In one of the most expensive land deals in Polk County history, Pulte has locked down the site for its fifth vacation home resort community and will start construction in the next 30 days.

Pulte paid $51.8 million in cash last week for the 288-acre site at the intersection of U.S. 17-92 and Ernie Caldwell Boulevard, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.  Melissa Rodriguez, with RockMel Investments, represented the seller, Standard Sand & Silica.

All of the Standand Sand & Silica land holdings were annexed into the City of Davenport in Oct. 2024 as part of a 1,600-acre expansion that extended the city limits over 2 miles north to the boundaries of Providence. The 15-parcel assemblage has been in the Carnes family since 1949 and was previously used for citrus farming and sand mining operations. It has since been rezoned to a Planned Unit Development that will bring thousands of new homes and apartments, as well as commercial development and industrial uses, to the long-vacant land.

This land was never on the market. Pulte approached the Carnes family directly to buy the 288 acres, according to Rodriguez.

“This is a record sale for my career, which I have been doing for over 20 years, and this is a record sale for being priced at about $180,000 per acre. I haven’t seen anything residential sell for this price point,” Rodriguez said. “This deal has been in the works for over two years. This is a great sale, I think Mr. Carnes would be happy if he were still alive.”

The next-closest land deal would be Richland Communities’ $50 million acquisition of the former 5R Ranch near Lake Wales in late 2024, but that deal covered over 4,000 acres.

Pulte, the nation’s third-largest homebuilder, owns a parcel that is entitled for 1,050 townhomes and single-family vacation homes. The master plan calls for detached homes on 50-foot lots (355) and 40-foot lots (349). There will also be about 350 townhomes.

This community will be substantially similar to Pulte’s active Windsor Cay community in Clermont and similar also to the recently built Windsor Ridge,  Windsor Island Resort and Windsor at Westside, said Max Perlman, VP of land acquisitions.

“This community will be the next large vacation resort built by Pulte, a business that Pulte has been operating in consistently for over 10 years,” Perlman said. “It is very difficult to find opportunities for short-term rental, with projects needing to be eligible for the specific zoning that allows the use, be within a reasonable driving distance to Walt Disney World, Universal, and the Orlando attractions, and have the scale to allow the building of substantial amenities that are needed for a vacation home resort. The opportunity on the Standard Sand & Silica property met all these criteria, and we’re very excited about what’s to come.”

Perlman states that there are very few new resort residential communities being developed in the Orlando area due to strict criteria. However, Pulte believes that Davenport provides everything their buyers are looking for, including proximity to the parks, easy access, and a wide range of essential services, such as shopping, dining and other conveniences.

The resort will include substantial amenities, which include a large clubhouse with an onsite bar and grill, fitness center and gaming lounge. A typical Pulte resort community also features pools and waterslides, a lazy river, rental cabanas, a splash pad, mini golf, cornhole and beach volleyball.

This project will create several jobs for residents in addition to the impact on the local homebuilding market and the typical trades that benefit from these types of developments, roofers, electricians, plumbers and more, Perlman said.

As a vacation resort, there will be no full-time residents living in the community, and therefore will have no impact on local schools.

From a timeline standpoint, land development will begin in February, with models expected to begin in late 2026 and production homes beginning in early 2027. Pulte will use both in-house construction teams and subcontractors, consistent with all of its developments in Central Florida.

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