Capri Isle Will Put The Finishing Touches On Cory Lake Isles

By Matt Wiley

Construction will soon begin on model homes in a section of Cory Lake Isles that has lain vacant for years.

The last parcel of land in Cory Lake Isles, the 27 acres known as Phase 7, will be developed by Kolter Land Partners (KLP), part of the Palm Beach County-based Kolter Group, and will be known as Capri Isle.

However, unlike the many lavish communities inside Cory Lake Isles, many of which feature large homes on enormous lots, Capri Isle will feature 115 single-family homes, ranging from 1,700-2,900-sq.-ft., on lots that were originally planned for townhomes. The Capri Isle parcel has been sitting vacant since 2006.

“(Capri Isle) will be a great addition to the community,” says KLP president Jim Harvey. “This is the last group of lots in Cory Lake Isles. The local housing market seems like it has turned over. We expect a lot of interest.”

Harvey says that the homes will not necessarily be that much smaller than others in Cory Lake—although many homes in the community are more than 4,000 sq. ft.—but that they definitely will be closer together. He explains that the lots that the homes will be built on are a combination of two townhome lots, which measure just more than 50 feet wide and about 80 feet deep.

Homes in Capri Isle will be constructed by Ryan Homes, which recently has moved into the Tampa market after building homes in Orlando and Pinellas County. These single-family homes will be either three or four bedrooms and will average in the mid-$200,000s, with model construction in April or May and sales beginning as early as this summer.

“Cory Lake Isles is a beautiful community that is well-established,” Harvey says. “New Tampa continues to attract new home demand. We believe that this is a high-demand price point (for this area).”

Harvey says that in addition to Capri Isle, Kolter also will see to the construction of a new resort-style pool for all of Cory Lake Isles, featuring paver decks and a luxurious bathhouse, as well as a waterslide.

Cory Lake CDD vice-chair Vicki Castro says that community response to the announcement of Capri Isle has been mostly positive, although, she says, “there always is going to be a vocal minority.”

The positive response partly is due to the promise of a community pool, but also because Kolter is helping settle the community’s debt that it has been struggling with for several years.

Several years ago, Avatar Homes purchased the remaining empty lots in Cory Lake Isles from original developer and founder Gene Thomason. However, despite the planned townhome development, Avatar walked away from Cory Lake Isles and left the community with the bill for the bonds it could no longer pay. The community has been struggling financially ever since.

Harvey explains that Kolter purchased the undeveloped Phase 7 property through a tax deed, due to unpaid assessments and defaulted bonds left from Avatar.

“The CDD had a lot of debt associated with it,” Harvey says. “We bought the (Capri Isle) property and restructured the debt.”

Castro says that Kolter brought a creative financial plan to the table to get Cory Lake Isles out of debt and that one bond even will be paid off a year ahead of schedule.

As part of the deal, which was finalized in November, a traffic light also will be put up at the Cross Creek Blvd. entrance to Cory Lake, something that was supposed to be done when the Cory Lake Professional Center was originally constructed.

“The Kolter deal was a win-win for everyone,” Castro says.

For more information about Capri Lake at Cory Lake Isles and Ryan Homes, call (855) 374-4954.