Toll Brothers planning to build 223 homes on 122 acres in Boca Raton, Florida, with sales expected to begin in spring; homes will include four-seven bedrooms, three- or four-car garages

Allison Oesterle

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida , September 30, 2013 (South Florida Sun Sentinel) – Luxury builder Toll Brothers' plan for 122 acres in Boca Raton includes a gated community of million-dollar-plus homes with mahogany front doors and big back yards.

The 223 homes in Royal Palm Polo off Jog and Clint Moore roads will range from $1.2 million to $2 million, said Jim McDade, regional president for Toll. Sales are expected to begin in the spring.

The homes will have four-to-seven bedrooms and feature three- or four-car garages. All the lots will be 90 feet wide by 140 feet deep, McDade said.

"That's extremely big for Boca Raton," he said. "Nowadays, people want their back yards to be more like a resort, and this gives them room to do that."

Toll is releasing details as it finalizes plans to buy the land from the Oxley family and secure approvals from the city. The deal is expected to close in December.

Royal Palm's launch comes as new home demand increases across South Florida.

Housing prices hit bottom last year and now are rising again amid improved consumer confidence. Still-low mortgage rates and a shortage of existing homes have many buyers looking at new construction.

"Pricing is not as favorable as it was, but it's still below the boom highs," said David Dabby, a South Florida housing analyst.

WCI Communities Inc., Lennar Corp. and Standard Pacific Corp. have started projects in Parkland. Sunrise-based GL Homes is building near Delray Beach and west of Boynton Beach.

Still, a dearth of available land, particularly in Broward County, is holding back the new home market, analysts say. The Parkland developments are among the last large tracts of home sites in the county.

Royal Palm Polo's price point is "exceptionally high," but Toll should be able to sell plenty of homes there, said Brad Hunter, a housing consultant in Deerfield Beach.

"I think demand is still rising, particularly in undersupplied submarkets like Boca Raton," Hunter said.

The Royal Palm Polo property, formerly used as polo grounds, is adjacent to Azura, a 98-home community being built by Toll.

The builder also has projects in Jupiter, Wellington, North Palm Beach, Juno Beach and near Palm Beach Gardens.

In Broward, Toll Brothers has about 220 homes left to build at Parkland Golf & Country Club. Toll bought the country club in 2010 from WCI in a $53 million deal. It marked the 46-year-old Horsham, Pa.-based builder's return to Broward after a decade away.

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