Neal Communities is celebrating the sale of the last new home in the 1,151-unit Boca Royale Golf & Country Club development on Oct. 22, while preparing to build 825 new homes in Boca Royale at Wellen Park, also in south Sarasota County.
Both communities are adjacent to Wellen Park in North Port, with Boca Royale at Wellen Park scheduled to be one of the first communities to be built on land commonly referred to as Winchester Ranch.
Pat Neal, founder and presidentof Neal Communities, and a partner bought the Boca Royale Golf & Country Club in 2012 and effectively transformed the community.
In 2024, Neal Communities celebrated the complete renovation of the 18-hole golf course, which was redesigned by golf course architect Gordy Lewis with construction
completed by Creekridge Construction Group.
Neal, in a prepared statement, noted that the community had 286 lots when it was purchased.
“Today, this wonderfully restored community has 1,151,” he added. “Not only have we built 865 lots over the past decade, but we’re also excited to be adding another 825 units by the end of 2029 in order to serve the rapidly growing demand for high-quality housing in the greater Tampa area.”
Where will future homes be built?
The 825 homes will be in Boca Royale at Wellen Park, a separate community formerly known as Boca Royale East, built on 507 acres that will have its own recreation center.
Plans also call for it to connect with the existing development through an extension of Boca Royale Boulevard from the country club into the new development and in subsequent phases to Preto Boulevard.
Neal noted that Boca Royale Boulevard should connect to Preto Boulevard in 2028 or 2029.
The development is not part of the Winchester Ranch acreage the city of North Port may annex.
What is the history of Boca Royale?
The golf course community was initially built around the Englewood Golf and Country Club.
The first nine holes of that course were built in 1966 on a portion of 1,008 acres purchased by F. Riker Clark in 1956.
After his death, Clark’s widow added nine more holes to the course.
A housing community started in 1972, with the development purchased in 1976 by Tampa architect George Thompson.
It was renamed Boca Royale in 1995.
Thompson had planned to further develop the community before his death in 2007.
Neal Communities purchased the property, which, in 2012, included roughly 500 vacant lots.
Boca Royale is one of several communities between Venice and North Port that is marketed along with Wellen Park but not actually part of that master-planned community.
Earle Kimel primarily covers local governments in Sarasota County as well as land development and environmental issues for the Herald-Tribune. Follow him on Facebook and X. He can be reached by email at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Neal Communities plans 825 new homes in Sarasota County
