The next Latitude Margaritaville, a Jimmy Buffett-inspired active adult community, may be coming to Texas

There may perhaps not be an ocean close to Dallas or Austin. But that doesn’t signify there cannot be a Margaritaville.

Pursuing the prosperous start of their Latitude Margaritaville 55-and-up communities in three other destinations, learn developer Minto Communities United states and Margaritaville Holdings, singer Jimmy Buffett’s hospitality organization, are now scouting for a fourth internet site in Texas. 

Immediately after forming a partnership in 2017, the two corporations have designed Latitude Margaritavilles in Daytona Beach, Florida, and around Hilton Head, South Carolina, and, most not too long ago, in the vicinity of Panama Town Seaside at Latitude Margaritaville Watersound where by they joined The St. Joe Corporation. Minto, the builder at Margaritaville, is a builder and manager of houses, rental properties and business space with a presence in Canada and the southern United States. 

“We ended up actively seeking at land [in Texas],” Minto Latitude Margaritaville Division President William Bullock explained to Development Dive. “I have been there a number of instances around the last pair of months. My complete crew was out in Dallas this 7 days, as a subject of simple fact. So we are in sizzling pursuit.”

Making the Margaritaville life style

But what about the maritime atmosphere? When the Margaritaville life style, popularized by Buffett’s common tune, is closely connected with remaining near the ocean, Bullock said these lively adult communities will not have to have to be positioned close to the water to present the features, like the food, tunes and escapism, that is central to the manufacturer. 

In simple fact, this summer season the 32-tale, 234-place Margaritaville Vacation resort Times Square opened in New York Metropolis. The residence incorporates five restaurants and bar possibilities, such as the Margaritaville Cafe, LandShark Bar & Grill and 5 o’Clock Someplace Rooftop Bar. There is also a health and fitness heart and Margaritaville brand name retail keep.

At Latitude Margaritaville, the city centre serves as the epicenter of the relaxed dwelling encounter.

“We sense incredibly confident that we can deliver the brand name to individuals markets and not always have to have the beach in your backyard,” Bullock claimed. “When you go to a person of our city centers, we have swimming pools, audio in the afternoons at the bar and restaurant. We have acquired concerts at evening exactly where all of the community arrives with each other. Nobody’s accomplishing that in these Texas markets. The escapism will be profitable in those marketplaces without the immediate link to the seashore.”

And Bullock thinks a good deal of Texans may want to retire at a Margaritaville Latitude. “The Metroplex in Dallas has 15 million folks,” he stated. “Houston has 10 million. There are loads of folks who want to retire in all those markets.”

Sunshine Point out Advancement

When Texas retains a whole lot of obvious enchantment for Minto Communities and Margaritaville Holdings, the organizations, along with St. Joe, however have a good deal of operate to do at their challenge, Latitude Margaritaville Watersound, on Northwest Florida’s Emerald Coastline in close proximity to Panama Town Beach and the Highway 30A corridor.

In April, the developers opened 13 product residences at Latitude Margaritaville Watersound. Proper now, 130 households are beneath construction and closings are expected to commence this thirty day period. They have marketed 300 residences to date and are expecting 450 by the end of the year.

At Latitude Margaritaville Watersound’s city center, wherever development recently commenced, the amenities include an amphitheater, a comprehensive-dimensions concert phase, a jumbo screen for concerts and films, tennis, pickleball courts, a exercise center with an indoor pool and spa and the Barkaritaville Doggy Park. It will also involve themed eating possibilities together with a two-story Bar & Chill restaurant overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway, Variations in Mindset Bar and Forget about Bar. 

“The panhandle is a leading place for retirees and the beaches are unparalleled,” Bullock claimed. “We’re shut to the seashore here. You’ve virtually received the h2o at the edge of the property and that generates scenic views like you’ve got ever noticed.”

But all those 450 households are only the tip of the iceberg. Minto Communities and Margaritaville Holdings have 3,500 units entitled at Latitude Margaritaville Watersound. The enhancement sits inside St. Joe’s mammoth Bay-Walton Sector Approach, encompassing roughly 110,500 acres and about 15 miles of frontage on the Intracoastal Waterway.

“The pure scale of the range of entitlements that are nonetheless ahead of us is compared with something I have at any time noticed,” Bullock mentioned. “Even at The Villages [retirement community in Florida], I never imagine they are chatting about 150,000 entitlements. So we’re likely to be there for a lengthy time. I think we’ve variety of received Florida covered.”

That stated, if he experienced the choice, Bullock would also take the Latitude Margaritaville further south. But that’s likely not in the cards in the around upcoming. For a enhancement to get the job done, Bullock desires about 1,500 to 1,700 acres for 3,000 to 3,500 models. Something less than that and it’s tricky to make the figures pencil out.

“I’d like to see anything in South Florida,” Bullock mentioned. “But it can be really hard to come across land that will support what we require.”