by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
The slogan for the latest addition to the World Golf Village could be “Just Add Water.”
Architect Robert D. Henry said his planned European-style health spa at the Village will include “the soothing and relaxing sounds of gardens and water in its many forms ... fountains, streams, small lakes, waterfalls, pools and reflecting ponds.”
It’s just what the public wants ... and needs, especially in nerve-wracking times.
“Most people (are told) when they go to a spa, ‘This is our latest treatment,’” said Taz Brown, director of sales and marketing with Laterra, a 41-acre courtyard community at the Village. “This will be more of a space.
“A lot of the spa is meant to be centered around more of an ethereal experience, more relaxation. The whole world needs a spa treatment right now.”
The original WGV plans called for a spa in the actual Village site. It was to be located on the entrance road opposite the 11th hole. The original developer, however, ran into financial problems and the site was abandoned.
Planning and construction of the PGA Tour Spa, located in the heart of the King & Bear golf course community, are being carried out by a high-profile partnership.
They include the PGA Tour; Henry, a renowned spa architect; Hillman Properties, the community’s developer; and the Jacksonville architectural firm of Rink, Reynolds, Diamond, Fisher, Wilson.
Laterra, with 380 properties, is being marketed through Playground, a division of Intrawest Company.
Construction at the development should begin within the “next couple of months” and should take about 14 months to complete, said Tom Fisher, with Rink Reynolds.
The formal announcement was made last month at the King & Bear.
“There’s no place I know of in Florida — or the United States, for that matter — where you can have a real estate interest right next to a world-class spa,” Brown said. “You’re buying a private piece of property adjacent to what is known as a world-class spa now affiliated with the PGA Tour.”
Buyers have already responded to the planned homes with an enthusiasm usually reserved for an appearance by Tiger Woods. More than 70 percent of the homes that are in the first offering have been sold, Brown said. Forty-eight new homeowners signed up in two hours during a “sales event” on May 10.
An exhibition day was set up at the Renaissance Hotel, where two large rooms were “choreographed” with graphics, Brown said.
“We had actual selection, and people filled out contracts on their way out,” he said.
Home prices range from $105,000 to $409,000.
Such enthusiasm comes from the four or five months of work developers and architects put into designing the spa as well as floor plans for the homes, Brown said.
“The level of detail is incredible,” he said. “In this first (phase), all of the units are furnished with hand-crafted furniture. It’s meant to be something that’s completely different.”
Building materials will include Italian marble, cypress, teak, translucent glass and native rock such as coquina, Brown said.
“We’ve actually lifted the architecture from Old World St. Augustine, a very rusticated look with the use of wood, corbeled balconies and relief where the windows recess,” he said. “We studied a lot of Mediterranean architecture. Essentially, that’s where we took a lot of our inspiration from. The look was to bring the Old World back into a new experience.”
Interest in Laterra has been spectacular, Brown said, particularly in light of the deliberately low-key advertising campaign.
“It’s been a whisper campaign, more word of mouth,” he said. “It’s quite obvious this is going to be a success, based on the efforts of the partners.
“What the market has told us is people are looking for a more sophisticated experience. This is very different from any other condominium development that’s been done in this area.”
Including a spa in the package will only make the development more appealing, Brown said.
“Demographically, people are using spas more often; they’re spending more on spas,” he said. “They’re becoming more commonplace. They’re not just for the affluent.”
Laterra residents will be given preferential treatment, but the PGA Tour Spa will be open to the public, too.
Services will include facials and massages, as well as beauty and body therapies such as wraps and hydrotherapy.
“There will be an emphasis on golf-centered treatments,” Brown said. “Because we’re the World Golf Village, the PGA Tour will certainly have a big influence and help with the program.
“This is meant to be a spa for all ages.”