Home construction is on the rise in Indian River County.
Lennar Homes and DR Horton are moving forward with 62 single-family homes in the Millstone Landing community in South Vero, located at the corner of 21st Street SW and 27th Avenue SW, south of Oslo Road.
A third builder, GHO Homes, will also be building in the neighborhood but has not yet pulled any permits to date this year.
Scott McAdam, the Indian River County building official, told Vero News that the number of pulled permits for new single-family homes was up 39 percent over the same period last year.
“It’s definitely an uptick,” he said.
According to DR Horton, construction in the development has increased recently due to a strong local housing market.
Having three builders constructing homes in Millstone Landing gives would-be buyers more options, a bigger range of choices, and increases activity in the development, according to Jon Rapaport, division president of Lennar Homes.
He said the market is heating up for residential construction and Lennar is excited about the Millstone Landing community.
“It’s very well laid out with great amenities,” he said. “We liked it right away.”
It’s a sentiment shared by DR Horton.
“We think Millstone Landing is a great opportunity and a beautiful community,” the company said in an emailed response to questions.
Lennar is on track to complete 20 homes this year and it already has three of them sold, a week before the model home will be open.
By the time Lennar is done building in Millstone, Rapaport expects the company will have built between 70 and 80 homes.
Lennar is continuing to “take down” – i.e., buy – homesites in the neighborhood, he added. The builder will construct inventory homes.
The builder has 5 floor plans, including 3 single-story homes and 2 two-story homes, all of which feature the builder’s “NextGen – Home within a Home” concept allowing for multi-generational living.
Prices for the Lennar homes range from the $230,990s to the $325,990s, and square footage ranges from 1,787 to 3,308. Floor plans include 3 to 5 bedrooms and 2.5 to 3.5 bathrooms.
Millstone Landing, once complete, will offer a variety of amenities. According to marketing materials, there will be a clubhouse with a library, meeting rooms and a community room with kitchen, a fitness center complete with a basketball court, lakes and ponds, and a community swimming pool. The neighborhood will have a homeowners association, too.
Already, more than 100 families have moved into the gated community.
At build-out, there will be approximately 370 homes.
GHO has one inventory home already built and three others that will be ready by either year’s end or early 2018.
The homes range in size from 2-bed/2-bath to 3-bed/2-bath and start in the mid-$250,000s. Square-footage ranges from 1,634 to 2,586.
Lennar has pulled 10 building permits since the start of the year while DR Horton has pulled 52 – the bulk of which were pulled in February, with 28.
DR Horton’s website shows eight floor plans that include both single- and two-story homes, all of which with 2-car garages. Square-footages range from 1,752 to just over 3,000. Floor plans include 3-bed/2-bath up to 5-bed/3-bath. Prices range from the low $210,000s to the mid-$280,000s. The homes feature Mediterranean architecture and terra cotta-colored concrete S-tile roofs, according to its website.
DR Horton began construction in June 2013 and has 13 remaining lots. The builder has another 240 lots in Millstone Landing South, which is expected to take four years to finish.
Rapaport said that Lennar continues to have a good relationship and experience working with Indian River County.
“Indian River County is a pleasure to work with,” he said, so long as the builder follows the county’s rules. “We’re happy to be working with them.”
DR Horton feels the same, according to its emailed response to questions.
“Indian River County has been very supportive of our efforts and we enjoy working with them,” it said.
Millstone Landing is zoned for Citrus Elementary, Oslo Middle and Vero Beach High schools and is about 9 miles from the Indian River Mall and 14 miles from Vero Fashion Outlets. Three grocery stores are within 5 miles of the neighborhood and the beach is a less than 20-minute drive.
