A word of caution to future residents
 

So you are planning to buy a house in The Villages. Great! There are literally 10s of thousands of people here living the dream. We hope to keep it that way.

Please note this word of caution from a current resident. The Villages sales force mantra is “you are not buying a house, you are buying a lifestyle”. The lifestyle is rapidly changing – for the worse in the opinion of many.

You will probably consider paying a premium to have your single family home on a golf course and/or near a “country club”. Learn from the developers recent actions and decide if that is worth the risk. Here are a few facts.

There are several country clubs in the northern third of The Villages. These were built in the 80s and 90s and belong to the developer. Many people paid a premium to locate near them fully expecting to have access to a CC pool, tennis courts, a nice restaurant, a 18 or 27 hole course – you know, the things one normally associates with a country club. Two country clubs are now either non-existent or just a CC in name only (TDS in my opinion); Tierra Del Sol and Hacienda Hills. IT GETS WORSE.

The developer demolished Hacienda Hills CC and now states they plan to put an apartment complex on the site. Yes, an apartment complex in the middle of single family homes. To do this they had to get approval to offer amenities to the future apartment residents. A meeting was held to hear the current residents and the OVERWHELMING OPINION was a loud and clear NO. The Amenity authority (after meeting one on one with the developer) voted to ignore the residents and give approximately 280 amenities to the developer. There is much more to that story but this is already long. Read any post on Hacienda Hills on this blog.

Look at Hacienda Hills Country Club on Google Earth to get an idea of the area. The developer owns all the country clubs. Ask your real estate agent if the CC near your home is guaranteed to be there in 5 years.

Bottom line –do your diligence. We all hope the developer shows some respect to the current residents and reverses course. It is the right thing to do.

This is your opinion. My opinion is that it is much ado about nothing. I know some who have been here for a very long time just cannot accept that time marches on and things evolve.

Apartments are a bad concept at this location. If the CC was not profitable then maybe use the space for a park or something like EDNA's on the Green. Or I am sure there are numerous other ideas. Maybe the Developer would accept another specific amenity fee to not put apartments since they must make money.

Yep.

There are 2 sentences in the entire post that is my opinion. The remainder is just facts.

But the fact is that it matters to you but not to me. Not saying it's not true I am saying I don't see it as a big issue.

Why is the developer getting the amenity fees and not the district?

First, country club golf course lots are relatively few and there is no new building going on up there so whomever you are directing this to please don't be too concerned as there are thousands of homes both new and re-sales that are available with executive course lots or water lots or nature lots or interior lots, The Villages sales force sold 196 re-sale homes in July and will most likely be the same for August, new homes are selling just as well. Second, to the OP, take a look at the loft apartments, if the new apartments are anything like them it will be a great addition to the area. With 10,000 boomers retiring every day there will be no end to the growth here in The Villages, come on down before the prices get too high.

Most buy on CC's for the view not for the pool or restaurant. Have you ever been to a CC pool, usually empty.

TDS has a pool and a golf course. From what I've read Hacienda will have a pool and golf course.

This may come as a shock but your definition of a country club isn't close. The restaurants are privately owned and have no relationship to the golf operation. Since TDS has all the golf holes, and your opinion on HH is pure speculation.

This may also come as a shock but the residents have no say in the Developers business, or in any business that they have not invested in. Just because a bunch of uninformed residents show up doesn't mean anyone should make decisions based on their input.

There have been several posts on here on the amenity fees associated with the speculated apartments so I won't repeat the information that is out there. You might want to search so you get your facts correct.

Nothing is guaranteed to be here in 5 years.....and if folks want to live in a community that will remain the same then I agree with you, they shouldn't move here. If you can't handle change then don't come or don't stay.

Oh, and check your facts before your sky continues to fall.

The loft apartments are located on the edge of Brownwood Town Square and not near any single family homes. You miss the point.

My facts are correct.

He’s advising prospective buyers and doing a service for someone who is not familiar with the problems with the developer.

Something about a large building sticking up 40 or 50 feet or whatever height it is in the midst of a single family home development just doesn't seem to fit in with the look and feel of the community as a whole which was the main reason for having Deed Restrictions, to keep everything homogenic. Brownwood apartments are on the outskirts and Katie Belle if it happens is in an existing building. I don't care much because it's NIMBY but it just seems so out of place smack in the middle. Nothing against apartments but it's just where they stick 'em. I am sure if they tore down the Mallory CC and stuck apartments there, I too would be annoyed.

maybe not for the better.. if I were buying I would be happy for his information.. apparently enough residents were unhappy the last election to unseat the developers puppet commissioners by a wide margin.

Most buy on CC's for the view not for the pool or restaurant. Have you ever been to a CC pool, usually empty.
Definitely not my experience

TDS has a pool and a golf course. From what I've read Hacienda will have a pool and golf course.
TDS does not have a pool. The pool is part of the Tierra Del Sol Recreation Center and is a “neighborhood “ pool.

This may come as a shock but your definition of a country club isn't close. The restaurants are privately owned and have no relationship to the golf operation. Since TDS has all the golf holes, and your opinion on HH is pure speculation.
Have you ever been to Palmer, Lopez, or any others? Read the description of the country clubs given in TV sales literature.

This may also come as a shock but the residents have no say in the Developers business, or in any business that they have not invested in. Just because a bunch of uninformed residents show up doesn't mean anyone should make decisions based on their input.
The residents were not uninformed. The residents are the lifeblood of the developers business.

There have been several posts on here on the amenity fees associated with the speculated apartments so I won't repeat the information that is out there. You might want to search so you get your facts correct.
I did not post any facts other than what was stated by the amenity authority at the public meeting. Did you attend?

Nothing is guaranteed to be here in 5 years.....and if folks want to live in a community that will remain the same then I agree with you, they shouldn't move here. If you can't handle change then don't come or don't stay.

Oh, and check your facts before your sky continues to fall.
My facts are checked.