Gated Community Planned Along Lake Sirena

LAKE PLACID - Developer Greg Arnone has one project on hold but is moving ahead with another development on Lake Sirena in Lake Placid.

Arnone said ground will be broken on The Shore Club on Lake Sirena, a gated family community to be built on 71 acres of land next to Lake Placid High School, in three to four months. A couple of model homes should be constructed by Thanksgiving.

The Shore Club will include 166 cottage and 40 lakeside single-family homes, of which 19 are directly on the lake.

The concrete-constructed 3 and 4-bedroom, two bath and two-car garage cottage homes range from 1,790 square feet to 2,439 square feet.

Arnone said, "reasonably priced" homes in the $175,000 to $225,000 range are selling.

"Nobody is doing it in a planned downtown, in-town community," Arnone said. "We feel that is our niche."

Arnone said according to a mailing list company there are 4,500 people between Avon Park and Lake Placid who are renters and earn at least $40,000 a year.

The development will include both a Swim Club and a recreation center. There will be 11 acres of open space and parks and three "bark" parks for pets.

As a promotion for the development, Arnone, president of Arnone Consulting Inc., wants to offer the first 29 cottage homes to Lake Placid's "hometown heroes" special pre-construction prices through March 25. In a press release, he included U.S. military families, policemen, firemen, school teachers, clergy, medical personnel, emergency responders "and all those who provide an essential service to our community."

The other development Arnone is involved in is the Villages on Lake Rachard. He said the project is in a "holding period."

Last year, Heartland National Bank filed a suit against Arnone and Lake Rachard Estates because of defaulting on a $4 million loan.

The developer said the debt of $1.1 million has been paid off.

"We refinanced," Arnone said, noting that it was never in foreclosure.

Regarding the slowdown in the housing market, Arnone said the economy has changed.

"Highlands County got overbuilt in product people couldn't afford," he added.