Minto Communities sold 270 acres of its Westlake master-planned community to Kolter Homes for $52 million, for a planned age-restricted housing project.
Kolter Homes paid $192,592 per acre for the property in western Palm Beach County. It marks the first time Minto has allowed an outside builder in its 3,800-acre master-planned community, according to a press release.
Kolter, one of the largest homebuilders in the country, plans to develop an “active adult” neighborhood with 800 homes. In total, Westlake could total 4,500 homes with more than 2 million square feet of commercial development.
It will become one of the largest new home communities in South Florida. The town is on the edge of western Palm Beach County about 20 minutes from Wellington and almost 40 minutes from West Palm Beach.
The planned development is banking on strong demand for reasonably priced single-family homes in South Florida. Minto has sold almost 300 single-family homes in its first neighborhood, The Hammocks, and recently started selling select homes in a second neighborhood, The Meadows, according to the release. Prices for both projects start in the high $200,000s.
Minto is currently under contract to sell another parcel of land to a second homebuilder and expects to make an announcement in the coming weeks, according to Mike Belmont, president of Minto Communities USA.
The community also will include a large amenities center known as the Westlake Adventure Park. The park is slated to open this summer and has a concert pavilion, recreational lawn areas, an adventure playground and bocce ball courts. There will also be a resort-style lagoon pool with a waterslide, splash pad and concession stand.
Earlier this month, the first new commercial development and healthcare facility in the city, ER at Westlake, opened to patients.
Last year, Florida Power & Light paid $10 million for a 400-acre site in Westlake that it is proposing to use for a solar farm.
Minto bought the land for Westlake in September 2013 for $50 million.