NOBEL PRIZE

For Chelsea Gonzalez, moving to Laureate Park was like stepping into a dream. “It’s so wonderful coming home to a place I would think maybe doesn’t really exist — but it does,” says Gonzalez. “The community that I have here is unbelievable. I feel so at home.”

That sense of belonging also resonates with other residents throughout the community, which was thoughtfully designed to include walking trails, dog parks, community gardens, amenities, parks — and friendly neighbors.

“Because of the way Laureate Park was designed, we know more people in this neighborhood than we’ve ever known in any of the other neighborhoods we’ve lived in,” says resident Robert Laszlo. 

Located in the heart of Lake Nona, Laureate Park is characterized by its modern design, abundance of intelligent features, proximity to amenities, walkability to schools and strong sense of community. 

With streets named for Nobel Laureates, the community is the largest and fastest-growing in Lake Nona. Buyers are attracted by a wide variety of housing options. 

Laureate Park offers homes starting in the high $200s, while a gated subsection, The Preserve by Taylor Morrison Homes, offers estate homes starting in the high $400s.

Seven builders offer dozens of unique floorplans throughout the community of brightly colored bungalows, townhomes, cottages and multistory homes. “You drive into Laureate Park and the first thing you see is color, and I just love that,” says resident Paula Roman.

Roman clearly has a good eye for quality. 

Her neighborhood won a prestigious Aurora Award in 2017 for Residential Housing Community of the Year Masterplan. In addition, it won a 2017 Silver Award for Master Planned Community in The Nationals, a competition sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders. 

In addition, Laureate Park builder Craft Homes won the Grand Aurora Award for Best Single-Family Detached Home: 2,500 to 2,999 Square Feet.

Education is key for parents raising families in Laureate Park. 

The new Laureate Park Elementary School just ended its first school year. Amazing Explorers Academy — a STEM-based preschool to teach kids about science, technology, engineering and math — recently opened in Laureate Park Village Center. 

The neighborhood also offers a chess club, art classes, workshops and group exercise classes for kids. Lake Nona is also Florida's first gigabit community, with internet speeds 200 times faster than the U.S. average. Conceived as a “wired-in, future-evoking” neighborhood, Laureate Park’s WHIT (Wellness Home built on Innovation and Technology) show home highlights how technology can foster healthy living.

Not only is Laureate Park connected online, its residents are connected personally. The response to last year’s Hurricane Irma, for example, showed just how powerfully the community can come together.

As the storm made its way toward Florida, the Laureate Park “Help Mob” leapt into action. With neighbors helping neighbors, volunteers went door to door to move furniture inside, secure household items and provide other assistance. 

In the days that followed, the Help Mob displayed generosity and compassion while working to clean up damaged trees and other debris.

Laureate Park residents were the founding members of Nona Cycle — a popular philanthropic club. Nona Cycle, which organizes weekly rides for cyclists, helped lead the neighborhood effort to join the 2018 Tour de Cure in Lake Nona to raise money for the American Diabetes Association. 

More than 2,000 riders, runners, walkers and volunteers banded together in the Lake Nona Town Center to raise more than $886,000 that will send children to diabetes camp, fund research and coordinate advocacy programs. 

A Laureate Park address also means residents have easy access to the array of amenities in Lake Nona, such as the LP FIT gym, the resort-style Aquatic Center, Canvas Restaurant & Market, the Lakehouse event venue, the Amazing Explorers Academy, Laureate Park Elementary and Heroes City Park as well as an assortment of dog parks. 

It's also only a short drive or bike ride to the facilities in Lake Nona Medical City. 

Nona Adventure Park is a new, unique experience that will also be within walking distance. Scheduled to open later this year, the park will feature a solar-powered water ski and wakeboard cable park, along with an inflatable aqua park and a 60-foot climbing tower with a ropes course and climbing walls. 

“It's easier to be able to walk to something and not have to pack everybody in the car, and just go down to the community pool,” says resident Stephanie Terrill. “Walkability is very important.”