5 Luxury New-Home Communities to Watch in Lakewood Ranch | 2026
Updated: Aug 26
Lakewood Ranch isn't one luxury market — it's a collection of very different new-home lifestyles. Golf, resort amenities, custom estates, larger homesites, waterfront settings, and low-maintenance living can all look very different from one community to the next.
In 2026, several communities are particularly worth watching, from the bundled golf lifestyle of Calusa Country Club to the estate-scale homes of Monterey and the custom-builder lineup at Wild Blue. Whether you're looking in the $500Ks or considering a $2M+ residence, understanding how these communities differ can make the search much easier.
Here are the top five Lakewood Ranch communities that stand out right now — and what type of buyer each one may suit best.
Calusa Country Club — Lennar’s Newest Bundled Golf Village
If there's one community that stands out for buyers who want a true country-club lifestyle without purchasing a separate golf membership, it's Calusa Country Club. Lennar's gated village is built around a bundled membership that gives residents access to two Gordon Lewis-designed courses: an 18-hole championship course and Lakewood Ranch's only 12-hole executive short course, along with an aqua driving range and putting green.
The amenity campus delivers a full resort experience, with a clubhouse featuring a restaurant and bar, resort-style pool, wellness and aquatics center, tennis and pickleball courts, and spaces for socializing and gathering. A Lifestyle Director helps organize activities and events, adding the built-in social component that many buyers are looking for in a country-club community.
Calusa offers a broad range of home types, from condos and attached villas to single-family homes, with current pricing ranging from the high $200Ks for condos to the $900Ks for larger single-family residences. Current home offerings range from approximately 1,120 to 3,025 square feet.
The bottom line: Calusa is particularly compelling for buyers who want golf, dining, wellness, racquet sports, and a built-in social calendar bundled into one community — without stepping immediately into the $1M+ price range of some of Lakewood Ranch's newer luxury enclaves.
Star Farms — Resort Living at Massive Scale
Star Farms has evolved into one of Lakewood Ranch's largest and most diverse residential villages, now spanning approximately 1,300 acres with about 2,800 homes. The gated community combines resort-style amenities with an unusually broad range of housing, from townhomes and low-maintenance villas to large single-family and custom residences exceeding $3 million.
The community's expansion into Saddlestone adds another 570+ acres and approximately 1,300 homesites, extending Star Farms well beyond its original footprint. That expansion is no longer simply on the drawing board: new builder offerings and model homes are already being introduced, including Homes by WestBay and Perry Homes.
For buyers interested in the upper end of the community, the builder lineup is particularly noteworthy. Homes by WestBay offers single-family residences reaching into the $3M+ range, Perry Homes currently offers homes into the $2M+ range, and John Cannon Homes offers custom residences from approximately $1.8M to $3M+.
Why it stands out: Star Farms is a strong fit for buyers who want the scale and amenity package of a major master-planned village, but don't necessarily want to give up the option of a substantial luxury or custom residence.
Monterey at Lakewood Ranch — Estate-Scale Luxury
Monterey at Lakewood Ranch is already an established Toll Brothers community, but its newest offering is the one luxury buyers should be watching. The Egret Collection, scheduled to open in Fall 2026, introduces an estate-scale tier with oversized 90-foot homesites and expansive one- and two-story residences ranging from approximately 4,320 to more than 5,800 square feet.
The collection is designed for buyers looking for substantial living space, with 4–5 bedrooms, 4.5–5.5 bathrooms, 3–4 car garages, and homesites offering preserve and lakefront views. Toll Brothers currently lists anticipated pricing from the $1.9 million range, with extensive personalization available through its Design Studio.
Egret will also benefit from Monterey's planned private amenity package, including a future resort-style pool, cabanas, fitness center, yoga room, golf simulator, playground, tennis and pickleball courts, and other recreational spaces. The broader Monterey community is already home to Ardenna and Shearwater collections, giving buyers a range of price points and home sizes within the same gated setting.
Why it stands out: Egret is particularly compelling for buyers who want a new-construction residence with the scale and homesite dimensions of an estate property, but prefer the streamlined experience and personalization options of a major luxury builder.
Waterside at Lakewood Ranch — Where Lifestyle Meets the Lake
No discussion of Lakewood Ranch’s newest developments is complete without highlighting Waterside — LWR’s first village in Sarasota County, built around seven lakes and centered on the award-winning Waterside Place town center.
With a farmers market, waterfront dining, live events, and a vibrant 36-acre lakefront retail district, Waterside has a walkable, village-feel that sets it apart from the rest of the Ranch. Several communities here are actively building out and worth serious attention.
