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D.R. Horton buys Palm Beach Gardens dev site for townhouse project
Texas homebuilder paid Rustic Lakes HOA $650K to opposition to the development
D.R Horton bought a 17.9-acre development site in Palm Beach Gardens for $9.4 million, after buying off opposition to its planned project earlier this year.
The Arlington, Texas-based homebuilder is planning a 111-townhome development for the site, according to plans filed with Palm Beach Gardens. Records show D.R. Horton acquired the land from Northlake 20 LLC, a Florida entity managed by Aldo and Carlo Basile. The entity bought the land for $1 million in 2004, records show.
The planned development, dubbed “Vintage Oaks,” will have 111 townhomes, a clubhouse and a pool. Miami-based Boutros Bou-Nahra Architect designed the project, planning documents show.
It is adjacent to Rustic Lakes, a community with properties ranging from 5 to 10 acres where some homeowners have agricultural operations and livestock. Community members fought the approval of Vintage Oaks, arguing it would not fit the character of the area.
“The majority of this community — I’m trying to find the right words — is dead set against it,” Rustic Lakes resident Vanessa Saridakis said at a planning meeting, according to OnGardens.
D.R. Horton agreed to pay the Rustic Lakes homeowner’s association $650,000 in July, and its residents dropped their opposition, the outlet reported.
Representatives for the developer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the site acquisition. D.R. Horton, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, is led by CEO Paul Romanowski, the company’s former co-COO who succeeded David Auld in September. Earlier this month, a San Antonio-based civil rights group sued the firm along with Miami-based Lennar, alleging housing discrimination against individuals with disabilities.
While the suit plays out in civil court in Texas, Vintage Oaks isn’t the only South Florida project in D.R. Horton’s pipeline. The homebuilder is planning an 86-home community in a former fruit tree nursery in Davie. Also, in September of last year, the firm won the rezoning for its planned Hunter Manor development, which will have 59 single-family homes in Pompano Beach. And in July of last year, Kolter Group dropped $36.9 million on a West Palm Beach development site, where D.R. Horton will build a 707-home community called “Reflection Bay.”