NAPLES, Fla. (Jan. 23, 2014) – By all accounts, luxury home buyers are returning to Naples – and many are setting their sights on Mediterra. Thirty new homes are currently under construction in the 1,700-acre gated community, a sign of continued buyer confidence in Collier County’s eight-time Community of the Year.
“New-home construction is more active than it has been in years,” said John Gleeson, vice president of London Bay Homes, which manages sales and oversees marketing in the community. “The construction activity is the highest level since the height of the local real estate market.”
Twenty-five of the new homes under construction are customer builds while five are models. “The customer builds illustrate strong consumer confidence in Mediterra. Mediterra customers understand that there are no unanswered questions in the community. Everything from The Club, to the Association, to the homes and builders are all rock solid” said Gleeson. Six of the private residences under construction will each offer more than 7,000 square feet. “Every once in a while a community gets a one-time large lightning strike event, when a unique buyer decides to build big,” said Gleeson. The lightning strike event is not occurring in Mediterra. “One Mediterra customer just finished a 7,400-square-foot luxury estate home with a home and homesite package worth more than $6 million. And at the same time there are another five customers who are also building homes in excess of 7,000 square feet – so this isn’t a one-time event.”
“The volume of new building at Mediterra really speaks to buyers’ confidence in the stability and investment of the community,” said Mark Wilson, president of London Bay Homes, named Builder of the Year in 2008 by Builder magazine.
Wilson and Gleeson both credit the new boom to Mediterra’s commitment to providing an unrivaled lifestyle and its financial strength. The member-owned club is in the middle of a two-year,
$8.9-million clubhouse improvement project that will expand indoor and outdoor dining and gathering areas to more than 33,000 total square feet, including updated golf locker rooms and lounges. The project will be paid by leveraging the club’s savings; there will be no assessment to members or residents.
“Mediterra has continually demonstrated its commitment to residents and members,” said Wilson. “When surveys indicated residents wanted a casual gathering destination with outdoor seating, the new Tavern on 18 quickly became a favorite spot. The Tavern was just expanded a third time this summer as part of the improvements. The club’s new lighted bocce courts are always in use.”
Naples’ premier golf and beach club community, Mediterra has consistently introduced new amenities and unique homes and neighborhoods during its 12 years. The Club at Mediterra offers two Tom Fazio-designed championship golf courses, a state-of-the-art golf practice range and training facilities and the Sports Club, recently named one of America’s healthiest clubs, featuring seven Har-Tru tennis courts, a swimming pool, a fitness center with high-tech equipment, professional personal trainers, a full schedule of exercise classes and spa treatment rooms.
The community’s private 10,000-square-foot Beach Club on the Gulf of Mexico offers an elevated swimming pool, casual dining with a full bar, and valet service for beach chairs, umbrellas and beverage and food menus.
“Confidence is strong in Mediterra,” said Gleeson. “Buyers recognize the value of the community and its strength: Significant dollars were invested in Mediterra after the real estate downturn. Buyers realize it’s a terrific community that’s nearing build-out and is the place to be.”
Planned for only 950 homes, “Mediterra is at the beginning of the end,” said Wilson. “Already, the community is 90 percent built out, and new homes are available in only seven of our 21 neighborhoods. Demand is increasing in the remaining neighborhoods, which include luxury maintenance-free villa homes in Lucarno and our newly introduced floor plans for the remaining 23 villa homesites in Cabreo.”
Wilson said buyers also have a rare opportunity to purchase in Mediterra’s ultimate and most exclusive neighborhood, Il Cuore, offering only two 1.5- and 1.7-acre homesites set amid 50 acres of nature preserves.
“Simply stated, Il Cuore is Southwest Florida’s showcase neighborhood,” Wilson said. “The two residences will have a private gated entry, and each custom home will be well over 8,000 square feet under air.”
Both Wilson and Gleeson predict increased interest in Mediterra as visitors see the construction activity and realize opportunities are dwindling. Consumer confidence in the national and local economy – on the rise since 2011 – led many buyers to jump back into the market.
“Confidence in 2011 and 2012 yielded a lot of Mediterra’s current construction,” said Gleeson, who expects the continued economic recovery and an improving stock market to lead to more sales during the coming months, Southwest Florida’s prime visitor and home-buying season. “Buyers see Mediterra as a sure thing – from real estate, to the club, to the homeowners association. We’re very optimistic, even bullish.”
Mediterra is a 2013 Aurora Award winner for best residential development within the Southeastern U.S. and was recently recognized as one of the top private clubs in the world with the Distinguished Emerald Club designation from BoardRoom magazine.
The Club at Mediterra previously has achieved national recognition as one of the top golf facilities in America. It has been honored with the Environmental Leaders in Golf Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and Golf Digest magazine and has been named by Golf Magazine as one of the 50 Best Golf Communities in America. Mediterra also has been named one of the top 100 U.S. golf communities in America by Travel + Leisure Golf for four consecutive years and twice by Links magazine. It was the first 36-hole course to earn Audubon International’s Silver Signature Sanctuary status.
Mediterra offers an array of lifestyle amenities, including the 33,000-square-foot Club at Mediterra, offering Tom Fazio golf, the recently renovated Grille Room main dining room, and casual dining and outdoor seating around a fire pit at the expanded Tavern lounge, which serves gourmet brick-oven pizzas, seasonal salads and open-air grilled entrées.
Mediterra’s Golf Learning Center offers indoor and outdoor hitting stations, video equipment with launch monitor, a 2.5-acre short game practice complex with three greens, and a staff of certified PGA professionals. Membership opportunities at Mediterra are limited to just 225 members per 18 holes.
Mediterra’s on-site amenities include themed neighborhood parks and eight miles of walking and jogging trails.
At the Sports Club, members take advantage of the facility’s health and wellness programs and amenities, working with professional staff to achieve a healthy lifestyle.
Mediterra’s master plan was designed with more than 1,000 acres dedicated to open space with golf, parks and nature preserves. All of the community’s amenities are membership-owned.
Since December 2009, London Bay and affiliates have managed all new home sales and marketing for the luxury community. Resale properties are offered through Mediterra Realty in the award-winning Mediterra Sales Gallery, open daily.
Available home designs in Mediterra include single-family estate homes and single-family maintenance-free villas priced from the $700,000s to more than $7 million.
For more information about Mediterra, visit www.mediterranaples.com, call toll-free 866-954-8939, or visit Mediterra, located on Livingston Road, two miles north of Immokalee Road and west of I-75.
