The local building boom is in full flourish—and more is on the horizon. The first phase of building out SeaFlower—located west of 75th Street West and south of Cortez Road in Bradenton—will include 1,700 residential units, 250 hotel rooms and 350,000 square feet of office and retail space. In all, it will bring 4,000 residential units and the mixed-use project will span 1,175 acres.

For more than 50 years, the land was one of the largest Florida producers of gladioli, perennial flowering plants known for their long stems and bright blooms. But the fields contracted a fungal disease in the early 2000s, and the farm, owned by fourth-generation flower farmer Whiting Preston, pivoted to development— similar to the surrounding landowners, who moved on from agriculture to mixed-use zoning decades before. 

Edward Hill, managing director of Lake Flores Land Company, which manages SeaFlower, has long known the Preston family. “They owned the land for 80 years. It became difficult to farm in an infill location," Hill says. Whiting Preston is still involved with the new development, which has been in the works for more than a decade; its plans were approved in 2015 by Manatee County commissioners. 

Preston originally conceived the idea of developing property where his family had commercially raised flowers under the name Crossroads. Later, the name was changed to Lake Flores in honor of his mother, Flavia Florez Preston, and the flowers his father, Walter Preston, grew there. Even though the name of the development has been changed to SeaFlower in homage to its history as a flower farm and its proximity to Sarasota Bay, the Lake Flores name will be given to a 19-acre man-made lake.

SeaFlower will also have a surrounding park and a lakefront resident-only amenity center. The amenity campus will feature a clubhouse with gathering spaces, a resort-style pool with lap lanes, a fitness center, a meeting hall, an event lawn, pickleball courts and a children’s play area. A 2.5-mile multi-modal trail for walking, biking, and golf carts will weave throughout SeaFlower and connect to its Village Square, pocket parks, lakes, open green spaces, a nature preserve with a trail, a dog park and the surrounding community. The welcome center and builder model homes are slated to open in spring 2025, with the first resident move-ins anticipated for that summer.

The first phase of retail will include a grocery store, restaurants and entertainment venues. Specific information about who will fill the retail options will be revealed at a later date, according to Hill.

The community will house a mix of home types and styles including coastal, Craftsman, West Indies and transitional farmhouse designs, with details like front porches, discreet rear garages, Florida-friendly landscaping and homes in hues of white with coastal-colored accents. They'll be constructed by builders including Cardel Homes, David Weekley Homes, Issa Homes, M/I Homes and Pulte Homes.

Hill says it’s too early to determine which hotel might move in, since that piece of the project is still awaiting development approvals, but the aim is to bring an established brand name.

Under construction now are the streets that will service the single-family homes. Next up is the village square, which will include office, retail and approximately 300 apartments for rent, which may expand over time to 600, says Hill.  

As far as price points: "The goal for a project of this scale is to have as wide a price point as possible to appeal to different people," Hill says. He also adds that the builders are setting the prices, not the development. There will be a mix of home types, including apartments, villas, larger single-family homes, and townhomes. According to the latest local realty data, the median price for a single-family home in Manatee County is $530,000; the price for a condo/townhome is $352,420. There is no dedicated affordable housing component with this project.

SeaFlower is being developed by the Lake Flores Land Company and its investment partner, LAMB Properties. Click here to keep up with updates.