[Goldwingnut]

This morning's Daily Sun showed more development planned south of the Turnpike and confirms growth forecast nearly a year ago after the Landstone purchase.

Also solved is the mystery of the dead end road at the south end of the Village of Monarch Grove circled at the bottom of the 2nd picture. The Villages doesn't do dead end without a purpose. Purpose revealed!

In the first picture the area north of CR470 is the newly announced purchase of 5600 acres. The area south of CR470 is another 6500 acres once known as the Landstone development that never happened. The 20 year plan continues to unfold before our eyes.

This purchase also put to rest the idea that the Bailey bridge over the Turnpike will be a part of the golf cart paths in the future. With both sides are now owned it's destined to happen.

With the addition of these 12000 acres to the fold, the number of Community Development Districts will continue to grow. Limited to 2500 acres by law, this announcement adds at least 5 more CDDs to the mix. Add in the West Lake properties, other properties owned and known to be part of future plans, and some logical geographical divisions and we are easily north of 20 residential CDDs in the not to distant future. (Fenney, McClure, Marsh Bend, Linden, DeLuna, and Monarch Grove are CDD-12, Bradford and north of DeLuna are CDD-13).

I'm sure that there are a lot of plans in the works that will be announced in the future - golf courses, rec centers, commercial districts, town square(s) - to support the growth.

Does anybody think they'll acquire the land between the Landstone property and the Turnpike south of CR470? That would fill the gap to the West Lake property. I foresee the CR470 bridge having golf cart lanes... Why don't they want a Villages exit at CR468, they don't need it, they have 2 already - CR470 and US301!

The Master Planners are hard at work here in The Villages!

[vintageogauge]

I don't understand "Why don't they want a Villages exit on 468?). The existing Fenney exit is on 468 and I think Desoto or the next one is going to have an exit on 468 also. Can you explain in more detail.

[bagboy]

Originally Posted by vintageogauge

I don't understand "Why don't they want a Villages exit on 468?). The existing Fenney exit is on 468 and I think Desoto or the next one is going to have an exit on 468 also. Can you explain in more detail.

He was talking about a once planned exit from the turnpike at CR 468

[Aloha1]

And yet FDOT still has a proposal for a 468 exit as part of the post Irma evacuation plan.

[champion6]

The purchase of the area north of 470 means that TV now owns the land on BOTH ENDS of the existing cattle bridge, which presumably will be converted to a multimodal bridge.

[Goldwingnut]

The 468 exist just isn't going to happen. It is long dead and no longer feasible. There is no place for the exit/entry ramps. All four corners on the intersection are now under some phase construction with development by The Villages of Lake-Sumter. The county already submitted the paperwork to terminate the plan. To be of any use as a part of an evacuation plan/route there would need to be services at this exist - gas station, food, lodging, etc. - but there's no place for any of that now. Not for a mile or more off the would-be exit in either direction.

Think about it in other terms, do you really want an exit from the Turnpike in the middle of the community especially when there are already exits that are at the northern (US301) and southern (CR470) end of the development (that's known so far). These two exits are less than 9 miles apart and unlike the Orlando, Ft Lauderdale, and Miami areas will never have the business and residential density to justify the additional access points. What's there now is a great fit for what is foreseeable to come in the next 30 years or so.

Personally I think this was all brilliantly played. When I moved to Florida 11 1/2 years ago I came here to work a project that ran the entire length of the Turnpike. One of the exits in our contract was the CR468 exit. This translates to being in the planning stages for at least 15 years. In project meetings when CR468 was brought up the general response was that they were waiting to built the additional bridge and exit ramps.

15 years ago The Villages was no where near the Turnpike, back then everything was focused around CR466 and the Sumter Landing area. But by September 2004 CDD 9 & 10 were established, which means that the developer (Mr. Harold Schwartz and H. Gary Morse) had already owned all the land down to SR44 and likely had eyes on even more property to the south as their planned community had taken off better than anyone could have hoped. Long term planning was long underway at this point.

