Naples Community Symbolizes Florida Home Price Reductions

Tuscany Reserve is a little less exclusive.

Built for affluent second home buyers, the luxury golf course community off Livingston Road in North Naples has been repositioned to offer more homes at a lower price, reflecting a tougher housing market in Southwest Florida.

When the developer, Bonita Springs-based WCI Communities Inc., conceived the project, it expected to sell homes for $2 million to $5 million, with golf memberships in the range of $200,000. However, as the Florida real estate market slowed across the region and state, the community, designed to look like the Tuscany area of Italy, never really took off.

In a recent conference call, WCI’s CEO Jerry Starkey revealed just how much the project has affected the company’s bottom line. In the fourth quarter, WCI reported a rare quarterly loss and $118.3 million in impairment charges. The charges included an $84.9 million write down for Tuscany Reserve, reflecting a market loss in value in the community.

“The community never really gained traction,” Starkey said.

Under a new plan, the community could have about 570 homes, instead of 310. No change in zoning is required.

Recently, lower-priced single-family houses and multifamily homes have been introduced to the market.

“This has been in the works for a number of months, in that we have been working on a repositioning plan for the community,” said David Fry, chief operating officer for WCI’s traditional homebuilding division.

“Basically it’s a result of the market. The [Florida mortgage] market was telling us that this community needed to be more reasonably priced.”

The average home price in the community was more than $2.5 million, he said. Now, it’s $1.5 million, reflecting the new housing options WCI is offering.

“People can get into the community for less than $1 million,” Fry said. “With the infrastructure, it turns out to be a very good value.”

Four units are offered per building, and 15 buildings are planned. Homes on the upper floors are 2,400 square feet, and first floor units are 1,800 square feet. They offer views of the golf course.

Smaller single-family homes are now available, with prices ranging from $740,000 to just over $1 million, he said. Homes have courtyards, porches and fireplaces and will offer 2,260 to 2,900 square feet under air.

At the higher end, WCI has an inventory of about 20 homes in the community, which Fry describes as a “moderate” inventory. Since the release of the new housing options, WCI has written 25 contracts and it’s working on another eight to 10, he added.

In the first seven weeks of marketing the new products, Tuscany Reserve saw 25 percent of the traffic that it had all of last year.

“I think at the end of the day, it’s the perceived value,” Fry said. “When you drive in the community you will see that.”

SOURCE: Naples News