Atlanta-based ResiBuilt has secured a contract for its second purpose-built rental community in Central Florida and submitted preliminary plans to Lake County.
Led by former Craft Homes executive Richard Maddalena, ResiBuilt Florida is seeking approvals for a mixed-use community on State Road 44 just outside of The Villages, the nation’s fastest-growing master-planned community. Maddalena told GrowthSpotter the subject property is over 300 acres and crosses over into Sumter County, but all of the new development would take place in unincorporated Lake County.
“There’s a lot to that piece of property,” Maddalena said. “We have to a comprehensive plan amendment, and then zoning and (preliminary subdivision plan) will try to run concurrently. So yes, there’s a lot of lift on that one.”
ResiBuilt engaged Rj Whidden & Associates to create a preliminary site plan that was included with the pre-submittal package. The plan calls for 364 detached homes on 50×120-foot lots in a compact arrangement on less than 52 acres. The neighborhood blocks are designed to create large common spaces that could serve as sports fields, as well as a central amenity center with a pool and cabana.
“It’s going to have a resort feeling,” Maddalena said.
Of the 253.6 acres in Lake County, over 144 acres would be preserved as open space. “It’s not a high-density project, with regards to the amount of property we’ll be owning,” Maddalena said.
The two parcels that front on S.R. 44 have a combined 31.5 acres. The larger parcel would serve as the main entrance to the neighborhood, dubbed Village Palms. The mail kiosk and school bus stop shelter would be located here, and the sites would be rezoned to allow for office or commercial uses and sold off at some point in the future.
ResiBuilt is a subsidiary of ResiCap, which was founded in 2010 as a management platform for institutional owners of single-family rental properties. In 2020, ResiCap entered into a $1 billion joint venture with private equity firm Rockpoint to invest in purpose-built rental subdivisions in the Southeastern U.S. Last November, the JV announced it had expanded its initial investment by another $2 billion with the goal of increasing its pipeline of new BTR homes to 9,000 units.
Florida plays a major role in the company’s expansion plans. ResiBuilt opened and staffed a Florida division in 2021 and currently has projects in the pipeline north of Tampa and in Jacksonville. ResiBuilt plans to submit a Preliminary Subdivision Plan in April for Hickory Village at Lake Gentry, a proposed 554-home BTR community in Osceola County. The builder already submitted a Concept Plan for the project, which is located in the county’s Mixed-Use District 6. If approved, it would be the largest BTR community in Central Florida.
The company also has projects planned in Wildwood, New Smyrna Beach, Naples and Sarasota. “We are looking now everywhere in the state of Florida,” Maddalena said. “Outside of the Panhandle, everything’s in play.”
Lake County has drawn multiple players in the BTR space. American Homes 4Rent is currently leasing a collection of four- and five-bedroom homes in its Crestridge at Leesburg community. Last year, RealOp Investments paid $4.9 million for a shovel-ready subdivision in the town of Lady Lake, about a mile from The Villages.
In December, another Atlanta-based BTR developer, Quinn Residences, paid just over $6 million for the Eleven Oaks subdivision at 3000 E. Orange Ave. in Eustis. Eleven Oaks will have 35 three-bedroom, two-bathroom single-family detached houses and 34 two- and three-bedroom townhomes.
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at lkinsler@GrowthSpotter.com or (407) 420-6261, or tweet me at @byLauraKinsler. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
