There are easier ways to develop a community than what Marshall Gobuty chose to do at Hunters Point.
He could have built lower-priced houses, knowing that the pool of home buyers is much larger than for high-end models.
He could have avoided the time and expense of research and development. He could have gone with existing technology.
But that’s not what he did at Hunters Point, a 14-acre development under construction at 12444 Cortez Road W.
So, why not?
Gobuty, president and founder of Pearl Homes, wanted to build a community of homes designed to create zero emissions.
What the industry calls “net zero.”
You make them air tight, heavily insulate them, use sustainable, healthy building materials and equip them to generate their own power.
“The goal was always to do something that hasn’t done before: build a home that has a positive carbon footprint, that would generate more power than the owner consumes,” Gobuty said.
All of the 86 homes planned for Hunters Point are being outfitted with solar panels plus a Sonnen ecoLinx energy storage system – a large battery – to provide power 24 hours a day, and share any excess with the electric grid.
Each of the single-family homes measures about 3,300-square-feet with 1,650-square-feet under air conditioning. It’s the optimal size for what the technology can handle while providing buyers the space they want in a home, Gobuty said.
Prices range from $1.4 million to $1.9 million. Sales of the first few homes are expected to close in the next few months.
Gobuty and Pearl Homes, the company he founded in 2015, previously developed the Mirabella at Village Green subdivision in Bradenton. Mirabella won recognition for its energy-efficient home design and sustainability.
That same year, Gobuty donated a 540-square-foot concept home to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County for auction, with all proceeds benefiting the nonprofit. The move-in-ready concept home, including all fixtures and furnishings, went to a buyer in Texas.
Pearl Homes invested more than $1 million in research and development in the concept home, measuring 12 by 45 feet.
“We have reached net zero day right here in Bradenton,” Gobuty said.
Hunters Point is the “greenprint” for the future of clean energy homes and sustainable, cost-effective master-planned communities, he said. “This is my thing. Breaking barriers is what I like to do.”
The future of home building
Hunters Point represents the future of sustainable, environmentally friendly building, says Peggy Christ, a board member of the Florida Green Building Coalition.
It’s the first and, so far the only LEED Zero-certified, sustainable community in Florida, said Christ, owner of Bee Green Realty.
“It’s a healthier home, it is easier to maintain and it’s the future,” Christ said.
To achieve Platinum LEED certification, the highest rating, a project earns points by adhering to prerequisites and credits that address carbon, energy, water, waste, transportation, materials, health and indoor environmental quality, the U.S. Green Building Council says.
It sounds challenging because it is, taking into account the type of appliances used, the windows, the air conditioning, the insulation, the paint, site placement and much more.
Under the HERS (home energy rating system) index, a traditional, older home might have a rating of about 140, an indication of its emissions. A new home built to code today should have a rating of 100. A net zero home would have a rating of 0, according to the not-for-profit The Residential Energy Services Network.
“This is coming down the pike,” Christ said of the trend of greener building. “With all the allergies down here, they are healthier homes.”
Other challenges
There has been no shortage of potential buyers.
Nor has there been a shortage of challenges, technological and otherwise, including the pandemic and supply chain shortages that have sharply driven up the cost of construction materials.
Although the buyers’ contract includes an escalation clause to cover the sharply rising cost of materials, not everyone is happy about it.
“There are some happy buyers — who are really happy — and some buyers who are not so happy,” Gobuty said.
“We started off at one price for the homes, and we had to increase the price due to the cost of materials — due to the cost of everything. It’s the market that we’re in. It’s a very strange time. Who had any idea that we would be paying five times for something? We’re paying five times what we once paid for windows,” he said.
For buyers who want their money back rather than that proceed with the purchase, Gobuty said in an email that they would get a full refund.
“We have returned 25 buyers’ deposits to date and expect a few more,” he said. “We live here. I’m involved in the community. We try as much as we can to do the right thing.”
There is also a lawsuit filed by the neighboring Cortez Marina over use of a canal leading to Anna Maria Sound.
Planned docks were sold as a package for many of the single-family homes.
The Southwest Florida Water Management District and Army Corps of Engineers signed off on permits allowing Gobuty to build 49 docks at Hunters Point along a canal bordering the development.
But the owners of the neighboring Cortez Marina, MHC Cortez Village, filed a petition in court, saying the canal is not wide enough to handle so much new boat traffic, citing concerns about hazards to vessels moored at or visiting the marina.
In May, Gobuty, through his company, Cortez Road Investments and Finance, filed a complaint against MHC Cortez Village, owners of Cortez Village Marina, seeking damages.
The lawsuit claims that Gobuty and his company own a portion of the canal and that Cortez Village Marina has no easements, licenses, or other use authorizations for navigation there.
Matt Chait, an attorney representing Cortez Marina, declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
Marshall Gobuty, the developer of Bradenton’s Hunters Point, solves Net Zero problem, but faces rising costs and legal challenge from neighbor. James A. Jones, Jr. jajones1@bradenton.com
Marshall Gobuty, the developer of Bradenton’s Hunters Point, solves Net Zero problem, but faces rising costs and legal challenge from neighbor. provided Bradenton.com
Marshall Gobuty, the developer of Bradenton’s Hunters Point, solves Net Zero problem, but faces rising costs and legal challenge from neighbor. provided Bradenton.com
Marshall Gobuty, founder and president of Pearl Homes, shown July 6, 2022, stands on the third floor of one of the homes under construction at Hunters Point and photographs passing boats in a canal. The owners of Cortez Marina have gone to court to prevent Gobuty from building docks along the canal, citing concerns about boat traffic overload and navigation hazards. James A. Jones Jr. jajones1@bradenton.com
This story was originally published July 31, 2022 at 5:45 AM.
