London Bay Homes increases presence with new Sarasota office
SARASOTA -- Naples luxury home builder London Bay opens an office next week to be the base of operations for a growing operation in Manatee and Sarasota counties.
London Bay's new area office comes as the company builds its brand in north Sarasota County and in Manatee County. Last month, the company filed plans to build a 248-unit townhouse neighborhood inside The Lake Club in Lakewood Ranch. The project is a departure for the 26-year-old company, which is known for building small quantities of custom and semi-custom homes. It built about 50 houses in 2015.
John Gleeson, London Bay's
vice president, said his company needs a bigger office footprint in the area. Until recently, he and other local London Bay staffers worked out of a sales office in The Founders Club, a north Sarasota subdivision where the company has been building homes for several years.
The new office at 401 N. Cattlemen Road will have about 3,300 square feet in office space and will eventually feature a 1,500-square-foot design center. It is a first-floor space in one of several buildings that make up the Gateway Professional Center.
"Our presence in Sarasota is growing and we needed to establish a presence," Gleeson said. "It also gives us some elbow room."
In addition to its Grandview at The Lake Club project and its work at The Founders Club, London Bay is building homes on scattered sites in downtown Sarasota, on Siesta Key and Bird Key. It is also building five homes on 14 available single-family lots at Spice Bay, an 8-acre enclave on Siesta Key. The company is marketing homes there for prices as high as $5 million, according to its website.
The new office location puts London Bay in close proximity to several branch offices of national home builders and the corporate offices of several others. Taylor Morrison of Scottsdale, Ariz., occupies a regional office in the Gateway Professional Center. Just up the road in Lakewood Ranch, Neal Communities, Nelson Homes, Lee Wetherington Homes, John Cannon Homes and several other construction companies operate their home offices.
Gleeson declined to comment on any definite future building projects London Bay is planning in the two-county area. However, he did say the company is interested in building in Lakewood Ranch's new Waterside community. The community's master developer, Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, plans to bring 5,144 residential units to 2,000 acres it owns on the south side of University Parkway.
London Bay's new office will start small. Gleeson said seven company employees -- including executives, project managers and purchasing and business development personnel -- will start work there next week. The planned design center will open next year.
London Bay relocated its Naples headquarters into a new, 22,800-square-foot space in early 2015.
Matt M. Johnson, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7027 or on Twitter @MattAtBradenton.
This story was originally published May 3, 2016 at 11:26 PM with the headline "London Bay Homes increases presence with new Sarasota office ."