Pulte Homes is looking to expand its footprint even more in Osceola County with a major investment in the Tohoqua master-planned community in St. Cloud.
“Osceola County has been a great market for us,” Vice President of Land Acquisition Max Perlman said. “Tohoqua is adjacent to Kindred, the number one selling master-planned community in the MSA. And we think Mattamy’s doing a great job there. So we think it will be a good position for us.”
Pulte has a purchase contract for Phases 4 and 5 of the community and has submitted a Preliminary Subdivision Plan to the city that calls for 508 lots in the two sections. If the deal closes, Pulte would join Mattamy Homes as the second builder in the 3,220-home mixed-use development on the east shore of Lake Tohopekaliga.
Master developer Tohoqua Development Company (TDC) is building the amenity center that includes a pool, clubhouse, fitness center and tennis courts and expects to complete it by early 2020.
TDC’s Andre Vidrine told GrowthSpotter on Friday all three phases would be in active construction at the same time. “Most large master-planned developments traditionally have several builders,” he said. “The logic and concept behind that is the ability to provide multiple product lines and touch multiple price points, and to diversify the offerings to the marketplace.”
Mattamy signed on in 2017 as the exclusive builder for Phase 1, which includes 329 detached homes and townhomes. Now Mattamy is gearing up for the grand opening of its model village and sales center.
Pulte, meanwhile, is well-established in greater St. Cloud, having built and sold homes in Whaley’s Creek, Canoe Creek Commons and Lakeshore at Narcoossee. The deal with Tohoqua positions the company to introduce its age-restricted Del Webb product line to city.
The Poulos & Bennett-designed PSP has the two phases completely seperated by the Cross Prairie Parkway, with Phase 5 designed as a gated pod that could accommodate an age-restricted community.
“There are two product-lines in Phase 5,” Vidrine said. “It will have 50-foot detached lots and 33-foot attached lots. Those will be 2-unit villas.”
This would be the third new Del Webb community for Pulte in the Orlando market, following Sunbridge and Oasis at Horizon West.
“If you can’t tell, we’re bullish on the 55-plus market in Orlando,” Division President Clint Ball previously told GrowthSpotter. “We think it’s going to be a real destination for Baby Boomers.”
Tohoqua’s Phase 4 would be east of the community’s main road, Toho Parkway, and just across the street from the Mattamy section. It’s composed of 241 single family detached lots to accommodate of a mix of 32-foot rear-loaded product with 40- and 50-foot front-loaded lots.
The 785-acre community borders Neptune Road and the Florida Turnpike. The former DRI is entitled for 2,216 homes and townhomes and 1,004 multifamily units, plus 613,000 square feet of commercial uses and 200 hotel rooms.
The community is slated to have a new high school, which would be built in Phase 2, and a K-8 school to be built in Phase 3. A STEM Charter school also is planned. Vidrine said TDC is entertaining offers for Phases 2 and 3.
D.R. Horton’s Kindred community is immediately north of Tohoqua. Edgewater, which is under contract to BTI Partners, is to the south.
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