WEST WORLD L
THE REGION’S HOTTEST DEVELOPMENT SHOWS NO SIGNS OF COOLING OFF.
ast year, Horizon West emerged as the hottest growth area in Central Florida and one of the busiest master-planned communities in the U.S. There had been fewer than 20 active neighborhoods underway in 2014. But by 2016 there were more than 50, with others debuting on an almost constant basis. This year has been less about opening new neighborhoods — although there have been several added to the roster — than it has been about completing the neighborhoods that were started and making significant progress on all the amenities — including commercial and retail projects — that will serve all those new residents.
It’s sizzling in Horizon West these days — and smudge pots that once protected rolling aces of citrus groves during cold snaps are nowhere in sight. It’s the accumulated heat from an unprecedented flurry of construction — homes, commercial centers, roads and schools. County officials say that about 50 percent of new-home construction permits being issued are for homes being built in the county’s southwest sector, including Horizon West. More than 25,000 people live within Horizon West’s 23 acres. Nearly 10,000 single-family homes and five apartment complexes have been built, with more than 4,600 homesites under development. In Florida, only The Villages, the massive retirement community located mostly in Sumter County, is growing
faster than Horizon West. Although Horizon West’s individual components will be intimate and walkable, the overall scope is eye-popping. The area will ultimately be home to more than 60,000 people, which is three times the size of Winter Park.
A CHILLY PROLOGUE
Remarkably, the concept behind this history-making project was dreamed up in 1992 by a cadre of property owners — many of them growers — who regularly met for breakfast at a local diner. Over coffee and eggs, they pondered what might be done with tens of thousands of acres that hadn’t been practical LiveHorizonWest.co m H5