What is The Villages?

The Villages dominates the area, and merits a description. It is the world's largest retirement community and the largest residential construction project in the country. It is located in three counties: Lake, Marion and Sumter.

25,000 total acres of land (Disney World has 27,000 acres).

Population is about 85,000, as of December, 2009, with 102,119 projected by the year 2012. It currently has more residents than the Florida cities of Ft. Myers, Kissimmee, Ocala, Coral Gables, Brandenton, Pensacola, Sarasota, Daytona Beach, Deerfield Beach, Deltona, Boyton Beach, Melbourne, Boca Raton, Lakeland, Plantation, Pompano Beach, and W. Palm Beach.

an average of 20 people move in every day. Average homebuyer age: 62 yrs - men, 60 yrs - women.

2 million rounds of golf played per year by Villagers. Pickleball, bocce, and a host of other activities are available. It boasts a top-of-the-line Wellness Center, and our own hospital. Polo is played in season on one of the many polo fields.

the preferred method of transportation is by golf cart, which travel on 84 miles of recreation trails, plus all local streets.

at completion: 3 town centers; 35 executive and 12 championship golf courses; 59 neighborhood recreation centers, 21 village centers and 9 regional centers; 61 postal centers, 69 heated pools, and 56,000 homes. There is a K-12 Charter School system for children of employees who serve the Villages.

Three ZIP Codes: 32159, 32162 and 34491.

Average home price in 2007: $257,000.

All homes are detached single-family.

2010 Statistics

The majority of our Club members are retirees who live in The Villages and nearby retirement communities. Of course, some of our Club members are not retirees and some do not live in The Villages.

The Villages is a great place for car collectors. The ideal home is one with a two car garage and a golf cart garage. Most of us only need one modern car, so the second space is available for your vintage car. The essential golf cart has it's own space in this home setup.

Because of it's size The Villages attracts plenty of infrastructure (medical, shopping, entertainment, restaurants, worship, etc.), and most are golf cart-accessible..

There are over 1,400 clubs in The Villages and many more, like ours, who welcome everyone in the area. If you have an interest, there is probably a club for it. If not, you can start your own!

The article below gives an overview from a business investment perspective:

The Villages is a Retail Safe Haven

Business Wire, May 6, 2008

Recession Proof Retirement Income Supports Largest Growing Community in the U.S.

THE VILLAGES, Fla. -- In spite of the national home building crisis, The Villages sold over 2,400 homes last year and gained 5,000 new residents. This brought the total population to almost 70,000, which is larger than Daytona Beach.

"This year is running even stronger than last year," said Gary Morse, CEO of The Villages. "We are averaging 7 1/2 homes a day, 7 days a week! This will make The Villages about the size of Melbourne by the end of this year."

The Villages is a self contained Active Retirement Community with 80 restaurants, 4 hotels, 2 movie theaters, 2 town centers, 8 shopping centers, 2.5 million sq ft of retail and commercial space, a daily newspaper, TV news network, radio station, hospital, 225 physicians, 15 pharmacies, 9 softball fields, 187 softball teams with 2,800 players, 42 neighborhood swimming pools at 42 recreation centers and 441 holes of golf in 9 country clubs and 24 executive courses.

Now that the building crisis has spread to commercial real estate, retailers and restaurateurs are moving to The Villages because of continuing growth of affluent retirees. The average Villages' household has a recession proof income of $81,480.

Golf carts are a prime mode of transportation in The Villages. There are 35,873 homes in The Villages, (growing at a rate of 7 1/2 per day) and 37,769 golf carts. Some homes have more than one cart.

They are fun to drive at a leisurely retirement pace and with gasoline approaching $4, it's nice to know you are traveling for about 6 cents a mile. With 85 miles of golf cart trails, everything in The Villages from the hospital to Target to theaters and restaurants are as accessible by golf cart as they are by automobiles.

Crossman & Company handles the retail leasing for The Villages, FL including the town centers of "Lake Sumter Landing", "Spanish Springs", plus the "Buffalo Ridge" and "Bellaire" shopping centers. The Villages is the largest single-site mixed-use real estate development in the U.S. and currently home to major retail and restaurant tenants including: Publix, Fresh Market, Wal-Mart, McDonald's, Barnes & Noble, Belk, Bealls, Bonefish Grill, Panera Bread, Starbucks, Sweet Bay, TGI Friday's, Chico's, Ruby Tuesday's, Target, Outback, Carrabas, Bass, Izod, JoS. A. Bank and Red Lobster.