River Hall: A New Hometown
East county development is three communities in one
BY BARBARA BOXLEITNER Florida Weekly Correspondent

The two-story Town Hall Amenity Center is 14,000 square feet and has a fitness center, and a lagoon style pool is 8,500 square feet. COURTESY PHOTO

Folks living in the Alva development of River Hall have plenty of reason to think of it as a hometown.

The LandMar Group's gated development is three neighborhoods in one: golf and country club, family and active adult villages within 2,000 acres east of Interstate 75 along State Road 80. An elementary school, fire station and commercial and retail venues also are included in the Jacksonvillebased company's first Lee County community, aptly tagged "A New Hometown" by company officials.

"We have a variety of master plan communities," said Jim Doyle, LandMar vice president of marketing and sales. "On larger scale master plan communities, where we can, we try to offer a village for everyone."

"The location is a little different," he said. "It gets people out of the hustle and bustle."

The country club neighborhood is scheduled to have 850 homes, the family neighborhood 579 and the active adult community 570, said Grady Miars, West Coast regional manager. Homes by preferred builders range from $179,000 to just under $1 million, he said. Lots are a quarter of an acre to a third of an acre.

COURTESY PHOTOS Homes by preferred builders range from $179,000 to just under $1 million. The golf course was designed by PGA great Davis Love III.

Many of those buying into the golf and family villages have moved from elsewhere in Southwest Florida, such as Naples. "They've been drawn to the school and the amenities," Miars said.

Some buyers into The Cascades neighborhood for adults 55 and older have relocated after selling homes in the Midwest and Northeast.

Doyle and Miars said the development's makeup has resulted in older residents living there as well as their grown children who have their own families. They live either in the same or in different neighborhoods. "That is what makes it very unique," Miars said, "to have that opportunity to have their lifestyle choice and to have their family come together."

Arthur Rutenberg Homes/Lyons Housing, Pulte Homes, Ryland Homes, David Weekley Homes, Taylor Woodrow and Morrison Homes build luxurious single-family and coach homes in the River Hall Country Club area, site of a Davis Love III designed course.

"You have that price and product differential," Doyle said, noting that other golf communities traditionally feature one builder. "You have that variety of builders to choose from."

Pulte and Ryland build single-family homes in the Hampton Lakes family community, and Levitt & Sons will build the homes in The Cascades.

Residences range from two-bedroom, two-bathroom models of Pulte to fourbedroom, five-bathroom designs by Taylor Woodrow, the River Hall online site shows.

Construction started in early 2005, Miars said, and the first phase is complete. Residents started moving into Hampton Lakes in October 2006. The River Hall Country Club golf course and amenities have been open since late October. River Hall Elementary School, which is centrally located in the development, has more than 800 students.

COURTESY PHOTOS River Hall is a gated development is three neighborhoods in one: golf and country club, family and active adult villages within 2,000 acres east of Interstate 75 along State Road 80.

The two-story Town Hall Amenity Center for residents in River Hall and Hampton Lakes is 14,000 square feet and has been open since August. The facility includes a fitness center, and a lagoon style pool is 8,500 square feet. Basketball and tennis courts and a junior soccer league field are among other recreational extras.

Town Hall also has a room, with kiln, for arts and crafts, Miars said. Residents can stay abreast of neighborhood news and activities through an eStreet Neighborhood Network link.

"We try to do more than build the amenities," Doyle said. "We actually bring in a dedicated, full-time director. Their job is to make sure those amenities are highly active."

The amenity center for the older adults was not complete as of early December, so those residents have been using the Town Hall in the meantime.

Commercial and retail shops in the Town Square are near the entrance of the development, as is the fire station.

More than 65 percent of the development is green space thanks to an abundance of native plant life, Miars said. The majority of lots have a golf course, water or preserve view. "It's very well executed," he said. "It has dramatic backdrops of nature preserves."