The Villages is hoping to expand by 64.27 acres in Marion County.
The announcement was made Thursday evening at a special evening session of supervisors of Community Development District 4, where the 300 new homes would be located.
“This is another continuation of the world class retirement community we know as The Villages,” said Villages Vice President Gary Moyer.
The two new parcels of land making up the combined 64.27 acres are located south of County Road 42. The Villages already owns the parcels.
Villages General Counsel Steve Roy said the new sections will be age-restricted and the new residents will be Villagers with full amenity privileges. All of the proposed homes will be courtyard villas.
A preliminary proposal from The Villages outlined some of the benefits of the new construction:
• The overhead cost to operate CDD 4, including the cost allocation by the Village Center Community Development District, would be shared by an additional 300 homeowners.
• The improvement on the additional land will include two neighborhood recreation centers, each with swimming pools.
• CDD 4 has enough excess validated bonds approved to fund the portion of the development costs of the additional land, which will be repaid by the new homeowners.
• The Developer will reimburse CDD 4 for the administrative and legal costs of bringing the additional land into CDD 4.
• The existing residents will incur no expenses or risk associated with the issuances of CDD 4 bonds to fund a portion of the developmental costs of the additional land brought within CDD 4.
• The additional land will be added to CDD 4 concurrently with the final approval to add the additional land to the Villages of Marion Florida Quality Development.
Existing residents of CDD 4 will not pay for the construction of the new recreation centers and swimming pools, Moyer said.
Motor vehicles will enter these new sections via County Road 42. Golf carts will travel by Clearview Avenue near the First Baptist Church. There is an existing treeline there now.
Moyer said there are numerous details to be determined and he said The Villages will be working with CDD 4 in the future on the planning for these new parcels. Moyer indicated The Villages could be prepared with more information for a CDD 4 workshop in early April. The date for the workshop meeting should be announced Monday.
The Villages will also work with Marion County officials with the proposed development
When a resident complained about the overcrowding at the Mulberry Grove Publix, Roy indicated that The Villages is hoping to attract another grocery store to this section of The Villages.
Residents also asked where the new residents would play golf.
Supervisor Paul Kelly said he would have preferred that supervisors would have had more information about The Villages’ proposal ahead of the meeting.
District Manager Janet Tutt said the last-minute request from The Villages of Lake Sumter Inc. was accommodated “out of respect” for The Villages.