With 1,206 new-home sales in 2017—an increase of 56 percent over 2016—Lakewood Ranch has been recognized as the third best-selling, master-planned community in the country by the independent real estate consulting firms RCLCO and John Burns Real Estate Consulting. 

Sales were brisk, says Laura Cole, vice president of marketing for LWR Communities, but 2017 was a busy year in other ways. Lakewood Ranch added three new neighborhoods, including the 100-percent solar village, Polo Run; opened the much anticipated Waterside Village in Sarasota, which will be walkable to a new waterfront town center; broke ground on CORE, a mixed-use research, commercial, and entertainment district; and launched a farmers market. The Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club completed more than $25 million in new and renovated facilities, making it the “next generation” club for families in the area, Cole says.

Take a look at Sarasota Magazine’s Neighborhood Guide to Lakewood Ranch here.