Central Beach homebuyers will have some exciting new choices in the coming year as GHO Homes brings six brand-new luxury residences to market.
Located on scattered lots between Camelia and Fiddlewood on both sides of Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway, the 3,500-square-foot, single-family houses have pre-construction prices starting at $2,975,000 and going up to $3,225,000, plus lot premiums.
GHO President Bill Handler says the homes are the most expensive and among the largest his company has built, and that they will reflect extensive buyer feedback and building knowledge gained at his two island subdivisions, Seaglass and the Strand.
Handler has transitioned from a middle-market to an elite upscale homebuilder over the past decade or so, offering larger, more luxurious homes at higher price points to meet market demand, launching subdivisions in desirable locations in country club communities and close to the water.
Homes go for up to $2.5 million at his island subdivisions and he sees the Central Beach houses as a natural extension of those successful enclaves, likening them to the concept cars auto manufactures build to stretch their design and fabrication capabilities.
“That is the same kind of thing we are doing in Central Beach,” Handler told Vero Beach 32963. “We are stretching, pushing ourselves” to offer a fresh, exciting product with the features and floorplans buyers crave.
GHO is offering three models in Central Beach, but the models – which embody decades of buyer conversations and homebuilding experience – are just a starting point. The homes can be extensively customized, depending on when a buyer gets involved in the process.
“GHO’s homebuilding program is distinguished by its ability to personalize homes through a wide range of floor plans, custom upgrades, and a streamlined process that goes beyond typical new Central Beach home offerings,” says Joseph O’Neill, one half of the Joseph & Joseph team at Douglas Elliman, who helped Handler select the lots and acted as his agent in the purchase transactions. “The result is a unique, customized home designed to fit each buyer’s preferences while maintaining strong overall value.
“GHO is the only custom home developer in Central Beach I am aware of where a buyer can be involved in the design process prior to breaking ground. If they get in early enough, they can even have influence on the development of the floor plan and elevations, in addition to having hundreds of design and finish choices.
“There is great demand for new homes in the Central Beach, but many buyers, often from out of town, don’t want to take three to six months to find a piece of land and close on it, spend three to six months designing a home and then another 12-plus months to build, often without knowing a local builder, which can overwhelm them into buying an existing home,” O’Neill adds.
“GHO’s ability to offer a variety of floor plans and an efficient selection and design process allows them to deliver a custom home much more quickly, while saving an end user 3-to-6 months on finding and closing on the land.”
The desirability of Central Beach was a key factor in Handler’s decision to build in the neighborhood. The streets between Riomar and Bethel Creek have gained tremendous cache over the past 15 years, with home values increasing as much as 1,000 percent, with no price ceiling in sight.
“Central Beach has become extremely popular because you are close to restaurants, shops and the beach,” says Premier Estate Properties agent George Nagy, commenting on the appeal of Handler’s homes. “Even with all the growth here, it is still a charming, sleepy little beach town where kids can ride their bikes around, and you can hop on your beach cruiser and go to Casey’s or El Sid. There aren’t too many places in Florida like this anymore.”
“Many people who come in to look at our model homes on the island mention they would love to live in Central Beach, but they don’t want the low ceilings and outdated floorplans,” says GHO sales agent Lisa Krynski. “These houses, which come with swimming pools and screen enclosures, let them have the location and lifestyle they want.”
Handler says he started thinking about building spec homes in Central Beach a year ago. He pulled in O’Neill to help with lot selection and analysis and, after extensive due diligence, purchased five lots, including one that will be split into two home sites.
“Joey was a big help,” Handler says.
“I was born and raised in Central Beach, so I know the area street by street,” says O’Neill. “I have represented buyers and sellers on 50-plus properties in Central Beach and also personally built and developed more than 10 custom homes in the area. Through those transactions, I have developed a deep understanding of lot values, lot configurations, zoning codes, and other development-related rules in Central Beach.
“My goal in assisting GHO was to provide acquisition value by helping sort through the development opportunities’ value based on location, lot size and zoning codes.”
GHO closed on most of the lots in November and December, paying around $900,000 per lot or teardown. Right now, all six properties are available as lot/home packages, but Handler plans to get the ball rolling with two specs, starting construction on the first one in April.
“The lots were expensive!” Handler says. “That is one reason the homes start around $3 million.”
Three-million dollars would have been a laughable asking price for a Central Beach home 15 years ago, when you could buy a house east of A1A for less than $300,000, but the once-in-a-lifetime real estate boom that followed the COVID-19 pandemic changed that.
There have been multiple Central Beach sales in the high $2 millions and low $3 millions in the past couple of years according to MLS data provided by Nagy, and those numbers don’t include waterfront houses in the neighborhood, just blocks away from Handler’s lots, which have sold for as much as $17 million.
“There was a sense of sticker shock when prices first went up [during the pandemic migration],” Nagy says. “But people are beginning to understand and accept these new prices. They are becoming the norm.”
Island realtors mostly agree that the gentrification of Central beach will continue in coming years. Many of the houses are old and outdated, worth little compared to the value of the land they sit on. And homes are substantially undervalued compared to similar houses in Naples’ central beach area and other comparable oceanside enclaves in Florida.
Look on Redfin or Zillow at the beachside residential section in Naples, north and south of Central Avenue, and you will see the small blocks studded with homes on dry lots – six and eight blocks back from the ocean – priced between $4 million and $10 million, with outliers over $20 million.
“We are always a discount compared to Naples and Palm Beach,” Handler says. “That’s just the way it is, but I think we are starting to close that gap.”
“There continues to be increasing demand for newer homes [despite higher prices],” O’Neill says. “Buyers are willing to pay a premium for several reasons [including lower carrying costs compared to older homes].
“With new construction, annual insurance costs are much more favorable, which is a common topic of conversation with buyers on the island, and projected annual maintenance costs are far less for years to come.
“New homes are required to be built above base flood elevation, and buyers really like knowing their home is built to the latest code requirements, especially as it relates to wind, storms and water.”
And there is nothing quite like brand new when it comes to homes.
“GHO will capture a lot of design elements that can’t be easily recreated in a remodel – tall ceilings, tall exterior doors, larger room and closet sizes, and the ability to have generous covered outdoor areas,” O’Neill says.
“The houses we are buying and tearing down are pretty old,” Handler says. “It’s probably time.”
