Taylor Morrison's Farnese VII model in Cobblestone at Palmer Ranch. The model has two, two and a half baths and a den in 2,100 square feet. Taylor Morrison is in expansion mode in Southwest Florida. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 8-21-2015.
Nothing is left to chance at Taylor Morrison’s Cobblestone residential development on Palmer Ranch.
The latest in its Esplanade series of developments, Cobblestone is the result of a lot of research, including the employment of consultants and focus groups, by Taylor Morrison.
In the company’s parlance, it is a “boutique lifestyle community,” with paired villas and houses designed with specific buyers in mind.
Taylor Morrison has seven labels for its various buyer groups, such as Home at Last (first-time buyers) and Parks and Prestige (second-home or move-up buyers looking to spend $500,000 or so).
At Cobblestone, the Fancy Nesters (empty nesters) and Silver Linings (bona fide retirees) making up the majority of buyers so far. As of late August, 51 building permits had been filed; the community will have 180 homes on 240 acres at buildout.
About half of Esplanade buyers pay all cash.
The planning for such communities is done “as strategically as we possibly can, so we can align the product with that consumer group,” said Cammie Longenecker, Taylor Morrison’s vice president of sales and marketing for its West Florida Division, which builds from Tampa to Marco Island, south of Naples. “The home, the kind of community, how you set it up and design it, what the offerings are going to be.
The Pallazio VII model in Cobblestone at Palmer Ranch has three bedrooms and three and a half baths in 2,929 square feet. Cobblestone is the third of Taylor Morrison's Esplanade brand of new-home communities in the Sarasota-Manatee area. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 8-21-2015.
“We cover a broad scope of communities and buyer profile,” she said. “We make sure we target those retirees and people who are transitioning. We’ve seen that northeastern and Midwestern buyer who is making that transition in their lifestyle ... to be a fulltime Florida resident. They are selling up north and buying here, or buying and then going up north to sell while we are building their homes.”
Cobblestone offers paired villas on 45-foot lots and single-family houses on 52- and 62-foot-wide sites.
The villas range in size from 1,686 to 1,926 square feet, and in price from $338,900 to $356,900. Buying a premium lot adds from $8,000 to $15,000 to the price.
On the 52-foot lots, the models of the Novelli collection range in size from 1,856 to 2,823 square feet, and in price from $389,900 to $468,900. Buying a premium lot adds from $2,000 to $35,000 to the price.
On the 62-foot lots, the models of the La Palma collection range in size from 1,856 to 2,823 square feet, and in price from $389,900 to $468,900. Buying a premium lot adds from $20,000 to $39,000 to the price.
The total neighborhood association assessment is $3,270.59 per year.
Cobblestone is Taylor Morrison’s third Esplanade community in the Sarasota area and its first on Palmer Ranch, the 31-year-old, 5,700-acre master planned community near Westfield Sarasota Square mall that had seen little new-home construction in the past decade before a recent resurgence of building.
The Pallazio VII model in Cobblestone in Palmer Ranch has three bedrooms and three and a half baths in 2,929 square feet. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 8-21-2015.
The “active lifestyle” community is not age-restricted. “It is for anyone looking for that resort lifestyle,” Longenecker said. ” ‘Boutique lifestyle’ is a smaller, resort style. It is going to be from 100 to maybe 450 home sites. We keep it smaller, gated and more intimate.
“As we build our amenity campuses, we are focusing on those things that appeal to that type of lifestyle,” she added. Included in that are “lifestyle directors,” resort-style pools, bocce ball and pickleball courts, book clubs and other activities.
“It is an opportunity to put people together and have parties and events planned, something going for everyone all the time.”
Cobblestone follows on the heels of Taylor Morrison’s Arbor Lakes community and DiVosta’s Sandhill Preserve as Palmer Ranch’s three under-construction residential sections.
The first Esplanade development, started in 2012, was the 1,250-home golf and country club community in Lakewood Ranch.
It allows potential buyers to evaluate the Esplanade brand.
“We saw the opportunity to make it repeatable and scalable across certain market segments,” Longenecker said. “It has built confidence in the brand. The site maps aren’t the same — one has a golf course and this one doesn’t — but buyers can get the feel of our lifestyle living that we are bringing to the market.”
The kitchen in the Pallazio VII model at Cobblestone. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 8-21-2015.
Taylor Morrison built the Esplanade by Siesta Key, starting in 2013. Like Cobblestone, that Stickney Point Road subdivision does not have a golf course.
In fact, despite going against the grain and building a golf course at Esplanade at Lakewood Ranch, a larger community with a country-club feel, Taylor Morrison only has three new golf courses in its entire West Florida operation, which has about 40 developments.
“They are few and far between,” said Longenecker. “It is a very strategic position for us to take in very specifically targeted markets. We were a bit contrarian to the marketplace to introduce golf courses when we did. But we saw an opportunity in a niche marketplace that we could do them in key locations. The No. 1 factor is location and the demand. We are really pleased with the results.”
Taylor Morrison became a publicly traded company in 2013 and has acquired divisions in Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago. It has 16 divisions in nine states.
