Sanford developer Gillio has pair of projects in Lake Nona, Davenport

Developer Matthew Gillio is proposing a short-term rental development in Polk County, just outside the boundaries of ChampionsGate Resort.

Preliminary plans call for 56-60 townhomes on about 7.5 acres at the southwest corner of Interstate 4 and Ronald Reagan Parkway, Gillio told GrowthSpotter.

“We’re excited to be able to find this property,” Gillio said. “It’s just a AAA location in Polk County.”

Gillio said he envisions the development - known as Champion Village – to have a mix of 3- and 4-bedroom townhomes with up to eight units per building. He also wants to offer private plunge pools or spas in each unit, along with a community pool and clubhouse.

“I envision for every residence to have its own screened-in pool, however small it may be,” he side. “We have not come up, at this point, with floor plans and exact designs.”

For Gillio’s development team, the vacation homes are a new concept. But they are prolific in the Four Corners area of Davenport because of the proximity to the Disney properties, Thado Hays told GrowthSpotter.

Hays is the development and customer service manager for the Polk County Office of Planning and Development.

“This is what Davenport is kind of famous (for),” Gillio said. The Polk County Planning Commission will consider Champion Village at its Dec. 4 meeting, Hays said.

This site issurrounded by vacation home communities, including Champions Reserve and Festival. It’s also directly across from the ChampionsGate golf resort and its new $50 million class apartment community. A future free-standing emergency center by HCA is also planned at the intersection.

Gillio has another residential project in the desirable Lake Nona market. La Shore is a 15-acre, custom-build community with four 2-acre-plus lots on Lake Whippoorwill and 10 “oversized” interior lots, real-estate broker Steve Fusilier of Steve Fusilier Realty Group told GrowthSpotter.

The site is on Kirby Smith Road, just southeast of the Narcoossee Road interchange with the Central Florida Greeneway, S.R. 417, and across from 33.4 acres owned by Tavistock Development Company. The property fronting on Narcoossee will be home to a Gator’s Dockside restaurant and three other commercial buildings, according to plans submitted to Orange County.

The development broke ground about three months ago and currently has six lots under contract, Fusilier said.

All homes will be custom built with at least 3-car garages. Lake-front properties having a minimum square footage of 4,500 square feet and interior minimum square footage of 3,500, Fusilier said.

The development will provide buyers the rare chance to build a custom home on a large lot without locating in a golf and country club community.

“It brings a unique opportunity,” Fusilier said. Lot prices go from $200,00-$265,000 for interior properties and $550,000 to $625,000 for lake-front properties. Fusilier has three custom builders for the development – he declined to name them.

Lake Whippoorwill is spring fed and used for wakeboarding, fishing and canoeing. “We believe we’ll have most of them sold, if not all of them, by the time we finish the horizontal development” in 90-120 days, Fusilier said.

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