Luxury single-family home community in Southwest Ranches launches sales

A group of developers launched a new single-family home community in Southwest Ranches to appeal to buyers looking for large estates.

AKAI Estates, a 44-acre community in the western Broward County city, will have 16 homes, each on 2-acre lots, said developer Alex Yokana. Prices start at $7 million. Compass agent Bento Queiroz and his team are handling sales of the project at 4701 Akai Drive, which is at the southwest corner of the intersection at Griffin Road and Bonaventure Boulevard.

The homes will range from 7,000 square feet to 15,000 square feet, each with space to include amenities such as putting greens, tennis, pickleball or basketball courts, pools and more. Each lot also allows for a detached guest house. Architect Vasco Vieira, founder of Portugal-based Vasco Vieira Arquitectos, is designing the development.

The partners include architect Jairo Vela, and Amos and Michael Sochaczevski. Amos Sochaczevski is a former toymaker from Canada who now invests in real estate.

The developers acquired the property in 2014, and Yokana said they have been trying to secure entitlements ever since, due to a challenging process that involved wetland preservation. The site work is nearly completed, and Yokana expects to break ground on the gate house and sales gallery in about a month, and on the model home by the fall. The model home could be completed a year from groundbreaking.

“The launching of our project, as we speak, is great timing in the sense of what the property has to offer for its buyers,” Yokana said, adding that demand for single-family homes with plenty of space has increased during the pandemic. The target buyer is someone looking for safety and security, he said.

A number of professional athletes and celebrities have called Southwest Ranches home, including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, former linebacker Karlos Dansby and retired NFL cornerback Asante Samuel.

Last year, Jack Owoc, the CEO of energy drink company Bang Energy, paid $7.7 million for the Southwest Ranches home at 16720 Stratford Court.

Write to Katherine Kallergis at kk@therealdeal.com