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Venice Palms is one of those neighborhoods that blends into the community’s fabric. It has an appealing entrance, with towering and appropriate palm tress, but it is not ostentatious in the Gran Paradiso manner.
You would hardly notice it as you make your way on Venice Avenue from downtown Venice to the Jacaranda Boulevard roundabout near the Interstate 75 on-ramp.
As can be seen in its extremely well-kept houses and landscapes, the 174-home subdivision is beloved by its more than 300 residents. They especially like its convenient location and low profile.
Venice Palms neighborhood is popular because of its location off Venice Avenue.
(Staff photo / Harold Bubil)
“The neighborhood is extremely popular because of its location,” said Realtor Charryl Youman of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services. “It is less than four miles to the beach, three miles to the historic district.”
The neighborhood has only one entrance/exit, greatly reducing the amount of traffic. Along with sidewalks on both sides of the curving streets, that makes it ideal for walkers, bike-riders and joggers.
They even have their own private hiking-biking path along the Blackburn Canal, which forms the northern border of the 15-year-old community.
“The bike trail goes through a preserve area,” said Youman, a Venice Palms resident for nine years.
“It wraps through the whole back end of the neighborhood by the Blackburn Canal and has four cut-throughs so that you don’t have to go the whole distance if you don’t want to.
“The path is part of our community,” she added. “We take care of it, and residents know each other from walking the path. People from other neighborhoods come in and ride their bikes on it, but we don’t mind. It is a very friendly neighborhood.”
Its well landscaped and lush appearance is partly due to another usual attribute: Residents have free water for irrigation.
“We have our own filtered-well irrigation system, so we don’t pay the county to water our lawns, which is why everyone is trying to grow English gardens in here,” Youman said.
“The water is essentially free to us. It is quite beautiful as a result.”
Youman said the neighborhood’s relatively low fees are another draw.
“The fees are extremely low because we don’t have a clubhouse,” she said. “And you have the maintenance-free option (fees are higher there). One reason why people love the neighborhood is that it looks and feels like a gated community without the gates. It has a very upscale feel.”
Privacy is created by six preserve areas, to which the majority of homes back up. The preserves, one of which has a pond, help control rainwater. Only “two or three” houses are in the “A” flood zone as determined by FEMA’s Flood Insurance Rate Map, Youman said. The rest are in the low-risk “X” zone.
The 75-acre community was developed in the late 1990s by Tom Dabney, whose company was called Gulf Coast Property Services. The Dabney family had long used the land for ranching. The first models opened in 1998.
Back then, house-lot prices started in the $130,000s for the smaller homes in the maintenance-free section, with 55-foot-wide lots, at the center of the community.
The larger home sites are 75 by 120 feet.
Builders were David Schroeders Construction, Peterson Homes and Waterford Homes. Prices went as high as $225,000 at the start; houses range from about 1,600 to 2,100 square feet.
Six years later, at the peak of the boom, selling prices approached $500,000, Youman said. Then the big chill hit and prices fell back into the $200,000s.
Recent sales have ranged from $280,000 to $365,000, and $210,000 to $314,000 in the maintenance-free section of smaller houses on smaller lots. Several foreclosure sales have been at deeply discounted prices.
Only two houses are listed in the MLS, with a couple more for-sale-by-owner properties on the market.
Listings average $155 to $162 per square foot, Youman said. “Whether the home has barrel-tile or shingle roofs makes a difference,” she said.
The Realtor notes that sellers in Venice Palms and Valencia Lakes next door have fresh competition — new construction across Venice Avenue at Grand Oaks.
“They are lovely and well-built, with nice things to offer. They are competition for us,” Youman said.
“But they don’t have our views and our elbow room. If you are looking for newer construction with beautiful views and privacy, then Venice Palms is a great option.”
Youman said about 60 percent of the residents live in households in which at least one person is employed. The remainder are retiree households. The vast majority are year-round residents.
