By Carole Hawkins, [email protected]
It’s going to be a very big year for Tamaya.
After selling 132 homes in two years, the high-end master-planned community “between the city and the sea” is ready to open its second neighborhood.
A new $11 million amenity center is slated to open and a manned tower and gate at the development’s epicenter will become the grand entrance to the community’s single-family neighborhoods.
The second neighborhood, Bella Nika, will offer four lots sizes instead of two, including a more affordable 50-foot-wide option.
“There’s much more now for everybody,” said Don Wilford, president of ICI Homes North Florida. “It means about 30 percent more people can afford to live here.”
The smaller lot size lowers the entry price for a new home at Tamaya from the mid $300,000s to the low $300,000s. Starting prices for homes today top out above $500,000.
Tamaya is opening the next phase because its first neighborhood of Belle Nina is nearly sold out, Wilford said. As of mid-March, only 26 lots remained of the 169 platted. The second phase will have about 250 lots.
Tamaya made news when it opened two years ago for its size (over 1,000 homes at build-out) and for the quality of construction, which includes tile roofs and paver driveways on all homes and scattered pocket parks.
ICI Homes offers 16 highly customizable floorplans. When combined with three different elevations and controlled, with no similar combination for five houses in either direction, it makes for a neighborhood where no two homes look alike.
Tamaya’s number of sales has run 10 to 15 percent above projections.
“It has beaten our expectations,” said Wilford.
The bigger surprise, though, has been the price point.
About half of buyers are looking for customized floorplans — an extra bedroom, bathroom or bonus room. It’s a niche ICI Homes has always filled and has perfected since the downturn.
“The only limit we have is the floorplan has to still fit on the lot,” said Lisa Sarraf, division sales manager.
One 5,000-square-foot home under construction includes a master bathroom that’s larger than the second-floor master bedroom.
Beyond the bedroom’s sliding glass door, a balcony overlooks a courtyard pool. The first floor includes a disco room, complete with a DJ station and a bar.
“It’s extreme, but it’s a good example of what we do,” Wilford said.
Tamaya’s customer base has also been surprisingly consistent. Eighty percent have moved from two zip codes nearby, Sarraf said.
“It reinforces the strength of this location. People are giving up their homes to live here,” she said.
Tamaya isn’t the only Intracoastal community being developed in Northeast Florida. But its size and its architectural consistency create a sense of place that’s rare, Wilford said.
“We’ve been very disciplined with the quality and theme,” he said. “And our amenities will be second to none.”
Tamaya residents will soon enjoy those amenities.
An L-shaped residents/fitness center, now under construction, will be finished by the fall.
The 10,000-square-foot building will include a catering kitchen and clubroom, a cardio room and separate yoga/pilates studio. Outdoor amenities will include a spa, garden, four tennis courts and a resort-style, zero entry pool surround the building.
The look coming into Tamaya is going to change as well.
Within two months the current entrance off Beach Boulevard will close and a new drive to the west will provide access to the community. The drive meanders through the development’s planned town center to a gated entrance where the residential neighborhoods begin. The view from the entrance will show a lake and fountain.
“It’s going to give big sense of arrival,” Wilford said.