Is It Time to Dig in North Port’s “Golden Mile?”


 

SARASOTA, FLORIDA, May 4, 2018 – Two major property developments are poised on the north side of U.S. 41 (Tamiami Trail) on a T-bone with Sumter Boulevard in North Port. This area is notably touted as this city’s “golden mile” and one of North Port’s drivers as a fast-rising submarket of Sarasota real estate.

One large project in the pipeline in this South County region is the redevelopment of the former Sabal Trace Golf & Country Club in the northeast quadrant of the U.S. 41‒Sumter Boulevard intersection. In October last year, Tampa-based GNP Development paid $1.5 million for this 207-acre property wherein there are homes already built around the country club’s closed golf links.

GNP Development’s conceptual plans for the acreage of the shuttered golf course include home site development for up to 500 single-family residences. The developer is likewise offering the U.S. 41 frontage of its Sabal Trace property as a site for commercial/recreational use.

Hilton Brand in the Wings

Tru by Hilton

In the same North Port golden mile area, a two-plus acre site on the Tamiami Trail has long been groomed as site for a hotel by Trinity Commercial Group of Naples. At the same time, Fort Myers-based hotel consultant HMI Inc. had been scouting several different flagged hotels for North Port.

Currently being considered for the U.S. 41 site, according to recent reports, is a Hilton-branded location, such as a Home2Suites or Tru By Hilton. The engineering firm AVID Group, which has offices in Tampa and Orlando, has been reported as shepherding this hotel project through the city’s permitting process. Its current plans call for the construction of a four-story, 100-room limited service hotel without a restaurant or meeting space.

In addition to the planned Hilton location, hotel specialists which the city consulted see market demand for another hotel on U.S. 41, as well as a similar facility up near Interstate 75. Besides these suggestions, a boutique hotel is anticipated to be developed in tandem with a health and wellness resort in the Warm Mineral Springs area. Construction of a hotel or a condominium is likewise a possibility in a parcel adjacent to the spring training complex of the Atlanta Braves now under construction at the West Villages.

Sweet Spot for Home Buyers

The ripple effects of these property developments eventually panning out should bode well for North Port homes for sale not only in Sabal Trace. Bound to benefit too are nearby communities like Country Club Ridge which offers pre-owned homes affordably priced in the $100s. These residences’ floor plans typically measure between 900 and 1,320 square feet designed with two to three bedrooms and with two baths.

With their attractive pricing, these sales-listings can move fast on the market just like a two-bedroom home sold in March this year after just two days on the market. These homes’ selling points also include its proximity to McKibben Park providing recreational activities like kayaking, boating, fishing, basketball, and tennis.

Sabal Trace’s Resale Homes

Sabal Trace

The existing golf community around Sabal Trace is comprised of several neighborhoods developed with single family estate homes, villas and condos. Its residences were mostly built during the 1980s.

Deed-restricted, this community features relatively newer construction in its two-phased Villas of Sabal Trace where national builder Lennar started construction in 2001. Most of its home sites are near the golf course and a lake, sought-after features among Sarasota homes for sale. Typical sales listings in this neighborhood have floor areas of close to 1,500 square feet designed with two bedrooms and two baths, with asking prices in the low $200s.

As attractively priced are the condos of Colony at Sabal Trace where available units start from around the mid-$100s, featuring living areas of 1,168 square feet with two-bedroom layouts. Single family homes for sale in Sabal Trace typically come with floor plans of between 1,700 and 2,400 square feet in three- to four-bedroom configurations offered in the $200s–$300s range.