
PROPERTY: 4781 Winkler Ave., Fort Myers
PRICE: $9.2 million
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Foley & Lardner LLP, Tampa

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Lakewood Ranch-based homebuilder Neal Communities Inc. purchased 106 acres on Winkler Avenue south of Colonial Boulevard and west of Ben C. Pratt Boulevard for $9.2 million. The price equated to $86,792 per acre.

The property contains the partially developed community Colonial Lakes. Previous developer Toll Brothers started construction on the community around 2006, but work stopped shortly thereafter. The entryway, landscaping and some home lots are already developed. It is zoned for 297 homes.

The homebuilder plans to complete the infrastructure and develop the community in mixture of single-family and paired villa homes. Neal Communities also expects to create an amenity center with a pool, spa, tennis and fitness center. Community and model home construction should start in late summer for an early 2014 opening.

“It's really an exciting time for us,” says Michael Greenberg, the company's vice president in Lee and Collier counties, in an email to the Business Observer. “We are launching Villa Palmeras, a paired villa community in Estero this coming week and in the last two months we have acquired four new properties in Lee and Collier counties.”

Neal Communities mortgaged the property to the seller, Toll Ft. Myers Limited Partnership, for $7.2 million.