New home construction along the Narcoossee corridor and in West Osceola helped fuel a projected 7.2 percent growth in property values countywide in 2016.
“Sales are going up. Prices are going up. We have every indication that things are going to continue to increase in value,” Osceola Property Appraiser Katrina Scarborough told GrowthSpotter on Friday.
The county saw more than $882 million in new construction last year, compared to about $750 million in 2015, she said. Nearly 40 percent of that new construction took place in the Four Corners submarket.
Reunion Resort added a whopping $91.5 million in new construction last year — a figure that includes the $18 million clubhouse and aqua-park by vacation home giant Encore.
It was followed by ChampionsGate at $62 million and Storey Lake at $51 million.
“We’re still not where we were at the height of the market in 2006,” Scarborough said. “Commercial is picking up slowly. It’s always cyclical — first come the rooftops, then the commercial. Residential is leaps and bounds ahead of everything else.”
The City of Kissimmee saw $55.4 million in new construction activity, led by the development of a new Publix at Boggy Creek Marketplace. The city of St. Cloud saw nearly $93 million in new construction, leading to a 10.6-percent growth rate.
“In St. Cloud there’s a lot of new home construction, but it’s everywhere,” Scarborough said. “There’s not one major development.”
Chief Deputy Appraiser Kenny Pennington said that single-family homes accounted for $38 million of St. Cloud’s new construction. The largest commercial project was a Walmart Neighborhood Market at Steven’s Plantation. That means the bulk of the new construction was a result of additions, pools and other improvements made to existing properties.
Several new multifamily communities were completed last year. Luxury apartment complex Douglas Grande at Westside led the way with $24 million in new construction. Others completed in 2016 include Tuscan Isle Senior Living in Poinciana ($18 million), Monterey Pointe senior apartments ($14 million) and Osceola Pointe ($18 million).
Some of the most valuable commercial projects added to the 2016 tax roll included the Cinque Terre shopping center on Osceola Parkway ($12.3 million), the Fairfield Inn on W192 ($9.7 million) and the new Mullinax Ford across from Osceola Heritage Park ($4.9 million).
Tupperware Brands and co-developer O’Conner Capital Partners sold Cinque Terre in August for $23 million.
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