We hope this message finds you safe and well after Hurricane Milton. While Lakewood Ranch was fortunate to escape the worst of the storm, our hearts go out to those most severely affected on the barrier islands, coastal areas, and in major flood zones. These families face a long and difficult recovery. Links to relief organizations and volunteer opportunities are provided below.

In Lakewood Ranch, county services, the Stewardship District, Town Hall, HOAs, and other entities responsible for community assets and services are actively assessing the impact of Milton on their areas of responsibility. Safety hazards are being prioritized, but we ask for patience. Many of the people working behind the scenes to restore services have been personally affected, with some living in areas harder hit than Lakewood Ranch. Despite these challenges, rest assured that no one is standing still; efforts are ongoing to restore normalcy.

Overall, Lakewood Ranch held up well against this major storm. Services are being reinstated, and many businesses are reopening. The resilience of the Ranch can be attributed in part to Florida’s strong building codes and stormwater management rules, which Lakewood Ranch follows and have evolved over the years to help communities like ours better withstand the impacts of hurricanes like Milton.

The Lakewood Ranch Information Center will be open on Saturday, October 11th. We will share more information about affected areas and planned activities in our town centers in the forthcoming days. Some businesses have reopened, but community members should contact individual businesses to check on their status.

If you notice any specific safety concerns in your neighborhood or home, please reach out directly to your HOA, Town Hall, or the Stewardship District. If you are unaware of who to contact, MyLWR.com is the best resource to find specific information.

Let’s continue to come together as a community, supporting one another and those who were impacted the most.

INFORMATION RESOURCES

www.mymanatee.org/storm or call 311

www.scgov.net or call 211

www.myLWR.com

For Assistance, here a few resources to get you started:

Florida’s State Assistance Information Line: (800)342-3557 or www.floridadisaster.org

FEMA – Meals, water, disaster aid & unemployment relief: www.disasterassistance.gov  or www.fema.gov/drc

United Way – relief resources & daily events

Disaster Legal Hotline – #833-514-2940

Disater Distress Helpline – Call or text 1-800-985-5990

National hotline dedicated to providing year-round disaster crisis counseling

Samaritan’s Purse Hotline – #833-747-1234

Free assistance for homeowners affected by the disaster. Volunteers may be able to assist with removal of personal property and furniture, flood cleanup, sanitizing, chainsaw work, debris cleanup and temporary roof tarping.

Red Cross Hotline – #800-733-2767

Financial, sheltering, reunification and transitional suppor

Florida Baptists Disaster Relief Public Assistance – #904-253-0502

Free Assistance for homeowners affected by the disaster. Volunteers may be able to assist with Storm Debris Cleanup, Temporary Roof Tarping, Chainsaw work and Muck outs

Crisis Cleanup number: 844-965-1386

Assistance is always free and may include: Debris removal, Tree removal, flooded home, mold remediation & more cleanup assistance

Resources for Business Owners:

Manatee Chamber of Commerce: https://www.manateechamber.com/stormrecovery/

Sarasota Chamber of Commerce: https://www.sarasotachamber.com/post-hurricane-resources.html

Volunteer & Donation Opportunities:

Lakewood Ranch Community Fund: list of local volunteering needs from a variety of nonprofits

Manatee Community Foundation Disaster Relief Fund – accepting donations for hurricane relief

Keep Manatee Beautiful – debris clean-up daily from 9 am to 2 pm . Sign up for shifts.

Convoy of Hope at Grace Community Church: Volunteer days at various locations impacted with storm damage.

Bayside Community Church: Disaster Relief Fund

The Center of Anna Maria is collecting supplies, organizing volunteer services and accepting donations for the community. There is also a fund for Gulf Barrier Island Hospitality workers who are out of work due to storm damage.

Meals on Wheels – donate to their food pantries. Volunteer opportunities available.

Healthy Start Coalition of Sarasota County: Donations of diapers, baby wipes, formula, gift cards and new & lightly used children’s clothing for pregnant women, new families and their babies.

