Jimmy Buffett Lifestyle Community Coming to Daytona Beach

     I can't believe this hasn't happened before.  Jimmy has been near "retirement" age for a number of years now.  What a great idea, if it is pulled off properly this could compete with places like the Villages for people of retirement age and ready to live the laid back and "keywasted" lifestyle.

Jimmy Buffett

      Jimmy Buffett fans in search of a real-life "Margaritaville" will soon be able to find it, just not in Key West.   It will be right here in Daytona Beach.  Canadian developer Minto Communities announced that Buffett's Margaritaville Holdings company has agreed to become a strategic partner in developing its planned 6,900-home community for residents 55-and-older on the north side of LPGA Boulevard, just west of Interstate 95.  

     The first homes are expected to be ready for move in by fall 2018, said William Bullock, a senior vice president with Minto.  The new deal is a "game changer for this area," said John Albright, the CEO of Daytona Beach-based Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co., which recently sold the land where the first phase of the Latitude Margaritaville, Daytona Beach is planned. "It will make the Minto development something that people identify with nationally."

Town Center "Park"

     The community, which originally was to be named Oasis Daytona, will now be called Latitude Margaritaville, Daytona Beach, and will be designed to reflect the lifestyle espoused in Buffett's songs throughout the development.   "Featuring world-class amenities and design, Latitude Margaritaville, Daytona Beach, will reflect Margaritaville's authentic 'no worries' tropical vibe, offering an immersive brand experience," according to a news release issued by Minto.

     "With Minto's expertise in creating master-planned developments and Margaritaville's inherent ability to deliver fun and escapism, Latitude Margaritaville has the exact coordinates for those looking to live the Margaritaville lifestyle as they grow older, but not up," stated John Cohlan, the CEO of Palm Beach-based Margaritaville Holdings, in the news release.

Community Center

     Buffett and Cohlan are the majority owners of Margaritaville Holdings, whose operations include destination resorts/hotels across the Southeastern United States and Caribbean, four gaming locations, and more than 60 food-and-beverage locations.   "Daytona will be the first of several communities we'll be developing in partnership with Margaritaville Holdings," said William Bullock, a senior vice president with Minto, in a phone interview.

     "Music, food and beverages will be a big part of the community," Bullock said, adding that the community's town center will include a music bandshell and "Margaritaville-inspired food and beverage offerings" among its amenities, which also will include a fitness center, indoor lap pool and spa, and an outdoor resort-style pool. "We're definitely going to do some live broadcasts from there (Latitude Margaritaville, Daytona Beach) on their SiriusXM Channel," he added, although he did not know who those performers might be.   Bullock said he was told by Margaritaville Holdings officials, "You never know when or where Jimmy Buffett may show up to do a concert." 

     The community will also operate for its residents a private oceanfront beach club in Ormond-by-the-Sea that will be accessed via a loop shuttle bus.   Latitude Margaritaville, Daytona Beach is expected to be the biggest master-planned community ever built in the Volusia-Flagler area.   Bullock said while his company is initially looking to develop between 6,000 and 7,000 homes, "there's still an opportunity grow the community" even further by acquiring additional adjacent land from Consolidated-Tomoka, which recently completed its sale of nearly 1,600 acres to Minto for $27.2 million. That land, on the south half of the planned community, is where Minto will be developing the project's first phase of up to 3,400 homes, as well as a neighborhood retail center along the north side of LPGA Boulevard, just west of the Tomoka River.

     Margaritaville Holdings is currently in talks about the possibility of becoming involved in the neighborhood retail center, Bullock said. The 200,000-square-foot retail center is expected to include a grocery store as well as restaurants and shops and would be next to the south entrance of the gated "golf cart-friendly" community, he said.

Learn More about this at https://www.latitudemargaritaville.com/