Lakewood Ranch (LWR) has reaffirmed its reputation as the largest green-certified master planned project in the U.S. with the start of construction in October 2014 for pipelines which will supply reclaimed water for irrigation requirements of homes and golf courses in the 8,550-acre development.
The recycled water for irrigating landscaping in LWR will be drawn from the Braden River Watershed. This water is of better quality than groundwater from wells. Its utilization willlessenthe strain on the Southwest Florida’s regional watersupply system and thus significantly contribute to local nature conservation efforts.
Lakewood Ranch’s reclaimed water for irrigation will come from four different sources, through previous funding agreements with the Southwest Florida Water Management District and Braden River Utilities (BRU), a subsidiary of LWR developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch Inc. LWR’s northwest and southwest sectors will receive reclaimed water daily from 2 million to 6 million gallons per day of, depending on the flows to the Bradenton wastewater treatment plant.
This project, which is in collaboration with the city of Bradenton, will cost $14 million and is expected to be completed in April 2015. It was funded equally under a cooperative arrangement between the water management district and BRU.
The repeal of a prohibition on using reclaimed water in the Braden River watershed also helped facilitate the project.The project for LWR’s recycled water supply began in August 2012 with the construction of a new pumping station at Bradenton’s existing reclaimed water storage tank.
With the supply of recycled water from the river, the once-a-week irrigationschedule in Lakewood Ranch is likely to be eased.LWR’s currentrestriction on irrigation of one day per week has been in place for five years, as part of water conservation and other green practices in the award-winning master-planned development.
Besides only using reclaimed and recycledwater for landscape irrigation, green practices are quite evident in LWR home development and construction. In clearing land for building, for instance, ecological balance and environmental impact are strictly considered. Environment-friendly materials are also used for home construction under standards set by the Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC).
Notably, green-certified homes are increasingly gaining attention among prospective home buyers because of their higher resale value. In the recent 11th annual GreenTrends Conference & Tradeshow held in Sarasota, one resource person estimated that green-certified homes can sell for 10‒15% premium over their original value.
The green-certified residences in Lakewood Ranch are therefore among the prized finds in the resale market of Sarasota homes for sale. At LWR’s Country Club East, a home built in 2008 with green features, three bedrooms and a floor area of about 2,000 square feet could be in the market with an asking price in the low $600s.
There are a lot of new builds rising in the master-planned development, such as in Bridgewater and in the Esplanade Golf and Country Club. Also, in LWR’s Central Park, green builder Bruce Williams Homes last year started buildingin Forest Park, the last phase in this community. These homes’ floor plans range from 1,311 to 2,228 square feet with starting prices around the $200s level.
SARASOTA, FLORIDA, October 7, 2019 – Property values of communities in the Sarasota-Manatee region now face lesser threat from neighborhood eyesores brought about by abandoned, foreclosed homes. Known in the real estate trade as zombie foreclosures, these properties have shrunk significantly in the region. According to an August report of ATTOM Data Solutions, abandoned […] more>>