Kids Comfort Buckets Donation Drive: To help the children of families who have lost everything from Hurricane Helene & Milton. Collecting hygiene and comfort items. Drop off locations at Influence Style and Barre3 (during business hours), or at Main Street Market on Saturday, 10/19 . Alternative donation options; venmo and amazon wishlist. Details here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/itn2aDvB6dYVBKXf/

Manatee County Government is looking for any and all post-storm recovery services. This includes but is not limited to, debris clean up and hauling, services for clearing roads, temporary housing, utility restoration, mental health services, financial assistance programs, public health services, building inspection services, and community engagement programs. You can find all Vendor Disaster Recovery Services information requirements and forms HERE. Once you have completed all forms, they can be emailed to recovermanatee@mymanatee.org for review and processing. You will be contacted if your services are required. We appreciate your support through this unprecedented time.

Lakewood Ranch accounts for a quarter of all new home construction in Sarasota-Manatee

Derek Gilliam

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Lakewood Ranch has never had construction start on more homes in a 12-month period than the year ending this spring, with the developer of the master-planned community reporting 2,638 housing starts through March.

That was a 55% increase over the comparable period a year earlier and represented one-fourth of all housing starts in Sarasota and Manatee counties, Lakewood Ranch said in a news release.

Laura Cole, senior vice president at Lakewood Ranch, said that before COVID-19 the Sarasota-Manatee area was overlooked and undervalued as a primary home location.

“The pandemic blew the doors off that notion and accelerated relocations to our area from across the U.S,” she said.

Data from Zonda, a national housing research firm, shows North Port-Sarasota-Manatee statistical metropolitan area had 6,982 home starts in 2020. That increased to 10,622 in 2021.

Quarterly data from Zonda for more than 40 metropolitan areas in the U.S. shows the Sarasota-Bradenton area tops in housing starts growth year-over-year, “and now ranks in the top 20 markets nationally in terms of total annual housing starts,” the news release from LWR Communities LLC stated.

So far this year, home starts are up 46% for the metro area as a residential building boom continues throughout the area, said Kristine Smale, a senior vice president at Zonda.

Smale said Lakewood Ranch had positioned itself well to capitalize on the drastic swing in migration seen over the past two years by providing a wide range of homes attractive to retirees as well as people starting families.

“The Sarasota region’s desirable quality of life coupled with highly-ranked schools and a growing job market combine to offer a compelling location for households in all life stages, including young professionals, growing families, empty nesters and retirees,” Smale said.

Lakewood Ranch’s housing starts were “more than triple the new home production volume of runner-up Wellen Park” in North Port, the news release stated.

The master-planned community that stretches across southern Manatee County into northern Sarasota has been named the best selling master-planned community for all ages several years in a row.

Last year, it was the second fastest selling master-planned community in the country behind the age-restricted The Villages in Central Florida.

Lakewood Ranch said 16 builders are operating in the development.

“People are chasing a better quality of life in Florida and looking for a community that delivers a cohesive living experience today,” Cole said. “We are constantly working on how best to accommodate our current and future residents’ interests, needs, and lifestyles.”

Lakewood Ranch’s Dick Vitale to receive the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance

Over the last seven months, the 82-year-old has been successfully treated for melanoma, lymphoma, and underwent vocal cord surgery

Doug Fernandes

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Lakewood Ranch resident and ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale will receive the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at The 2022 ESPYS, to be broadcast live on July 20 at 8 p.m. on ABC.

The award, named after the late Jimmy Valvanvo, is given to a deserving member of the sporting world who has overcome great obstacles through perseverance and determination. Over the last seven months, the 82-year-old has been successfully treated for melanoma, lymphoma, and underwent vocal cord surgery.

“When I received the call from Jimmy Pitaro (ESPN president) about receiving this award, I was absolutely blown away,” Vitale said. “I remember that day almost 30 years ago, when I stood on the stage at the first ESPYS, introduced Jimmy V and witnessed him give that incredible speech we all remember. I reflected on his speech many times during my seven-month battle — ‘don’t give up, don’t ever give up’ — and I remembered my mother and father, who taught me never to believe in ‘can’t.’

“Jimmy V was special and his legacy lives on. I am so grateful to receive this tremendous award in his honor.”

