D.R. Horton buys, developing former Sarasota Golf Club

BUYER: D.R. Horton Inc. (principals: Paul Romanowski, Donald Tomnitz, Bill Wheat, Donald Horton, Thomas Montano, Stacey Dwyer, Kathleen Shippey and Ashley Dagley), Tampa
SELLER: Civix Sarasota GC LLC
PROPERTY: 7280 N. Leewynn Drive, Sarasota
PRICE: $7.03 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.2 million, November 2003
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Akerman LLP, Orlando

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Fort Worth-based homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc. purchased the 172-acre former Sarasota Golf Club property for $7.03 million.

The price equated to $40,843 per acre.

The property includes the golf course and a clubhouse.

Civix Sarasota purchased the golf course land in late 2003 after Wells Fargo foreclosed on the property. The golf course closed May 2013.

Darren Saltzberg, city manager for the Tampa Division of D.R. Horton, says the homebuilder was drawn to the property's location and the large home sites. The homebuilder will have 126 estate homes up for sale in the community.

“Development is expected to start later this month, with sales currently scheduled to begin in the fall of 2014,” Saltzberg wrote in an email to the Business Observer. “We plan to name this new vibrant community Vilano.”

Pricing and square footage is being determined.