D.R. Horton’s Master-Planned Community: Sawgrass Lakes
by Josh Field
7-year-old Jayden McNamara and his 5-year-old brother JJ are frolicking in the beach entry children’s splash-pad play center with their friends, all the time eying the opening of the 2-story waterslide with its corkscrew twists and turns. Meanwhile, mom Sara takes in some sun from a nearby chaise lounge while keeping an eye on the activity in the pool and dad Jeff finishes a workout in the fitness center.
No, this isn’t a resort vacation — but it might as well be. It is however just a sampling of life at Sawgrass Lakes, a new master-planned community by D.R. Horton in West Melbourne. “Our vision for this community is to combine state-of-the-art home design choices with five-diamond amenities and lifestyle,” said Keith Williams, D.R. Horton’s East Florida division president.
The nation’s, and Brevard County’s, #1 homebuilder purchased the land just West of Minton Road in 2012 and broke ground on phase two last year. When fully built out in around 2020, Sawgrass Lakes is anticipated to be the home to over 900 families and empty nesters.
A Place for Gathering
The centerpiece of the community is the approximately 8,000-square-foot Grand Clubhouse and lagoon-shaped resort style swimming pool. Inside the clubhouse is a professional business center and conference room; catering and dining space for sit-down parties of up to 120 people; a state-of-the-art fitness center with an adjacent multi-purpose room with free-weight racks and anchored by a dynamic rig for suspension training; a multi-purpose activities room; and a yoga studio.
The 9.5-acre Sawgrass Club recreation center complex also includes a tennis court, sand volleyball court, two fenced tot lots for school-aged children, an outdoor movie viewing area, gazebo, stone fire-pit gathering area, a raised lakefront pier, and meandering walkways that traverse through and around the community’s natural flora and manmade lakes.
“The lifestyle amenities of Sawgrass Lakes are like nothing we’ve ever seen in Brevard County,” said Sara McNamara, who lives in a beautiful home in The Estates neighborhood of Sawgrass Lakes. “Our family just loves living here!”
Location, Location, Location
With companies like Northrop Grumman and Harris Corporation hiring and relocating hundreds of workers to the county, as well as the large influx of people moving into the area from South Florida and other parts around the state and U.S., West Melbourne has become a magnet for homebuyers.
The major employment centers of the Melbourne Airport corridor are less than a 20-minute commute from Sawgrass Lakes, and access to Interstate-95 can be easily reached via either Palm Bay Road to the south or Minton Road to Rt.192 to the north. Additionally, the community is planned to eventually connect to the Heritage Parkway via the westward extension of Norfolk Parkway, ensuring easy access in and around the Space Coast.
Sawgrass Lakes’ children currently are zoned to attend the highly-rated Meadowlane school district, which includes Meadowlane Primary Elementary (K-3), Meadowlane Intermediate Elementary (3-6), Central Middle School (7-8) and Melbourne Senior High School (9-12). In addition, D.R. Horton has a dedicated school site within its master plan to accommodate the anticipated growth in the area. Regarding upper education, the community is also within an easy commute of Eastern Florida State College – Palm Bay Campus and Florida Institute of Technology.
“Not only is Sawgrass Lakes convenient for getting to work and school, but the surrounding community is bustling with shopping, dining and recreational options,” explained Howard Darvin, D.R. Horton sales and marketing manager for its East Florida division. Within minutes, moms can shop at Hammock Landing — the open-air shopping center that includes anchor retailers such as Kohl’s, Marshall’s, Ross, Target and Michael’s as well as a Carmike IMAX Theater — while the dads browse nearby through Bass Pro Shops and Space Coast Harley-Davidson before meeting back with mom and the kids for a meal at any number of restaurants, including Longhorn Steakhouse, Pollo Tropical, Buffalo Wild Wings and Five Guys.
Building a Community
Whereas the focal point of Sawgrass Lakes’ master plan may be its recreation center complex and the activities planned to build long-lasting friendships and relationships among its residents, the community is also about beautiful and affordable living. With plans to build nearly one thousand single-family homes on two enormous fresh water lakes, numerous smaller ponds, and other beautifully landscaped lots, D.R. Horton has not only expanded its footprint in Brevard County, but taken a significant step up as well.
Four villages within Sawgrass Lakes are currently under construction, starting in The Meadows with the Preserve Series Collection that starts in the mid-$200s to The Reserve, which offers semi-custom lakefront homes constructed by Emerald Homes, a D.R. Horton Company, that start in the upper $300s and go to the $500s.
Sawgrass Lakes held its official grand opening and open house this past Memorial Day weekend, with many more upcoming opportunities for locals and visitors to check out one of the most unique and exciting master-planned communities to hit the Space Coast in the last decade.
To learn more about Sawgrass Lakes, call (321) 482-3228 or visit www.DRHorton.com/Florida/East-Florida/Melbourne/Sawgrass-Lakes.
Directions:
From I-95, take Palm Bay Rd west to Minton Road. Turn right (north) on Minton for about 0.5 miles, then turn left on Norfolk Parkway. Follow the signs to the end of the road (appx. 0.9 miles) and the entrance to Sawgrass Lakes will be on your right.
**Home and community information, including pricing, included features, terms, availability and amenities, are subject to change and prior sale at any time without notice or obligation. Equal Housing Opportunity.