Fast forward a few years and plans are solidified, Brownwood is being built and work south of CR466A has begun. To keep the business alive it has to keep building. The Fruitland Park area was a nice piece of property but would not sustain the business. The logic direction to move is South but there is a major roadblock, the Turnpike and how to get across it. The obvious answer would be a bridge as tunnels would be insanely expensive under such a major artery. The bridges were in the planning for the 468 interchange and would need to be wide to support the Turnpike needs. The easy answer would be to let them build and then scrap the project. Instant connectivity and room for golf cart lanes as well.

Sure enough, the new bridge was built across the Turnpike and the land for the ramps no longer was available, scrap the exit. New infrastructure is now in place.

Looking now at the map its easy to see a need for multiple crossing across the Turnpike for the residents and to keep the development unified. Where to put these? We know the bridge between CR468 and US301 for golf carts is a go. The Bailey bridge now makes another logical connection. With miles between a cart lane across CR468 would not be out of the question. And let's not forget the far end and put a cart lane on the CR470 bridges or even build another cart bridge across the Turnpike itself to match the first one.

The tea leaves and hidden history become easier to read every year. Yes there is some speculation here but the developer has long since proven their ability to plan well into the future so much of this fits easily.

[SIRE1]

Some of us "old timers" remember when the big discussion a few years ago was about the BUILD OUT and what the Morse family were going to do when the last house was sold. I guess this answers that question - just keep on building. I now suspect that one of these days you will be able to take your grand kids all the way to Disney World on your golf cart using the muti-modal paths through the The Villages. And that must be why there are hotels in each of town squares. Since you might have to get a room for the night after playing at one of the executive golf courses, because you can't get home in the cart before midnight.

[Packer Fan]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

The 468 exist just isn't going to happen. It is long dead and no longer feasible. There is no place for the exit/entry ramps. All four corners on the intersection are now under some phase construction with development by The Villages of Lake-Sumter. The county already submitted the paperwork to terminate the plan. To be of any use as a part of an evacuation plan/route there would need to be services at this exist - gas station, food, lodging, etc. - but there's no place for any of that now. Not for a mile or more off the would-be exit in either direction.

Think about it in other terms, do you really want an exit from the Turnpike in the middle of the community especially when there are already exits that are at the northern (US301) and southern (CR470) end of the development (that's known so far). These two exits are less than 9 miles apart and unlike the Orlando, Ft Lauderdale, and Miami areas will never have the business and residential density to justify the additional access points. What's there now is a great fit for what is foreseeable to come in the next 30 years or so.

Personally I think this was all brilliantly played. When I moved to Florida 11 1/2 years ago I came here to work a project that ran the entire length of the Turnpike. One of the exits in our contract was the CR468 exit. This translates to being in the planning stages for at least 15 years. In project meetings when CR468 was brought up the general response was that they were waiting to built the additional bridge and exit ramps.

15 years ago The Villages was no where near the Turnpike, back then everything was focused around CR466 and the Sumter Landing area. But by September 2004 CDD 9 & 10 were established, which means that the developer (Mr. Harold Schwartz and H. Gary Morse) had already owned all the land down to SR44 and likely had eyes on even more property to the south as their planned community had taken off better than anyone could have hoped. Long term planning was long underway at this point.

Fast forward a few years and plans are solidified, Brownwood is being built and work south of CR466A has begun. To keep the business alive it has to keep building. The Fruitland Park area was a nice piece of property but would not sustain the business. The logic direction to move is South but there is a major roadblock, the Turnpike and how to get across it. The obvious answer would be a bridge as tunnels would be insanely expensive under such a major artery. The bridges were in the planning for the 468 interchange and would need to be wide to support the Turnpike needs. The easy answer would be to let them build and then scrap the project. Instant connectivity and room for golf cart lanes as well.

Sure enough, the new bridge was built across the Turnpike and the land for the ramps no longer was available, scrap the exit. New infrastructure is now in place.

