Parrish home sales quickening. One day, new neighborhood could be home to 28,000 people
A year after its groundbreaking, the mammoth North River Ranch master-planned community has taken its first baby steps with 65 home sales. Over the next decade, that number is projected to grow to about 5,000.
To put that in perspective, developer John Neal, president of Neal Land & Neighborhoods, says that as many as 28,000 people may eventually call North River Ranch home.
The COVID-19 pandemic is speeding up home sales at North River Ranch, and elsewhere. Nationally, the sales of new single-family homes were up 43.2 percent in August from the same month a year earlier, according to RCLCO, a national real estate consulting company.
Existing and new home sales are booming in Manatee County — and much of Florida — as residents of densely populated northern cities look for more elbow room. Freedom from the constraints of going to the office means they can work remotely from home, and home can be anywhere.
Also expressing interest in North River Ranch are residents from St. Petersburg and Tampa, as well as from the Bradenton area.
North River Ranch’s 2,600 acres of former pasture and farmland land along Moccasin Wallow Road, just west of Parrish, seems well positioned to meet the yearning for open for space with 24 miles of trails, boardwalks, paved pathways, shade areas, pocket parks and a bike challenge course.
To emphasize the point, the developer is providing white bicycles with blue tires that residents can use to cycle through North River Ranch’s Brightwood neighborhood, where dozens of new homes are under construction along a neatly landscaped section of the Fort Hamer Road extension.
“We want people to be on bikes, to be be active, and enjoy the amenities here,” Neal said. “This is a multi-generational community that stresses walkability, community and connectivity.”
The Neals are paying to extend Fort Hamer Road from U.S. 301 on the south side of the historic village center of Parrish to Buckeye Road in the north. The extension, being built in segments, runs through North River Ranch.
The intersection of Moccasin Wallow Road and Fort Hamer Road is the scene of some of the most dynamic transformation to be found anywhere in Manatee County. The Brightwood neighborhood and the future North River Ranch village center, proposed for 60,000 to 80,000 square feet, including a medical facility, gym, restaurants, retail, and entertainment, are located on the north side of Moccasin Wallow Road.
On the south side of Moccasin Wallow: the new Barbara A. Harvey Elementary School, a future 80,000 to 120,000-square-foot retail plaza anchored by a grocery, and North River Ranch’s new Riverfield neighborhood. Running parallel to Riverfield is the proposed Parrish campus of State College of Florida, bordered on the south by Parrish Community High School.
Claude and Lydia Melli once had a citrus operation on the 200 acres that is becoming Riverfield.
“As we complete road construction and land development, John is already challenging himself and his team to incorporate some special touches, nuances as testament to the Melli family and the land’s history. It’s important to John that somehow we can remember, mark their long-standing commitment to the area and how they – and we – are contributing in a positive way,” said Janice Snow, marketing director for Neal Land and Neighborhoods.
Home builders at work in North River Ranch include Centex, KB Home, Homes by WestBay, David Weekley Homes, Park Square Homes, and Neal Communities.
Neal projects that North River Ranch will initially be selling 350 homes a year, increasing to about 700 annually.
Gretchen Fowler, president of the Parrish Civic Association, lives near North River Ranch, and is well aware of the changes in the neighborhood.
Top of mind for Fowler is extension of sewer service into the northern half of the village of Parrish, which is still on septic tanks, the widening of Moccasin Wallow Road from U.S. 301 all the way to Interstate 75, and the creation of a community park near Parrish Community High School.
For now, plans are moving forward to widen Moccasin Wallow Road from U.S. 301 in Parrish to 115th Street and from Interstate 75 west to U.S. 41.
Fowler is concerned about the missing link in widening plans for Moccasin Wallow Road from 115th Street west to I-75, where much more development is planned. Del Webb recently announced plans to build a 950-home community, called Del Webb BayView, on about 500 acres at the intersection of Moccasin Wallow Road and Carter Road.
A sewage lift station is now being built, and Fowler hopes that when Manatee County commissioners sign off on the Parrish action plan, it will help push forward plans to connect the rest of Parrish to the sanitary sewer system.
“We have worked really hard with the county, the transportation department, and the school board to build out the infrastructure for us and the Parrish community,” Neal said. Those efforts include making land available for a future school and putting a sewer force main under Fort Hamer Road.
“I want to make the extra effort to be part of the Parrish community,” Neal said.
This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
