Lakewood Ranch Goes Greener with Polo Run


 

SARASOTA, FLORIDA, October 18, 2017 – Lakewood Ranch further builds up its standing as one of the biggest green master developments in the country, with its first solar-powered community rising on State Road 70 east of the Premier Sports Campus.

Dubbed as Polo Run, this environment-friendly community is being developed by Lennar which is a prolific contributor to the stock of newly built Lakewood Ranch homes for sale. Notably, this national home construction company is also one of the builders in Charlotte County’s Babcock Ranch, a new development positioned as the first solar energy town in the U.S.

Leased Solar Panels

Leased Solar Panels

Polo Run is being developed on a 422-acre site on the north flank of State Road 70 near another Lennar project, Lakewood National. It is planned for a total of 500 single family homes each to be equipped with rooftop solar panels leased from SunStreet, a solar technology company under Lennar.

In the daylight hours, the households of Polo Run will use energy collected from the solar panels, and any unused power will be sold to the grid. Conventional sources will power the community’s residences at night.

With this setup, it is estimated that the solar panels will provide 50 to 60 percent of each Polo Run home’s energy requirements. There are no up-front costs for the homeowners who would simply pay a fixed monthly fee throughout the solar power system’s lease term.

SunStreet will provide maintenance and troubleshooting for free to homeowners during the term of the solar panels’ lease. This company utilizes brand-name panels with a 20-year warranty, and these are installed and inspected by trained and certified personnel to ensure the solar power collecting system’s reliability and safety.

Lennar is likewise banking on its experience in building solar communities in several U.S. markets. Though Polo Run is this builder’s first all-solar homebuilding project in Lakewood Ranch, it has smaller all-solar community projects in Fort Myers and in Pasco County. Aside from these, Lennar has all-solar developments in Arizona, California, Texas and Washington amongst others.

Newly Listed Home Choices

Newly Listed Home Choices

Several Polo Run builds have already been entered in the MLS of Lakewood Ranch homes for sale. These listings are mostly one-story home designs with floor areas of between 1,600 and 2,450 square feet featuring three to four bedrooms. The pricing of these new construction is in the $300s–$400s range.

Polo Run, expected to be built out in five to six years, is programmed for several amenities. These community facilities will include a clubhouse, fitness center, resort-style pool, playground, and basketball, bocce ball and tennis courts.

Meanwhile, focus on sustainable development is gaining traction too at the Lakewood Ranch CORE (Collaborative Opportunities for Research Exploration) project also off State Route 70 west of Polo Run. Currently underway in CORE’s 265-acre site between Lakewood Ranch Boulevard and White Eagle Boulevard is the mixed-use project of The Green at Lakewood Ranch. Two other locators are setting up shop in this business park geared towards ventures in the life sciences.

Construction of The Green at Lakewood Ranch started in June this year with early 2018 as target opening for its first businesses. The organic produce retailer Earth Fare is the expected anchor to the Green’s 15,000 square-foot commercial and office space. In addition, this project’s 35-acre site is also envisioned to have a four-floor apartment complex housing over 300 units.