Looking now at the map its easy to see a need for multiple crossing across the Turnpike for the residents and to keep the development unified. Where to put these? We know the bridge between CR468 and US301 for golf carts is a go. The Bailey bridge now makes another logical connection. With miles between a cart lane across CR468 would not be out of the question. And let's not forget the far end and put a cart lane on the CR470 bridges or even build another cart bridge across the Turnpike itself to match the first one.

The tea leaves and hidden history become easier to read every year. Yes there is some speculation here but the developer has long since proven their ability to plan well into the future so much of this fits easily.

Don't let the country bumpkin act fool you, the Morse Children are as smart as their dad. Genius. I suspect that Jennifer and Tracy are the actual brains behind the operation. After build out, which will actually happen, maybe not in our lifetimes, they will still own most of the retail and collect rent.

[pauld315]

Does anybody have a running total of new residences that can be built with all the new land purchases so far? Previously, I think it was around 26,000. Today's paper said this new purchase gives them room for 22,000. Are they up to 48,000 new homes being planned ? If so, that will just about double the current population, which is estimated to be about 117,000. Is this correct ? Are we looking at the possibility of almost 100,000 new residents (2 per household)

[vintageogauge]

It looks like Brownwood will be in the center of The Villages. There should be a lot of new retail coming to Paddock Square and south of 44 in the near future.

[Goldwingnut]

There is a correction to my original post.
In the picture below the area outlines in Red is the area just announced. The area in Green is the Landstone Development, which is only 4100 acres not 6500 as I had originally said.

That being said, the two areas combined make up nearly 10,000 acres and is a substantial amount of area around CR470. The Leesburg/West Lake property abuts the thin Blue area north of CR470 and west of highlighted area.

To get a better perspective on size, each of the large squares/grids marked in yellow is 1 mile on each side make it one square mile or 640 acres.

[twoplanekid]

Originally Posted by pauld315

Does anybody have a running total of new residences that can be built with all the new land purchases so far? Previously, I think it was around 26,000. Today's paper said this new purchase gives them room for 22,000. Are they up to 48,000 new homes being planned ? If so, that will just about double the current population, which is estimated to be about 117,000. Is this correct ? Are we looking at the possibility of almost 100,000 new residents (2 per household)

If they were to sell 48,000 new homes at the rate sold in the past three years, it’s going to take around 20 years. Increasing the sales rate by 50% would reduce the years to 15. However, as the Villages grow so does the number of preowned sales which eats into the new home sales number. Last year, the number of preowned home sales was larger than new for the Villages sales force.

As Village growth plans are usually not foretold for the next 10 or more years, I am a bit surprised by all of these land purchase announcements. Maybe we will all be surprised by a different community to be built on some of these lands?

[600th Photo Sq]

Meanwhile all of the 55 + Retirement Communities IE : Stonecrest , Del Webb in Summerfield , and others the property values are " Flat " ..Investment wise and overall thinking long term. It has to be " The Villages " !

[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by twoplanekid

If they were to sell 48,000 new homes at the rate sold in the past three years, it’s going to take around 20 years. Increasing the sales rate by 50% would reduce the years to 15. However, as the Villages grow so does the number of preowned sales which eats into the new home sales number. Last year, the number of preowned home sales was larger than new for the Villages sales force.

As Village growth plans are usually not foretold for the next 10 or more years, I am a bit surprised by all of these land purchase announcements. Maybe we will all be surprised by a different community to be built on some of these lands?

My guess would be that it’s harder today than 10 or 15 years ago to keep secrets such as large land purchases. Better to try to put a positive PR spin on it than let rumors and speculation fester. There is obviously a 20-30 plan in place and the land needs to be purchased to support it and it will only get more expensive with time. Better to buy now and fill the gaps in than risk competition getting in the way.

[TNGary]

Thanks for the very important post GOLDWINGNUT! History in the making!!