The fast-paced suburban sprawl shaping the area north of the Manatee River in Manatee County is welcoming three new construction communities: Cypress Glen at River Wilderness in Parrish, a guard-gated community of 36 single-family homes; Summerwoods, also in Parrish, a family-friendly community of 111 single-family homes; and The Palms at Trevesta in Palmetto, which will be home to 90 townhouses.

 Many of the new dwellings are already in progress.

“We’re building on speculation for a lot of them,” says Tony Crimi, vice president of sales and marketing at M/I Homes, the national builder spearheading the projects. “In Trevesta, we have five [townhomes] already underway. Summerwoods just opened up recently, and the second phase is selling. Cypress Glen is what's known as the 'community of river wilderness,' and we have about a dozen homes just about finished there.” 

Cypress Glen home prices range from $466,990 to the high $600,000s and will be completed within a year. Summerwoods' home prices range from $359,990 to the mid-$400,000s and will be done in two-and-a-half years. And the Trevesta townhomes are slated for completion by the beginning of 2025 and range from $334,990 to the low $400,000s.

Crimi says wait times for new construction have improved as far as access to materials, but the main challenge sits with a shortage of skilled laborers, like electricians, plumbers and HVAC technicians. “It's nine to 10 months from contract to build. It was about one-and-a-half years for larger homes just last year,” he says.

As with much of the area, the three sites were previously vacant land. Summerwoods used to be home to grazing cows and cabbage gardens—"but mostly cattle,” Crimi clarifies.

The heightened demand for homes in the region has the area growing fast with businesses and services, too. Plus, there's convenient access to Tampa, St. Pete and Sarasota via Fort Hamer and Moccasin Wallow roads, both of which lead to the interstate.

“All kinds of people are inquiring," Crimi says. "Retirees like Cypress Glen since it’s near a golf community. The other two developments are attracting people from Pinellas County who can no longer afford to live there but will commute instead. Medical communities from St. Petersburg are also inquiring."

“Pinellas and Hillsborough counties are getting more expensive than Manatee County, where there are fewer property taxes and cheaper utilities. The Skyway Bridge is quite busy these days,” he continues.

Not far from all three new home communities, several major development projects in Parrish include a six-story hospital and a new retail plaza called Creekside Commons that's headed to U.S. 301 near Erie Road. Tenants will include Aldi, HomeGoods and Lowes. There’s also a new shopping center called Fort Hamer Crossing that will be built on the southwest corner of Fort Hamer Road and U.S. 301, a new State College of Florida campus, a new middle school and major road-widening projects to facilitate all the added traffic.

“In the next 10 years, it’s really going to explode along that corridor,” Crimi says.