LAUREATE PARK

Laureate Park at Lake Nona might someday boast the highest IQ per household of any community in Florida. In fact, developers hope that future Nobel Prize winners will ultimately end up living in this neo-traditional enclave, where the gently meandering streets are named for past Nobel Laureates.

Welcome to the first new-home neighborhood built specifically to complement Lake Nona’s Medical City, a $2 billion assortment of hospitals, bioscience-research laboratories and a medical school. The 650-acre campus is poised to re-brand Orlando as an international destination for leading-edge medical research, education and treatment.

And the people who work at Medical City — physicians, professors, researchers, support staffers and others — will need a place to live that satisfies both the need for convenience and the desire for state-of-the-art materials, energy efficiency and a healthy home environment. 

Even buyers with no connection to Medical City are expected to be drawn to Laureate Park by its combination of retro charm and leading-edge technology as well as its east Orlando location convenient to Orlando International Airport, the University of Central Florida and major employment centers such as the Central Florida Research Park.

“We wanted people to think about Laureate Park as a thoughtful place anchored by the medical cluster,” says Thad Seymour Jr., vice president and general manager of health and life science investments for Lake Nona Property Holdings, which is Lake Nona’s developer and a business unit of Tavistock Group, a private investment company with holdings around the world.

“The aspiration over time is that people working in Medical City will make huge contributions, not just locally but nationally and globally. We hope there will be Nobel Laureates living in Laureate Park,” adds Seymour.

Gregg Logan, managing director of RCLCO, a real estate consulting firm that has been involved with Lake Nona for several years, is similarly upbeat. “Medical City employers are attracting bright, talented, successful people,” he notes. “I’d like to live in community with those kinds of neighbors, with people doing cutting-edge research. And it can’t hurt to have doctors in the neighborhood.”

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Just east of Orlando International Airport sits Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, a 7,000-acre, master-planned development that’s now home to nearly 10,000 residents. The northern part of Lake Nona already encompasses large estate homes as well as more affordable offerings in NorthLake Park, Waters Edge and Village Walk. 

“Our residential demand has been steady for two-and-a-half years, which has been contrary to the Orlando market,” says Rob Adams, Lake Nona’s vice president of marketing. “And demand is increasing as we diversify the product.”

Laureate Park, with about 500 homes planned, signals a new direction: a neotraditional neighborhood along the lines of Disney’s Celebration and Orlando’s Baldwin Park, but built using construction technologies that weren’t available in the ’90s. 

Like those popular projects, Laureate Park has drawn architectural inspiration from Thornton Park, Eola Heights and other locally significant historic districts. There are, of course, the expected new-urbanist touches such as wraparound porches and rear-entry garages. But there are also hints of Southern California panache and unexpected splashes of color.

Nationally known interior designer Robin Wilson planned the neighborhood’s bold exterior palette and is consulting with builders on eco-friendly elements that can be incorporated into the homes. She specified the use of low-VOC paint throughout.

“I remember coming to the raw land and seeing the beautiful terrain and watching [the developers] work hard to preserve the natural habitat of the birds and other animals,” Wilson says. “Now, they’re working to ensure that Medical City has a continued focus on wellness through the homes that are being built.”

In addition, the site plan is designed to give Laureate Park a somewhat more organic feel than its predecessor communities. Instead of using a traditional square grid, planners followed a bent grid, which means curved roads will meander around green, landscaped pathways. Miles of walking/jogging paths and man-made lakes are planned.

“It’s going to feel different and edgy,” says Rob Adams, Lake Nona’s director of marketing. “You won’t be able to find it anywhere else.”

Laureate Park is also participating in a General Electric program called Homes Inspired by Ecomagination, through which homes are pre-wired for electric vehicles and illumination is provided by LED streetlights. In addition, each home will be equipped with a GeoSpring water heater/heat pump that cuts water and energy usage by 30 percent.

A Nucleus Energy Management System will allow residents to monitor their energy consumption, appliance by appliance and room by room. “It’s a small wireless device,” says Steve Anderson, G.E.’s contract marketing and special products manager. “You can check the results on your computer or your iPhone.” 

Surrounding Laureate Park will be a Village Center packed with retail shops, restaurants, a fitness center and an array of other amenities. Another big retail project taking shape is the walkable Lake Nona Town Center, which will boast twin hotels.

“Lake Nona is an attractive community and is only going to get better,” says Randy Hartley, chief administrative officer for Nemours Children’s Hospital, scheduled to open later this year in Medical City. “As we see the retail center open and more homes built, I’m sure this area will wow many of the candidates we’re recruiting.”

In addition, road projects will make traveling to, from and within Medical City more convenient. Linking existing roads such as Lake Nona Boulevard with Boggy Creek Road and tying the development to SunRail, Central Florida’s commuter train system, is also a top priority for regional transportation officials.

“Rail is a part of the plan for that area,” says Kelley Teague, director of public affairs for Metroplan Orlando. “We are mindful of the need to have a transit component serving Lake Nona.”

The builders in Laureate Park — Ashton Wood Homes, David Weekley Homes and K. Hovnanian Homes — helped create the popular Norman Rockwellian look in Celebration and Baldwin Park. 

Ashton Woods will offer urban-style lofts and single-family homes priced from the low $200s. There are three loft floorplans from which to choose, ranging in size from 1,689 to 1,877 square feet with two-and-a-half bathrooms and two or three bedrooms. All have two-car garages.

The company’s single-family homes range in size from 1,961 to 2,472 square feet with three, four or five bedrooms. There are three floorplans from which to choose, available in one or two stories, with the option for an apartment or in-law suite above the detached garage.

“We wanted to reflect the uniqueness of Lake Nona,” says Michael Roche, Ashton Woods’s vice president of sales and marketing. “So everything from the floorplans to the architectural designs were created from scratch, using best practices from around the country.” 

David Weekley Homes will offer single-family homes totaling 14 different floorplans from its Garden, Cottage and Village series. Homes range in size from 1,420 to 2,897 square feet and are priced from about $205,000 to $311,000. K. Hovnanian will offer Bungalow Homes, ranging in size from 1,873 to 2,276 square feet, and Cottage Homes, ranging in size from 2,657 to 2,853 square feet. Both are priced from $267,490 to $337,490. Townhomes, with two designs from which to choose, range in size from 1,849 to 1,854 square feet and are priced at $235,490.

There’s an open feel to these homes, but they’re not cavernous,” says Seymour. “They’re comfortable, they’re pushed up closer to the street and many or most have porches. It’s more inviting, to encourage community interaction.” 

Adds Lake Nona President Jim Zboril: “Laureate Park represents the next generation of community design, and we’re thrilled to have these high-quality building partners with us.”