The complete Lakewood Ranch guide

Lakewood Ranch is the best-selling master-planned community in the United States, ranked #1 in new-home sales for multiple consecutive years. It spans roughly 33,000 acres across Sarasota and Manatee counties and is now home to more than 80,000 residents across 40+ distinct villages, with A-rated schools and one of the most connected trail systems in Florida.

It’s about two-thirds built out, with years of development still ahead, and it remains privately owned by the Uihlein family, no builder seats on the board, so the long-term vision stays intact. From townhomes in the $200s to estates north of $7M, there’s a fit for nearly every investment level and life stage, all built on a Nature First philosophy with 46% of the land permanently protected as green space, guaranteed never to shrink.

This site tracks 52 Lakewood Ranch communities, 23 of them new construction, 21 selling now. These figures are computed from the same community records as the Lakewood Ranch fee guide and community pages, not typed into this guide.

17 builders are named across the new-construction communities, including Lennar, John Cannon Homes, Lee Wetherington Homes, Neal Communities, Pulte Homes and Ryan Homes, and 11 more.

Estimated yearly HOA plus CDD has a median of $5,900 across the 39 communities with fee estimates on file, from about $700 at Avalon Woods to about $14,600 at Esplanade Golf and Country Club. 10% of them show no CDD and 97% sit fully in FEMA flood zone X. These are estimates and change with each budget.