Field of possibilities for new development called The Heights

When development company Taylor Morrison set out to buy a roughly 200-acre parcel off Honore Avenue from the city of Bradenton, one of the biggest site challenges seemed to be a pile of dirt estimated to be several hundred thousand cubic yards in size.

Neither it nor other developers looking at the property knew quite what to do with it. But Taylor Morrison bought the land anyway in August 2018 and as its leaders pondered what to do with the pile, they thought about a similar mound in Sarasota County — the Celery Fields.

“Our team really enjoys the outdoors. We said, ‘Let’s make something out of it,’” said Cammie Longenecker, division president for Taylor Morrison Southwest Florida. “It actually is a neat feature. I think it’s going to create an opportunity for hiking and exercise. You could have yoga at the top of the hill.”

And so, Sarasota County’s hilliest park has inspired the look and feel of Taylor Morrison’s newest community, The Heights.

Located just west of the Evers Reservoir (also known as Ward Lake) and north of Honore Avenue, The Heights will comprise  two separate neighborhoods.

The first will be Taylor Morrison’s signature Esplanade resort lifestyle community, but in a boutique version with no golf course. Called Esplanade at The Heights, it will have about 260 units in a lifestyle-centric community. Features include a resort-style pool and spa, fitness center, a cabana area, lighted tennis, pickle ball and bocce ball courts, a dog park and special events, parties and gatherings planned just for residents.

The second community, called Grandview at The Heights, will have about 170 homesites and amenities such as a pool and cabana area, a splash park and a basketball park. It will not have a facilitated lifestyle like Esplanade, but instead will capitalize on proximity and views of Ward Lake to the east and its low homeowner association fees.

The communities will share an entrance off Honore Avenue, but will be separated primarily by the hill itself. Both will be private and gated, and there is no community development district, Longenecker said.

The hill, which likely will get a name, will be the key amenity shared between both communities, Longenecker said.

Longenecker said Taylor Morrison is completing site work for The Heights. It expects to start constructing model homes in the second quarter. Model homes would likely open in the third quarter.