Chicago-based Vieste Group has signed on to build its second Tuscan Isle-branded retirement community, this time at ChampionsGate.
Marc Reicher, senior vice president for ChampionsGate developer RIDA, told GrowthSpotter the parties signed an 80-year land lease on Wednesday for 11.7 acres at the intersection of ChampionsGate Boulevard and Ronald Reagan Parkway.
Vieste paid $4.7 million, or $400,000 per acre, up front and will pay an annual maintenance fee to RIDA.
“We’re really excited to have this type of project come to ChampionsGate,” Reicher said.
The project will duplicate Vieste’s new Tuscan Isle community at Solivita, next door to Poinciana Regional Medical Center. That $50 million project, which is being rebranded as Volterra at Solivita Marketplace, is on track to open its first phase next month.
Vieste CEO Mike Comparato told GrowthSpotter the company is a week away from getting its certificate of occupancy, and the first residents are scheduled to move in the first week of May. The plan is to start construction on phase two, projected to cost $20 million, when the building reaches 50 percent occupancy, likely in early 2017.
Construction is already underway at the ChampionsGate site.
“We closed yesterday and gave our contractor the notice to proceed,” Comparato said. “Our program and footprint are replicated, with a few minor tweaks.”
Both communities feature more than 220 fully furnished units, along with a fine dining restaurant, casual bistro and other dining and entertainment options. Residents pay an all-inclusive monthly cost of living fee and enjoy shared amenities — including golf and pool access — with their host resorts.
Comparato said Tuscan Isle will provide free shuttle service between the two retirement communities, as well as service to the partner resorts and shopping excursions.
The ChampionsGate location will have 131 independant living units, 56 assisted living units and 36 memory care units. The site is large enough to accommodate future expansion, but for now Vieste is concentrating on the first phase.
Baker-Barrios is the architect and Core Construction is the builder for both communities.
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