Yesterday I took a drive through Wellen Park to see first hand the construction progress of two of it's newest communities, Avelina and Solstice.
I have not been a fan of Wellen Park for quite some time.
The place is studded with no trespassing signs, competing for space with directional signs and the new Wellen Park logo. Monstrous piles of dirt are everywhere. Holes dug for lakes, promoted as opportunities for a fulfilling lifestyle, are only half full. A few months ago, I tried to take a picture of their "Welcome Center" to share here, and was treated like I was photographing Area 51. "You have to get permission to take pictures", said one of the Wellen Park "greeters". Is this Venice, Florida, or Chernobyl, Russia? What don't they want you to see?
I saw tents in the middle of half-finished streets that were recently used for yet another press event, about how great the lifestyle will be in Wellen Park. The infrastructure is nowhere near finished. Traffic is growing in the area. Wellen Park residents will have to live through likely road widening and proposed traffic circles on Hwy 41, that will make a Wellen Park lifestyle experience different than advertised. Other than the sad Blue Heron Park and Braves Stadium, whose main purpose seems to be a farmer's market rather than spring training baseball, I see not much if any progress on community amenities such as walking/biking trails or parks.
The developers of Wellen Park are fixated on duplicating the success of nearby Lakewood Ranch, just to the north in Manatee County. Drive around Lakewood Ranch- you aren't confronted with unwelcoming signs and barren moved earth everywhere. (True, Lakewood Ranch is much further along than Wellen Park, but the areas that ARE under construction look nothing like Wellen Park). Lakewood Ranch has become the nation's top selling master planned community. Wellen Park used to be in the top 5, but that's no longer the case. In fact, Wellen Park was the only major master planned community that saw a sales decrease in the pandemic, for the first 6 months of 2021.
On top of that, there's the lingering uncertainty: North Port or Venice for an address? Undoubtedly most Wellen Park residents would rather have a Venice address (for perceived status and property value reasons), but Toll Brothers is already promoting their new community of Solstice in North Port on their website. Ask yourself: Does a $800,000 home in Solstice with a North Port address have enough appeal to increase in value over time?
Should you buy a home in Wellen Park? Get a good buyer's agent (me) to offer you alternatives and real insight into the local market. New homes cost the same as the builder's advertised prices when you have your own Realtor.
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