The Jimmy V Award was first handed out at the 2007 ESPYS. The show brings attention to the V Foundation for Cancer Research, named for Valvano, who appeared on the first ESPYS in 1993 and died less than two months later of cancer at age 47.

The 17th Annual Dick Vitale Gala raised a record $11.1 million for pediatric cancer research. It brought the total raised over the 17 galas to nearly $55 million.

For its desirability, quality of life and cost of living, Sarasota was named one of the best places to live in the country by U.S. News & World Report.

The annual rankings, released this week by the media company, put Sarasota at No. 9 on a list of the 150 best places to live in the country, making it the only Florida city to land in the top 10. 

U.S. News & World Report describes Sarasota as having “a distinct vibe that’s different from Florida’s relative coastal cities, with its own vibrant arts scene, beachy atmosphere, and burgeoning food culture.”

“This metro area of just over 800,000 people has a renowned opera house, a number of rooftop bars and the popular beach of Siesta Key,” the magazine wrote. “What makes the region special is its duality – downtown Sarasota boasts resorts and fine dining, but strolling Siesta Key Village or St. Armands Circle offers a more intimate, seaside ambience.”

The rankings are determined based on several factors developed by the media company – quality of life; job market; desirability, which asks if people want to move to a place; net migration, which determines if people are actually already moving somewhere and value, which includes cost of living. 

Home affordability and quality of life were also more important than ever this year in the rankings because of the voracity of the national housing market, according to U.S. News. 

That did have some impact on the ratings overall, moving Huntsville, Alabama, from No. 3 to No. 1 on the list, despite it having a lower desirability ranking on the lower side of the 150 places ranked. 

Despite Sarasota’s skyrocketing housing costs, it stayed in the same spot – ninth place – as last year.

Other Florida cities on the list included Naples (No. 12), Melbourne (No. 20), Jacksonville (No. 24), Tampa (No. 39), Pensacola (No. 44), Daytona Beach (No. 68), Port St. Lucie (No. 78), Ocala (No. 91), Fort Myers (No. 100), Tallahassee (No. 110), Lakeland (No. 113), Orlando (No. 118) and Miami (No. 137).

Just last month, Sarasota was also ranked by the magazine as the No. 1 place to retire in the U.S. for the second year in a row. It’s also the third fastest-growing place in the country, according to the magazine. 

 

Laura Finaldi

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

We’re Here for you!

Whether online or in person, the Lakewood Ranch Information Center is here to help you on your home search. Here are all the ways you can connect with us.

 

Virtual Appointments

Our Community Specialists can now give you the same presentation online that they would give you at the Information Center, tailored to your interests and questions. We’ll even email model passes and a customized route to you so you can go straight to the villages you’d like to visit.

Schedule Today

 

Onsite Appointments

If you would like to visit in person, our Information Center is also open. Appointments are strongly recommended as we will be limiting the number of people allowed inside for everyone’s safety. Drop-ins are welcome, but please be aware that there will likely be a wait outside until we can accommodate you.

Important information

• Please be sure you have a mask, as it will be required for entry.
• Parking is located behind the building, as most of Main Street has been turned into a pedestrian walkway to allow more seating capacity for our restaurants.

Schedule Today

 

Available Daily:

Monday-Saturday 10:00am to 5:30pm, Sunday 12:00pm to 5:00pm

Lakewood Ranch Information Center on Main Street:

8131 Lakewood Main Street

Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202

800-307-2624

Info@LakewoodRanch.com

April 2, 2020
Dear Lakewood Ranch Residents and Visitors,

As we continue to follow state guidelines to safeguard the health and wellness of
the Lakewood Ranch community, we will temporarily be closing our Information
Center on Main Street through April 30, 2020.

However, we are still available by phone or online to answer any questions you
have about living at Lakewood Ranch and to help you with your new home search.

Please reach out to our team of Community Specialists at 941-907-6000, by email
at info@lakewoodranch.com or via chat on our website.

We wish you health and safety in this challenging time, and we’ll continue to
update you about any changes to our operations.

Sincerely,
Lakewood Ranch