After years of preparation and delay, a 54-unit townhome development has suddenly materialized on 12th Street, just west of Dixie Highway, with rows of substantial concrete block buildings going up seemingly overnight.
“I’m going to complete the first eight [residences] this month. All the permits are pulled and done,” said Lennar project manager Don Lawless, as material was delivered, construction equipment rumbled and workers swarmed over the 7.87-acre Preston Estates site, cranking into high gear to, finally, complete the duplex townhomes, now in various stages of construction, lining either side of the loop road around a large, stormwater management pond.
It has been unclear up till now whether the new homes would be for sale or lease, but Lawless said Preston Estates is expected to be a rental community. A Lennar salesperson verified the homes “will not be for sale,” adding that the rental units will go on the market when construction is finished.
Apparently, Lennar has envisioned Preston Estates as a rental community for quite a while; soon after the company bought the property in April 2021 from the original developer, Nicholas Rauch-Heine of NHR Homes, Rauch-Heine told Vero Beach 32963 he’d heard the home-building giant was leaning toward renting rather than selling the units.
Rauch-Heine, a third-generation member of a South Florida real estate family, purchased the undeveloped property for $572,000 in 2016. In early 2019 he announced plans for the townhome project with the expectation that the homes would be for sale.
The land was cleared that February, and some infrastructure was installed, but the project was delayed by a series of unanticipated hold-ups, including permitting and site plan approval hitches, and the discovery of endangered gopher tortoises on the property that had to be relocated before site work could continue.
Things were beginning to look up by November 2019, when Rauch-Heine said he was “back on track.” He planned to complete site work by early 2020, and finish home construction by year’s end.
But then the pandemic came along, bringing additional delays, and the developer decided to put the subdivision and finished lots on the market for $3.3 million. He said if it didn’t sell, he would go ahead and build it himself. It did sell eventually, to Lennar, for $2.98 million.
Today, with the project nearing the finish line and, hopefully, hitting the market within in the next few months, renters will have some several apartment types to choose from.
According to the original plans, there will be 1,300- and 1,400-square-foot units with 2 bedroom and 2 baths, or 2 bedrooms and 2.5 baths, with 1-bay or 2-bay garages. Lennar has not released rental prices.
Ultimately, residents of Preston Estates will be within walking distance of shops and dining on 12th Street and U.S. 1 and businesses on Old Dixie, and not far from the restaurants, pubs, shops and galleries of Vero’s vibrant downtown arts district. The subdivision is a 5-to-10-minute drive from the beach, depending on seasonal traffic.
Photos by Kaila Jones
