Your Secret Sales Weapon

"When people come to look at a community to buy a home, the landscaping is always on the top of the priority list," says Donna Cinadr, former president of the homeowners association at Serendipity in Pelican Bay. "If the greenery is unsightly, that crucial first impression suffers."

Cinadr says her neighbors not only agree, but put their money where their plants are by hiring a professional to analyze the 66-unit, low-rise community’s natural appearance. J. Roland "Jack" Lieber, of Landscape Management and Design, is their man.

"Too many communities underestimate the impact of good landscape," he explains, "and too few know how to achieve it." Lieber, a landscape architect who’s been in Naples since the late 1970s, notes that tearing things up isn’t always the answer. One part of the problem, he says, is that new residents aren’t familiar with Florida plants. Another is that they hire a maintenance company and often do not collaborate with the staff to get the best result. Sometimes they go for the low bid—and get what they pay for. For example, a sun-loving tree that dies is often replaced with the same kind of tree, even though changes over the years have now put it in the shade, where it’s doomed.

"And you have to be watchful that the maintenance company doesn’t cut screening hedges only at the top," he warns. "What you’ll end up with is shrubs on legs." Mary Briggs, corporate public relations director for Bonita Bay Group, says company research shows that landscaping is critical in the decision to purchase. "At Mediterra, 89 percent of the buyers say that the community landscaping was essential or very important in their decision to purchase a home. At TwinEagles, that number is 95 percent."

Which all goes to prove that proper pruning pays off.

Models We Love
It’s a spanish andalusian theme that Frey & Son Homes has invoked for The Marisol, a two-story, five-bedroom home in the northeastern Collier County community of The Quarry. With an eye-popping, bell-tower entrance made with stacked stone and a brick-paver motor court, the model’s dramatic first impression is bolstered by special features such as the family room’s wood-plank ceiling and the master suite’s barrel-vault ceiling. European touches aside, the Floridian appeal of this home is heightened by the lanai’s stone, gas fireplace, summer kitchen, bar and waterfall pool.

The home has 4,830 square feet under air with five full bathrooms and two half-baths. Its entry, three-car garage and verandah bring the total to 7,018 square feet. Located in the Quarry Shores neighborhood, The Marisol is for sale on lease-back for $3,495,000, including furnishings. Diane Oldfin, of Expressions in Design, has completed the interiors of two models at Legacy, a coach-home neighborhood in Lely Resort Country Club’s Mustang Plantation. Oldfin says she assembled subtle blues and soft, oatmeal tones to create an understated tropical environment for the first-floor Pinehurst, priced at $838,129, furnished.

"Lime-green accents further hint at the Florida feeling," she explains, "while gold and silver accents play up the richness of the carved-wood furniture." The floor plan offers two bedrooms, a den, two baths and a bonus room in 2,160 square feet of living space and 2,806 total square feet. Homebuyers may choose to add a third bath, and there is a two-car garage. Oldfin composed The Pebble Beach model’s inviting ambiance with ivory and caramel tones, rich bronzes and medium-to-dark woods. Furnishings with burnished-metal scrollwork add to the three-bedroom/den model’s flair. The Pebble Beach, at $963,174 furnished, is a second-floor design providing 2,686 air-conditioned square feet and 3,355 in total. Built by Bateman Communities of Southwest Florida, Inc., the 88 homes are in 22 two-story buildings. Preconstruction prices start at $725,000.
Communities We Love
Chris claussen of manatee Bay Group Inc. reports that construction of the seventh tower at Waterside at Bay Beach is nearing the 90 percent mark, putting it right on target for a January/February 2008 completion. The construction of the 11-story Manatee Bay, the seventh of eight planned towers, began in September 2006 in the Fort Myers Beach community located at the south end of Estero Island. Claussen says the 58-unit building’s 10 floors overlook preserved mangrove areas, Buccaneer Lagoon and the Gulf of Mexico, with bay views to the north. The developer is offering six floor plans ranging from 1,390 to 1,848 air-conditioned square feet, priced from $587,620 to $986,500. Owners can purchase deep-water boat slips on Estero Bay in front of the community’s towers, which have been built in phased development since 1997.

They’re making room in the trophy case at Pelican Preserve, WCI Communities’ 55 and Better community that recently received two prestigious accolades. One is the Outstanding Florida Friendly Community Award by Florida Yards & Neighborhoods (FYN). Only three communities earned the nod statewide in 2007. Pelican Preserve was honored for its efforts to protect natural resources by using Florida-friendly plants and landscapes designed to conserve water and protect water quality.

FYN also cited the Fort Myers community for reserving more than 50 percent of its 1,000 acres for common recreational and preserve areas, including wetlands and natural wildlife corridors, and for engaging employees and residents in making the community more Florida-friendly. The award was presented at the annual meeting of the Florida Green Building Coalition at the Southeast Building Conference in Orlando.

The community also earned kudos as one of "America’s Top 100 Master-Planned Communities" in 2007 by Where to Retire magazine. Criteria included providing environmentally friendly neighborhoods, comprehensive facilities and golf amenities. Pelican Preserve is an Audubon International Gold Signature Certified Community, one of 15 in the world. A central-
amenity complex, it provides indoor and outdoor pools, an air-conditioned fitness track, movie theater, fitness center and restaurant. A variety of home types are priced from the mid-$200,000s.

Neighborhood Watch
Six towers with views of caxambas pass, the Ten Thousand Islands and the Gulf of Mexico make up Cape Marco, a 30-acre, high-rise enclave located on Marco Island’s southernmost shores. Marketing was launched in 1990 and phased construction, initiated by developer Jack Antaramian, was completed by WCI Communities, with the Vera Cruz debuting in 2006. The Mediterranean-style condominiums offer floor plans from 1,300 to 13,000 square feet.

Number of Cape Marco units: 683
Number of sales August 2006 to August 2007: 31
Range of sales prices August 2006 to August 2007: $778,000-$3,075,000. Average sales price August 2006 to August 2007: $1,926,500
Air-conditioned square footage of sold units: 1,401 to 4,765
On the market: Unit 405 in Vera Cruz, Cape Marco’s newest tower, offers a luxurious three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath floor plan that includes travertine floors, a fireplace and spectacular sea-and-sand views. With ensuite guest quarters, the opulently furnished unit is priced at $2,195,000. Alan and Linda Sandlin, of the Sandlin Team at Re/Max Results Realty, say the beautiful furnishings and features in this 3,268 square-foot unit deliver an elegant beach home in move-in condition.
Recent sale: Belize No. 405 was sold in December for $1.7 million, unfurnished. According to the selling agent, Chris Sullivan, a broker-associate for Premier Properties of Southwest Florida Inc., the three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath unit was sold by the developer in May 2004 for $1,275,000. Extraordinary views and upscale detailing are among the attractions of this 3,600 square-foot unit, which sold in six months.