CHANGING THE REGION

The Lake Nona area is more than just the master-planned community. Sparked in large part by the success of Lake Nona proper, growth in southeast Orange County and north Osceola County has exploded in recent years and shows no sign of slowing.

Narcoossee Road, once a rural strip of asphalt snaking its way from U.S. Highway 192 in Osceola into southeast Orlando, is now a major thoroughfare lined with new-home developments and all manner of commerce.

“In less than 20 years, the Lake Nona area has transformed from a mostly rural and inaccessible region to a vibrant and modern community,” says Orange County Commissioner Maribel Gomez Cordero, whose District 4 includes Lake Nona. “It rivals downtown Orlando in terms of amenities and convenience.”

Continues Cordero: “The ideas developed in this area have proven to be successful — and it has helped Lake Nona become a great place to live and work.”

It was inevitable that such growth, while starting in Orange County, would avalanche into adjacent Osceola County. In fact, the company behind Lake Nona is playing a key role in driving that development.

Tavistock Development Company plans to follow Lake Nona with an even bigger master-planned community: Sunbridge (sunbridgefl.com), which is two miles east of Lake Nona.

While Lake Nona has an urban vibe, Sunbridge will have more of a natural one. A canal network will connect a Marina Village to a chain of natural lakes. Whether you’re kayaking, fishing or just taking a walk, water will be an invigorating and inspiring part of everyday life.

The entire 24,000-acre community, which spans nearly 5,000 acres in Orange County and nearly 19,000 acres in northwest Osceola County, will be crisscrossed with walkways, wide paths and natural trails perfect for evening strolls, rigorous hikes and exciting mountain biking excursions. A small farm is also planned in what Tavistock has dubbed a “naturehood.”

With a range of neighborhoods, employment centers and commercial districts built around more than 13,000 acres of conservation land, Sunbridge is expected to attract companies and residents who want to be near Lake Nona’s innovation centers while enjoying Florida’s natural landscape.

There are more than 7,000 homes planned for Orange County alone, along with 9 million square feet of commercial space and 490 hotel rooms.

Del Webb (delwebb.com), one of the nation’s leading developers of active-adult communities, is already there with Del Webb Sunbridge, an active-adult community offering low-maintenance single-family homes and villas.

The first neighborhood in Sunbridge, the Del Webb development will eventually have 1,350 homes and a 27,000-square-foot clubhouse that will feature a fitness center, a movement studio, an arts and crafts area, a kitchen, a ballroom and a multipurpose space.

There’ll also be a health and wellness center, a resort-style pool, tennis and pickleball courts, an event lawn and amphitheater for shows and other entertainment. A fulltime, on-site activities director will keep you as busy as you wish to be.

And Westland Park (sunbridgefl.com), the second neighborhood in Sunbridge, is set to open by year’s end with multiple builders, similar to Laureate Park. “Westland Park will be more like Laureate Park, and prices will be a little less than in Laureate Park,” says Rob Adams, vice president of Tavistock Development Group.

Here are other active communities in the Lake Nona region. All offer many of the same advantages as living in Lake Nona proper, including easy access to Orlando International Airport and major employment and entertainment centers.

Eagle Creek’s “crown jewel” is its four-and a-half star golf course, which boasts a two-story clubhouse with a pro shop, lounge and restaurant. Within Eagle Creek, Jones Homes USA (joneshomesusa.com) offers an impressive mix of housing options including townhomes, villas and single-family homes.

In addition to the golf course, community amenities include a family recreation clubhouse with a fitness center and a gathering room, a resort-style pool and a children’s pool, tennis courts, basketball courts, a covered playground and multipurpose ball field.

If you’ve got kids, you’ll particularly appreciate the fact that there’s an elementary school located in the community.

Glenwood, by D.R. Horton Homes (drhorton.com), offers the best of two worlds. It’s just a short distance to historic downtown St. Cloud, with its brick-paved streets lined with cafes, boutiques and even a two-screen cinema. Nearby Lakeshore Park offers a beachfront playground, a boat ramp with a marina, a children’s splash pad, picnic pavilions and al fresco dining.

Hanover Lakes, by locally owned Hanover Family Builders (hanoverfamilybuilders.com), is a boater’s paradise along the shores of Osceola County’s Alligator Lake.

The community, which offers access to the Alligator Chain of Lakes, also offers a resort-style pool with a splash pad, a nature park with a dock and pavilion, and homesites with private backyard docks. Hanover Family Builders offers 20 floorplans at Hanover Lakes, many with customized options.

