For a few decades, Bradenton has been the only town in the area where one could buy a house, be it an older home or a unit in one of the town’s numerous mobile home parks. Now that D. R. Horton has come to neighboring Oneco, things are going to change. The mega-developer has set its sights on a new bricks-and-mortar housing development with all homes priced below $200,000.
The Express Homes division of the Fort Worth-Based D. R. Horton has begun developing the Park Place neighborhood on 53rd Avenue East. Work began last week on the forested, 16-acre property located amidst an already dense development. The work finally brings development to a parcel which had been the object of a comparatively expensive bidding war prior to the housing market collapse in 2008.
Express Homes will build 58 single-family homes at Park Place. Compared to D. R. Horton’s typically upscale fare, the homes of Park Place will feature limited options. The Express Homes division focuses on building homes for an “entry-level” price range. Founded in April 2014, the Express Homes division has focused its development efforts in Texas and Florida. It is expected that the neighborhood will appeal to budget-minded home buyers, and unlike most of the developer’s other developments, park Place will not have neighborhood maintenance fees.
R. Horton spokeswoman Jennifer Hansen has high hopes for the development. “Given the limited supply of entry-level new home construction in the area, along with no CDD and low HOA fees,” she says, “we expect this project to be very attractive to potential homebuyers.”
The development fell together after D.R. Horton snagged the land at a deep discount. The acreage was purchased from Park Place investments for $834,500. In December of 2014. Park Place Investments had bought the land out of foreclosure from Rottlund Homes of Florida for $245,000 ago and immediately began the lengthy entitlement process. The land had originally sold for $2.4 million in 2005.
Park Place is currently working on the infrastructure elements, installing roads, power lines, and sewers. The final subdivision plat has yet to be submitted. Although there is much work to be done, D. R. Horton hopes to begin building the neighborhood’s first new homes by the end of the year.