Jimmy Buffett-Inspired Senior Community Eyes South Florida

Those over-40 victims of fate may eventually have a chance to waste away in Margaritaville somewhere in South Florida: A Canadian homebuilder is looking to expand its Jimmy Buffett-inspired senior living mixed-use development portfolio to the region.

Minto Group — in a JV with the Margaritaville Holdings brand conglomerate — is planning its first active senior community, called Latitude Margaritaville, in Daytona Beach with more than 6,500 duplex and single-family homes at more than $1B once built out. But it won't be its last. Minto is eyeing sites throughout South Florida and the Southeast for future communities catering to the 55-plus crowd, Minto senior vice president William Bullock said.

“I can tell you we're working on another large community of 3,000 units outside of Florida,” Bullock said, but he declined to identify where. And, yes, Buffett's home turf of South Florida is part of its growth plans, but no site has been selected as of press time.

Daytona's Latitude Margaritaville will be mixed-use, with a 35k SF recreation center that will include an aerobics studio, an indoor lap pool, a spa and a number of restaurants. But the focus will be live music and entertainment in the town center, Bullock said. 

Margaritaville Holdings operates a number of resorts and casinos as well as restaurants. Minto has a number of different residential, mixed-use and commercial projects in Florida and Canada, including Harbour Isle in Bradenton and Artesia in Sunrise. This is not Minto's first foray into senior lifestyle communities, either.

It developed Isles of Collier Preserve outside Downtown Naples, a 1,600-home, single-family, 55-plus community. But unlike Isles, where price points begin at $300k and can go beyond $1M, Bullock said Latitudes Margaritaville will focus on a customer searching for homes from the low $200ks to the mid-$300ks.