Rivercrest on Narcoossee, by KB Home (kbhome.com), features 11 one- and two-story single-family floorplans, all with two-car garages. Amenities include a community pool, a cabana, a tot lot and dog park.

Shores at Lake Whippoorwill, by Toll Brothers (tollbrothers.com), is truly a one-of-a-kind neighborhood nestled along the shores of Lake Whippoorwill — affectionately referred to by locals as Lake Will. This intimate enclave will offer only 14 homes on estate-sized homesites of 80 to 100 feet, some featuring direct lake access.

South Creek, by D.R. Horton Homes (drhorton.com), is offering low-maintenance townhomes in a neighborhood that features outdoor fitness stations and walking paths. Many homes offer serene water views, giving homeowners a natural respite at the end of a hectic day.

Summerly, by D.R. Horton Homes (drhorton.com), offers such amenities as a resort-style community pool and cabana, a children’s playground and access to a public boat ramp fronting East Lake Tohopekaliga, which is just two miles away.

Sunbrooke, by Ashton Woods Homes (ashtonwoodshomes.com), offers such amenities as a clubhouse with an activity room, a resort-style pool and a children’s playground area. It’s located just a short distance from popular East Lake Tohopekaliga.

Tohoqua (tohoqua.com), located less than 30 minutes from Lake Nona, features national homebuilders PulteGroup, Mattamy Homes and Lennar Homes. Amenities include a clubhouse with a resort-style pool, fitness center, tennis courts, parks, a playground and trails that connect to county trails. Within the community is the gated active-adult Tohoqua Reserve by Del Webb.

Woodland Park, by Taylor Morrison Homes (taylormorrison.com), is designed to incorporate wetlands and parks in a natural setting. Adding to the neighborhood’s allure are such amenities as a community pavilion, a pool, a multipurpose field and a playground.

Wiregrass, by Hanover Family Builders (hanoverfamilybuilders.com), Avex Homes (avexhomes.com) and Dream Finders Homes (dreamfindershomes.com), offers a plethora of single-family home options. The neighborhood promises a relaxed lifestyle that includes a pool, a playground, a recreation/sports field and even a dog park for the fur-babies.

GETTING AROUND

SURE, BEEP IS CUTE. BUT IT’S PART OF A KEY COMPONENT OF A FUTURISTIC TRANSIT PLAN.

There’s a secret about those cute, robotic-looking driverless vehicles that shuttle throughout Lake Nona. Humans drive them, at least through intersections. It’s a federal requirement.

“I’m using air quotes in terms of drivers. We refer to them as specialists or stewards,” says Racquel Asa, chief marketing officer for Beep, the autonomous mobility service company that provides the technology for the community’s eight-vehicle fleet. “Ninety percent of the time, the vehicle drives itself.”

Beep is just one cog in a futuristic transit plan at Lake Nona seeking federal approval. The star of the show is expected to be a set of all-electric jets flying at high speeds from the master-planned community to nearby Orlando International Airport and beyond.

Lake Nona’s Tavistock Development Company partnered last year with German aviation group Lilium on plans for America’s first “vertiport.” With federal approvals, the system would be up by 2025.  

Lake Nona’s developers have parlayed close airport proximity into an asset. In addition to easing logistics for homebuyers, owners of second homes, visitors and business travelers, high-speed connections to South Florida will begin late next year.

A new Orlando airport terminal is on track to connect with South Florida via a high-speed train service called Brightline. The private undertaking promises two-hour service from the airport to West Palm Beach before continuing to Fort Lauderdale and Miami.

Beep ties into the overall system by delivering passengers on the first and last mile of their trips. Based in Lake Nona, Beep has five routes in the 17-square-mile development and has served more than 29,000 passengers since September 2019, according to Asa.

Passengers can tap the community’s 5G network to use the GoBeep app with live shuttle tracking and schedules. “For me, I take great pride in using Beep as my primary transportation locally, thus helping reduce my carbon footprint,” says Lake Nona resident Terri Turner, who works at the VA’s Fisher House to provide lodging for the families of patients at the Orlando VA Medical Center, a component of Medical City.

Before it plugs into a multilayered transit system in the coming years, Beep will serve more basic purposes. Asa notes that it saves people from parking hassles and allows them to use their phones while traveling throughout the community.

Some people use the shuttles to take unguided tours of Lake Nona. And it gets users safely to and from parties and happy-hour festivities. Turner says she appreciated Beep delivering paper towels and other donations to the Fisher House during the COVID-19 pandemic.

And regardless of whether a human actually guides them through intersections, Turner says it’s fun to show off the boxy vehicles to visiting friends and family.

—Mary Shanklin