Miami-based Lennar will build 180 homes at Babcock Ranch, a master-planned development near Fort Myers that will run mainly on solar power.
Lennar plans to build twin-villa homes priced at about $180,000 and single-family homes with prices starting in the $220,000s.
The twin-villa homes will be 1,417 square feet to 1,564 square feet in size, and they will have two or three bedrooms and two-car garages. The interiors will feature granite counter tops, wood cabinets, and stainless steel General Electric appliances.
Florida Power & Light is building a 443-acre photovoltaic power plant on the grounds of Babcock Ranch, which is expected to grow to 19,500 households and a population of 50,000 residents.
Palm Beach Gardens-based Kitson & Partners, led by developer Sydney Kitson, began site preparation work in November.
Kitson & Partners bought a 91,000-acre ranch in Lee County from the Babcock family in 2006 and subsequently sold 73,000 acres to the state as a natural preserve, retaining 18,000 acres for the Babcock Ranch development, which was slowed by the housing market downturn in the late 2000s.