Wild Blue at Waterside — Custom Luxury Meets Resort Living
For buyers who want a more bespoke luxury experience, Wild Blue at Waterside occupies a category of its own. The 505-home, 550-acre community combines a waterfront setting with a six-builder luxury lineup: Anchor Builders, AR Homes by Arthur Rutenberg, John Cannon Homes, Lee Wetherington Homes, STOCK Custom Homes, and STOCK Luxury Homes. That gives buyers something relatively unusual in a master-planned community — the ability to compare distinctly different builder philosophies and levels of customization within the same neighborhood.
Homes range from roughly 2,400 square feet to more than 4,500 square feet, with current offerings extending from around $1 million into the $4M+ range for custom residences. The community also offers a resort-inspired lifestyle, with a private clubhouse under construction that is expected to open in Fall 2026, plus the already-open Midway Sports Complex with tennis, pickleball, basketball, and other recreational amenities.
What makes Wild Blue particularly compelling is the combination of builder choice, larger homesites, natural surroundings, and access to Waterside Place. It's a strong fit for buyers who want the convenience of a master-planned community but don't want their new home to feel like a standardized production build.
Why it stands out: Wild Blue is one of Lakewood Ranch's strongest options for buyers seeking a custom or semi-custom luxury residence — particularly those who value the ability to choose both their homesite and their builder.
Shellstone at Waterside — From Low-Maintenance Living to Custom Luxury
Shellstone brings a more flexible approach to Waterside living, with everything from low-maintenance attached villas to custom residences. Developed by Homes by Towne, the community offers an active, nature-inspired lifestyle with trails, parks, a Lifestyle Director, and 13 acres of recreation at the Midway Sports Complex. Its location also puts residents close to the dining, entertainment, and events at Waterside Place.
The builder lineup creates an unusually broad range of options within one community. Homes by Towne offers attached villas starting in the high $400s and single-family homes extending into the $1M+ range, while Lee Wetherington Homes brings a true luxury custom option, with current custom residences starting around $2 million.
For buyers who want more space and customization without giving up the convenience of a maintenance-included community, Shellstone is an interesting middle ground. You can start with a lower-maintenance villa or move into a substantial single-family residence — and, at the upper end, work with a respected Sarasota luxury builder on a fully custom home.
Why it stands out: Shellstone offers one of the more unusual combinations in Lakewood Ranch — Waterside lifestyle, maintenance-included living, and access to both production and custom-home options within the same community.
Also Worth Watching: Emerald Landing at Waterside
If your priority is the Waterside lifestyle rather than a large luxury residence, Emerald Landing deserves a look. David Weekley Homes offers both townhomes and single-family homes, with current pricing ranging from the $500Ks into the $1M+ range. The community is designed around a lower-maintenance lifestyle, making it particularly appealing to buyers who want to spend more time enjoying the amenities and less time maintaining a large property.
The standout feature is its connection to the water. Emerald Landing has its own boat dock and water taxi service to Waterside Place, giving residents convenient access to the area's restaurants, shops, entertainment, and events without always getting in the car. Within the community, residents also have access to a resort-style pool with lap lanes and cabanas, pickleball, a dog park, fire pit, entertainment lawn, and walking and jogging paths.
Why it stands out: Emerald Landing is a compelling choice for buyers who want the social and waterfront lifestyle of Waterside, but prefer a lower-maintenance home and a more accessible price point than the custom-luxury communities elsewhere in the village.
Why Now Is Still a Good Time to Buy
Lakewood Ranch continues to expand at a remarkable pace, with new villages, builders, amenities, and infrastructure reshaping the market across the community. The Southeast expansion alone encompasses more than 2,200 acres and is planned for thousands of additional homes, while new roads and other infrastructure projects continue to keep pace with growth.
For buyers focused on new construction, the opportunity isn't simply about timing the broader market — it's about choosing the right stage of a community's development. Early phases can offer greater homesite selection and, depending on the builder and release, access to introductory pricing or incentives. But buyers should also weigh those advantages against the reality that amenities, landscaping, and surrounding development may still be taking shape.
That makes 2026 an interesting moment to explore Lakewood Ranch. Calusa Country Club is actively selling, Monterey's estate-scale Egret Collection is approaching its Fall 2026 opening, and Wild Blue's private clubhouse is under construction. Buyers don't have to wait for these communities to be fully built to participate — but they should understand exactly what is available today, what is coming next, and how pricing and homesite availability may change as each community matures.
Whether you're drawn to bundled golf, resort-style amenities, custom architecture, or estate-sized homesites, Lakewood Ranch offers several very different paths to new-construction living. The key is finding the community — and the builder — that fits the way you actually want to live.
Interested in touring any of these communities? Reach out — I’d love to walk you through what’s available and help you find the right fit. - Audra Lane, REALTOR®, CIPS, RSPS | Preferred SHORE
Connect: https://linktr.ee/AudraByTheSea
© 2026 Audra by the Sea | Audra Lane, LLC
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