Ryland Homes buys land for 90-home Palmer Reserve

BUYER: The Ryland Group Inc. (principals: Timothy Geckle, Larry Nicholson, Gordon Milne, Rene Mentch, Joseph Sabella and Sheri Markham), Westlake Village, Calif.
SELLER: JB and WF LLC
PROPERTY: 7500 Palmer Blvd. and additional land, Sarasota
PRICE: $5.37 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $5.3 million, December 2012
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Williams Parker Harrison Dietz & Getzen, Sarasota

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Westlake Village, Calif.-based Ryland Homes purchased 26.83 acres of vacant land across the street from Tatum Ridge Elementary School for $5.37 million.

The price equated to $200,260 per acre.

The builder plans to create a community of 90 homes it is calling Palmer Reserve. The new development will feature larger homes than the homebuilder's nearby community to the east, the 77-home Palmer Lake.

Homes in the new community will range in size from 2,200 square feet for a three-bedroom/two-and-a-half bath home up to 3,500 square feet for a five-bedroom/three-and-a-half bath home. Prices will start in the high $200,000s.

“We're planning to start development in June,” says Joe Fontana, president of the West Florida division for Ryland Homes. “We hope to open by the end of the year. This will be a very nice looking community in a phenomenal 'A' location in Sarasota. [Palmer Ranch] is a very infill location. There's not a lot of single-family home parcels available to do good high-quality new home construction. There's a lot of pent-up demand there.”

The homebuilder plans to start with its 2,785-square-foot Hemingway model.

The community will also feature a tot lot, several parks and ponds and preserve land.

Ryland Homes' Palmer Lake community opened four months ago and 24 homes have been sold.