900 new homes on tap for west Orange County

Looking for your dream home near Walt Disney World? Well, you’re in luck because nearly 900 more new homes may be coming soon to areas including Windermere and the fast-growing Horizon West community.

Leading the charge is a plan for 423 homes by developers Florham Park, N.J.-based Ridgewood Real Estate Partners and New York-based Angelo, Gordon & Co. LP, who are redeveloping the former Marriott Grande Pines Golf Club near SeaWorld Orlando.

The developers are seeking preliminary site plan approval from the Orange County Commission for 423 single-family and townhome lots on 126.15 acres south of Central Florida Parkway and east of Westwood Boulevard. An unnamed homebuilder currently is negotiating to buy the site from the property owners, taking on the responsibility of developing the lots and then building the homes, said Jonathan Grebow, president of Ridgewood Real Estate Partners.

As of right now, all 423 homes would likely be built by a single homebuilder, but details are “still being figured out,” Grebow told Orlando Business Journal. If approved and the sale closes, construction on the lots could start in the first half of next year, he said.

See the graphic of the site map, below. Poulos & Bennett LLC is the project engineer, and Jim McNeil of law firm Akerman LLP is representing the developer.

Meanwhile, here’s a look at other residential projects that are seeking county commission approval in a meeting this afternoon:

• Meritage Homes plans to build 151 homes in The Preserve at Westside, a new residential neighborhood set to be part of the Westside mixed-use development that also includes a shopping center by Orlando-based Unicorp National Developments Inc. Colorado landowner North of Alberts LLC is seeking the county’s OK for new single-family home lots to be built on 33.45 acres on Winter Garden Vineland Road north of the Lakeside Village shopping center, not far from Walt Disney World. Kimley-Horn & Associates Inc. is the project engineer. If approved, Meritage Homes plans to build two product lines: A 1,700- to 2,000-square-foot product known as “bungalows” and a 2,000- to 3,800-square-foot model called “estates,” Division President Brian Kittle told OBJ.

• Madden, Moorhead & Glunt Inc. is seeking the green light on a preliminary subdivision plan for Bella Vita, a new 11-home subdivision to be built on 13.81 acres at Park Ridge Gotha Road and Maguire Road in Windermere. The two vacant parcels are owned by Remuda Holdings LLC and Mary F. Howard, Orange County records showed.

• Local land expert Daryl Carter is looking for county approval to rezone four parcels totaling 61 acres from agricultural to planned development to allow for 285 homes. The parcels are all on the west side of State Road 429, north of New Independence Parkway and east of Avalon Road.

• Going back to Unicorp, the developer is seeking the OK from the county commission to increase its planned Zen Luxury Living apartment complex near Disney from 231 to 258 units — adding 27 apartments. Kimley-Horn is the project engineer.

Here’s more on what’s happening in the local residential real estate market and be sure to come back to OrlandoBusinessJournal.com for updates.