Lake County’s most expensive and exclusive golf resort community is growing.
DCS Capital Investments LLC has filed plans to expand the Bella Collina luxury gated community by developing Montverde Estates, a proposed single-family community set to rise just north of the Bella Collina site along County Road 455 in Montverde.
Filing construction plans with the St. Johns River Water Management last week, the West Palm Beach-based developer is looking to develop Montverde Estates as a 102-unit single-family community located on 67.57 acres between Ridgewood Avenue and County Road 455.
Homes in Bella Collina generally sell for $2 million and up for luxury production-built homes and $5-6 million for custom homes.
In a unique setup, the expansion property — Montverde Estates — will be located within the City of Montverde while Bella Collina remains in unincorporated Lake County, leading to separate filings with the water management district.
DCS filed separate construction plans for Montverde Estates and the proposed ‘Montverde Connector Road’, which would extend the Ravenna Court cul-de-sac within Bella Collina up to the southwest corner of the proposed Montverde Estate property.
A majority of the Montverde Estate property was included with the DCS Investment Holdings’ $10 million purchase of the indebted Bella Collina property in 2012.
The manager for DCS Capital Investments is listed as Stratphire Holdings Inc., a business entity operated by The Club at Bella Collina president Spencer Schar.
Schar is the son of Dwight Schar, a founder and former executive chairman of NVR, Inc., one of the largest U.S. homebuilders and parent company of both Ryan Homes and NVHomes.
Spencer Schar was one of the original developers of Bella Collina, and his father developed the adjacent Siena at Bella Collina resort hotel on Lake Siena.
Schar is eyeing more than just residential expansion for Bella Collina, securing an incentive grant to develop a proposed $66.9 million boutique hotel on Lake Siena earlier this year.
The Lake County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the grant for Schar’s company, The Hotel Siena Holdings LLC, in February.
Planned on approximately four acres along County Road 455 near Bella Collina, next to the Siena at Bella Collina vacation condos, the proposed boutique hotel is set to contain 100 rooms and a conference center.
Of the 100 rooms planned for the hotel, 70 will be standard guest rooms and the other 30 will be suites. The suites will be broken down into 22 luxury suites, four executive suites and four presidential suites.
The hotel will be managed by The Club at Bella Collina, but will not have memberships and will be open to the public.
Also in Montverde, national homebuilder Richmond American Homes recently closed on the $28.5 million purchase of 137 entitled single-family lots for development of its proposed The Point at Montebella community.
Located on the western edge of Lake Apopka, east of Kirk Island Lane and north of Oscgood Road, the planned community is set to rise on 111.4 acres purchased by Richmond American in June.
Richmond American bought the property from Sarasota-based Paramount Development, operating as Montverde Landco LLC.
The Point at Montebella will be designed as a resort-style environment centered around a cabana and pool that will function as the neighborhood’s social hub.
Supporting amenities include a playground, event lawn, shaded pocket parks and a landscaped linear park to promote outdoor living and connection.
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