By Alex Soderstrom – Staff Writer, Orlando Business Journal
A recent land buy in Volusia County will tee off the construction of 140 new homes near the LPGA International golf course.
Kissimmee-based developer JTD Land Co. LLC bought 98 acres in Daytona Beach in a deal that closed Aug. 11, CTO Realty Growth announced. The entity that sold the property is related to Daytona Beach-based CTO (NYSE: CTO).
‘Aggressive’ for local land
JTD Land paid $2.8 million for the land and plans to develop the site into a subdivision with single-family homes that can be accessed via LPGA Boulevard. JTD Land Vice President Craig Harris declined to comment on the project.
The timeline for the project is unknown.
It’s not the only planned development near the LPGA golf course. Clearwater-based Boos Development Group Inc. wants to rezone roughly 61.4 acres northeast of LPGA Boulevard and Tournament Drive for apartments and 11 commercial parcels for its Tymber Creek Village project, according to documents recently filed with the state.
The area has seen “virtually no” development activity since the early 2000s, which makes it ripe for new construction as Daytona Beach grows, John Albright, president and CEO of CTO, previously told Orlando Business Journal. In recent years, new residential and commercial developments nearby, such as Latitude Margaritaville and a Trader Joe’s distribution site, have brought new homes and jobs to the area, which creates demand for more retail and apartments.
Volusia County is ideal for single-family home development due to its low cost of land, Brad Parker, a land expert with Longwood-based Southern Realty, told OBJ. As suburban Orlando counties such as Osceola County get more expensive for construction, development will move further outside Orlando, he said.
“I see people getting more aggressive to get land in Volusia County.”
Home demand on the rise
New homes are important locally because construction creates jobs and subcontractor opportunities. Plus, local housing activity often is considered a reflection of the overall health of the local economy. Every home sale in the state has an estimated local economic impact of $77,858, according to a 2018 study by the National Association of Realtors.
There were 1,154 homes sold in the Daytona Beach area in the first quarter, up 19.6% from 965 sold in first-quarter 2019, according to the most recent data from the Daytona Beach Association of Realtors. The median sales price of $250,000 was up 6.4% from first-quarter 2019’s $235,000.
Like Daytona Beach, home sales are up in Orlando. There were 3,103 homes sold in the region in June, down 9% from 3,412 sold in June 2019, but up 45.9% from 2,127 sold in May, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.
Home prices in Orlando are higher than Daytona Beach, with Orlando boasting a median home sales price of $265,000.