The December 2015 issue of Florida Trend magazine has an interesting article about a handful of niche retirement communities in Florida.
Unfortunately the article isn't available on-line unless you're a FloridaTrend subscriber, but Uncle Ryan here has your back 😉
Here's a look at some unique and interesting Florida retirement communities geared towards very specific types of people and interests.
ShantiNiketan
Sanskrit for “abode of peace”, ShantiNiketan is a 55+ condo community located in Tavares (outside of Orlando) geared towards Indian immigrants.
The community opened in 2011 with 54 independent living condos and quickly added another 120 units selling for between $160,000 and $200,000 each. The developer, an Indian immigrant himself, has plans to expand the concept to other states like California, Illinois, New Jersey and Texas.
Residents are drawn to “great Indian food”, yoga, Bollywood movies, and more.
According to the Founder, “You get to live among other Indians in your own age group and share stories about growing up in India.”
You can learn more about this interesting concept on their website.
Lake Weir Preserve
You may have seen me mention Lake Weir Preserve here before. It's definitely a unique community in that their target market is “toy lovers” … retirees who own RV's, motorcycles, boats, classic cars, and other toys.
See the problem with most retirement communities is that they won't let you build enough garage space to keep all those toys at your house, so most people have to resort to renting storage space off property.
But at Lake Weir Preserve, many of the garages are actually bigger than the houses themselves. Homes start in the $200,000's and can go up sharply from there depending on what all you want in it.
Besides the custom houses and garages, there aren't any amenities here like you see in other communities, BUT there are also no HOA fees, which is a plus for some.
Check their website for more information.
Oak Hammock
Founded in the late 90's by the University of Florida, Oak Hammock is a non-profit community designed to attract former students.
According to the article, about half of the residents are former students, faculty, or staff of the University of Florida.
The community stays around 95% full and in order to get in you have to pay an entry fee ranging from $100,000 for a small apartment, up to more than $600,000 for a roughly 2,300 sq. ft. house.
Retirees moving to college towns is a big trend these days and residents of Oak Hammock quoted in the article say that attending sporting events and sitting in on lectures by UF professors are some of the things they like the most about Oak Hammock.
Check out their website for more information.
Nalcrest
I've written about Nalcrest here on the blog before.
Located an hour outside of Orlando in Polk County, its a community for retired letter carriers. In fact, only about 10% of residents were not USPS employees.
Nalcrest contains about 500 apartments that range in price from $365 to just over $500 a month, and residents enjoy amenities such as a pool, softball fields, tennis courts, and more.
Sound like this is right up your alley? That's too bad because you can't get in right away…they have a waiting list of a few dozen people ahead of you.
Penney Retirement Community
The founder of JC Penney started this community in the 1920's for retired church workers.
Unfortunately, Penney lost control of the community in the 1929 stock market crash but the community is still thriving today.
It no longer is just “retired church workers” but still aims to attract Christians with an interest in volunteering and giving back.
One person quoted in the article said “Everybody is Christian, but from 26 denominations. That can lead to some interesting discussions.”
This community is also a non-profit, and entry fees range from around $40,000 to nearly $300,000 depending on the size of apartment or house you desire.
To learn more, visit their website.
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