— Sales increase attributed to residents buying lifestyle, not just real estate —
THE VILLAGES, Fla., —The Villages, the largest single site mixed-use real estate development in the U.S., reports new home sales increased 18 percent from last year. New home sales from February to May 2007 totaled 768 and 905 for 2008.
“New home sales in The Villages are attributed to residents not just purchasing a home, but a lifestyle and retail is the largest component,” said John M. Crossman, CCIM, retail spokesperson for The Villages and president of Crossman & Company. “Combine this with basically a zero percentforeclosure rate and you have one of the hottest markets in the U.S.”
Retailers are taking notice of the compelling data coming from The Villages. While foreclosure activity has reached record levels around the country, The Villages reported a mere 0.05% in 2007. Twenty tenants joined The Villages retail line up in the first quarter of 2008 while existing retailers at Lake Sumter Landing Town Center report sales volumes increase of 14% for the same period.
“Retail is all about growth. With housing sales increasing there is strong demand for more retail.”
Crossman continued.
In spite of the national home building crisis, The Villages sold over 2,400 homes last year and gained 5,000 new residents. This brought the total population to almost 70,000, which is larger than Daytona Beach. The Villages is a self contained active retirement community with 80 restaurants, 4 hotels, 2 movie theaters, 2 town centers, 8 shopping centers, 2.5 million square feet of retail and commercial space.
Crossman & Company handles the retail leasing for The Villages, FL including the town centers of “Lake Sumter Landing”, “Spanish Springs”, plus the “Buffalo Ridge” and “Bellaire” shopping centers.
The Villages is currently home to major retail and restaurant tenants including: Publix, Fresh Market, Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, Barnes & Noble, Belk, Bealls, Bonefish Grill, Panera Bread, Starbucks, Sweet Bay, TGI Friday’s, Chico’s, Ruby Tuesday’s, Target, Outback, Carrabas, Bass, Izod, JoS. A. Bank and Red Lobster.
For more information please visit www.thevillagescommercialproperty.com, or call 352-753-6654.
