Taylor Morrison adds 66 acres to Artisan Lakes project

Taylor Morrison and its subsidiary, Taylor Woodrow, recently added nearly 66 acres to its Artisan Lakes development north of Moccasin Wallow Road, and west of Interstate 75.

Taylor Woodrow Communities at Artisan Lakes LLC purchased the property for $3.675 million on June 30 from Suburban Land Reserve, Inc., a Utah corporation based in Salt Lake City.

All of the property, listed in the Piney Point neighborhood off Gillette Drive, Gillet Road, or Moccasin Wallow Road, has historically been used for grazing.

Taylor Morrison is permitted by Manatee County to build 2,800 homes on the 800 acres it already owns in the area.

Artisan Lakes is billed as an active lifestyle community with California Tuscan architecture. Homes on Taylor Morrison’s web sites as available for sale are listed at between $265,261 and $391,346.

The history of Artisan Lakes dates back to 1991 when the Church of Latter Day Saints submitted plans to Manatee County for Gateway North. Those plans originally called for 3,426 homes and 1.8 million square feet of commercial and office space. The church never acted on county approvals, other than to build a partial access road, according to Herald archives.

In 2005, the Manatee County Commission approved revised plans for Artisan Lakes, allowing Taylor Woodrow to start building a 2,800-home community.

In 2014, Taylor Morrison purchased another 34 acres in the area for $3.22 million on three parcels. The seller in that deal was also Suburban Land Reserve.

Taylor Woodrow has a plat approval request for 424 single-family lots pending with Manatee County for its Artisan Lakes Eaves Bend neighborhood, located between Artisan Lakes Boulevard and I-75.

“This is part of the entitlements they have approved,” John Barnott, director of Building and Development Services for Manatee County, said in an email, adding that Taylor Woodrow is platting the lots for construction.

The request is expected to come before the Manatee County Commission for consideration in the near future. Manatee County staff have until Aug. 2 to complete their comments on the project.

Developers have approvals to build, or are seeking approvals to build, more than 23,000 homes in the North River area. Artisan Lakes is one of the first projects out of the gate.

Even though Artisan Lakes has a long history, it is still early in its development process.

To date, 156 homes have been built at Artisan Lakes, including 109 homes with homestead exemption, eight homes with a homestead exemption application, and 39 homes with no homestead or application, according to the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s Office.

Other significant projects planned include Parrish Lakes with 3,300 homes south of Moccasin Wallow Road and east of I-75, Pat Neal’s The Villages of Amazon South, with 1,999 homes; John Neal’s Dakin Family Homestead, with 1,107 units; and John and Michael Neal’s Summer Woods, with 562 units.

Attempts to contact Taylor Morrison for comment were unsuccessful.

This story was originally published July 19, 2017 at 12:14 PM with the headline "Taylor Morrison adds 66 acres to Artisan Lakes project."