DAYTONA BEACH — The New York Times recently reported that “The Future of Aging Just Might be in Margaritaville,” but for residents of this fast-growing active adult community, the future has already arrived.
On Thursday, representatives of Chicago-based 55places.com presented the developer of Latitude Margaritaville Daytona Beach with an award as the nation’s most popular 55-and-older community in 2018.
The award comes on the heels of Latitude Margaritaville Daytona Beach’s inclusion in another industry ranking of the nation’s top 50 master-planned communities of 2018.
The community going up on the north side of LPGA Boulevard, just west of Interstate 95, last year sold 412 homes, with roughly half built to date.
“It’s more than we expected, which was around 350,” said Bill Bullock, president of developer Minto Communities’ Latitude Margaritaville division.
Latitude Margaritaville welcomed its first residents in March 2018 and is now home to more than 400.
“In the morning, I’ll wake up and pinch my husband to make sure we’re not dreaming,” said Donna Waryga, 62, who moved to Latitude Margaritaville from the Philadelphia area with her husband Walt, 66, in November.
“It has been way beyond our wildest expectations,” the self-employed travel agent who works out of her home said of living in the Jimmy Buffett-themed active adult community.
Waryga said the opportunity to live near the beach and the planned amenities, including a residents-only town center and private beach club were what initially appealed her and her husband.
But what they have found they enjoy most about living at Latitude Margaritaville are the other residents.
“The people, we love everybody on our street. We feel the camaraderie,” she said, adding that they typically wind up chatting extensively with neighbors whenever they pick up their mail and enjoy going on organized outings including bowling at Ormond Lanes or Happy Hour visits to nearby restaurants such as Bahama Breeze or 31 Supper Club.
“We’re not Parrotheads (fans of Buffett’s music),” she said, adding that she and her husband have never even been to a concert by the singer-songwriter whose 1977 tune “Margaritaville” serves as the chief inspiration for Latitude Margaritaville.
Latitude Margaritaville resident Tiffany Moen, 52, who moved in with her husband Eric, 56, in October, also said living at the 55-and-older community has been better than they had hoped, “and then some.”
“I feel like we all won the lottery,” said Moen, who works part-time as a front desk receptionist for the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce.
“There’s such a sense of community and people wanting to get to know each other,” said Moen, who relocated with her husband from Athens, Georgia.
Moen said she and her husband are frequently invited to neighbors’ homes for get- togethers.
She added that they also have been impressed with the quality of the houses.
“They are very well built and have such a beautiful tropical feel. And if there’s something that needs attending to, someone is on it right away,” she said of living in the maintenance-free community.
While Latitude Margaritaville already has an activities director on staff who regularly organizes outings for residents, construction is well underway on the first phase of the community’s town center, which will include a resort-style pool, a “Latitude Bar & Chill” restaurant with an indoor/outdoor bar, a “Fins Up!” fitness center, and a “Latitude Town Square” that will include a bandshell stage for live music, an 18-foot-wide video screen to show televised concerts and sporting events, and a cushioned dance floor.
The initial phase, which will also include seven pickleball and three tennis courts, is on track to open in May, with a second phase planned that will include a “Workin’ N’ Playin’ Center that will include arts-and-crafts facilities as well as a business center, pet spa and golf cart customization workshop.
Set to begin construction possibly as soon as mid-year is a planned residents-only private beach club in Ormond-by-the-Sea which will be accessible via a continuously operating loop shuttle bus. The beach club is expected to open in 2020, said Bullock.
Also in the works is a Publix-anchored neighborhood shopping center next to the community’s entrance at the intersection of LPGA Boulevard and the new south extension of Tymber Creek Road.
Unlike the residents-only Latitude Margaritaville town center, the Latitude Landing shopping center, which is being developed by Sutton Development, will be open to the public and is expected to open by mid- to late 2020.
On Thursday, a construction crew could be seen working on the foundation for the planned Publix supermarket.
“Latitude Margaritaville has set itself above and beyond,” said Todd Warshauer, vice president of sales for 55places.com, who presented the award to Bullock.
Latitude Margaritaville was chosen because of the high volume of traffic it generated on the 55places.com website as well as the number of homes sold last year and the community’s planned amenities and overall concept, he said.
Bullock said he expects sales at Latitude Margaritaville to accelerate when the first phase of the town center opens.
Also set to open in May will be 10 “Stay-and-Play” houses at Latitude Margaritaville where prospective homebuyers “can come down for a nominal fee and stay for two to three nights to try out the community,” Bullock said.