January 6, 2015 0 Comment MasterKey
Share:

Neal Communities Awarded Builder of the Year by the Florida Green Building Coalition

The Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC) recently honored Neal Communities (www.nealcommunities.com), Southwest Florida’s most experienced homebuilder for over 40 years, Builder of the Year for the second consecutive time.

At last week’s awards ceremony, held at the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, Neal was dubbed the best builder of single-family homes. Awards were given out in eight categories including best commercial builder, best local government (city and county), best home, best builder (single-family and multi-family), best certifying agent and best volunteer of the year.

“We are extremely proud to accept this award for the second time and to lead the homebuilding industry with green initiatives,” said Cathy Engels, the purchasing director for Neal Communities. “We strive to offer our homeowners the benefits of green and energy-efficient living at a reduced cost. We have several green certified communities, including Grand Palm in Venice, Central Park in Lakewood Ranch and Fairfield in Bradenton,” she said.

The FGBC is a nonprofit dedicated to improving the built environment and continually looks for new and innovative ways to educate builders, developers, local governments and consumers about how to achieve an environmentally sustainable future. The member-based organization is the leading certifier of green projects in Florida, with over 8,000 certified projects.

Drew Smith, Florida Building Commissioner – Green Building and founder of Two Trails Green Building Consulting, accepted the award on behalf of the builder.

“Neal Communities has by far become the leader in FGBC certified production homes, and we are very proud to have certified all of their homes and become a part of their award-winning team,” said Smith.

The FGBC Green Trends conference is a two-day event, which educates local business professionals about green building, with information focused on advancing technologies and their implications. Topics covered included: building science principles, site development, building envelopes, resource and energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor air quality, effective operations and maintenance and marketing the value of green.

 About Neal Communities

Neal Communities was named one of 2012’s “America’s Best Builders” by BUILDER Magazine and voted the “2013 Best Residential Builder in Southwest Florida” in a readers’ poll sponsored by Gulfshore Business Magazine. The company is ranked No. 1 locally by Metrostudy and by Hanley Wood Market Intelligence based on number of home sales and ranked No. 50 nationally among homebuilders by BUILDER Magazine. To date, Neal has built over 10,000 homes in southwest Florida. As the area’s largest and most established, locally owned and operated private builder, Neal Communities is continually striving for excellence in every aspect of the home building and development business. Neal Signature Homes, Neal Land Ventures, Charlene Neal PureStyle, Waterscapes Pools & Spas, and Allegiant Title Professionals all contribute to the firm’s continued, record-setting local success. The company’s honors and accolades include 42 Parade of Homes 2014 awards, 50 Aurora Awards, 5 Best in American Living Awards, and hundreds of local and regional industry awards.  For more information, please visit www.nealcommunities.com.

July 9, 2014 Comments are off MasterKey
Share:

Neal Nature Preserve Unveiled in Manatee County

Pat and Charlene Neal, together with Manatee County officials, unveiled the Neal Nature Preserve on April 9, 2014, a 120-acre parcel of land originally conveyed to Manatee County in 2005.

The Neal’s donated the land to the county at a significantly reduced price in order to preserve its pristine wetlands and create a protected preserve for the enjoyment and education of the community.

The park features a mix of recreational opportunities, including a bike trail, picnic pavilion, boardwalk, wildlife observation point, a launch for canoes and kayaks, on-site parking, kiosk and restrooms. The park also offers opportunities for environmental and archeological study.

“Charlene and I are thrilled that years of planning are finally coming to fruition,” said Pat Neal, president and CEO of Lakewood Ranch based Neal Communities. “We pride ourselves on being stewards of the land and hold high standards in our environmental commitment. We believe in protecting the land by leaving a ‘small footprint’, and we take that very seriously. We are proud and humbled that the Neal Preserve can maintain that legacy in some small way for years to come,” he said.

In 2005, the Neal’s decided to preserve the natural beauty of this unique property for the benefit of the community in lieu of pursuing development options. The land had been appraised at $15.9 million. The county purchased the land for $6.7 million and applied an additional $2.3 million in grant monies from the Florida Communities Trust Program. The Neal family then completed the transaction by gifting $6.9 million of the land’s value to the county. The piece of property is located just before the Anna Maria Island Bridge, on the southern tip of Perico Island.

The Neal Preserve is home to 106 acres of unspoiled Mangrove wetlands that support a rich and varied ecosystem. The remaining acreage is comprised of beautiful uplands dotted with native plants, trees and wildlife. The land is also the repository of significant archeological records and is part of an ongoing study of native tribes who occupied the area as early as 1000 BC. That history is honored with interpretive signage throughout the Preserve.

Neal Communities was named one of 2012’s “America’s Best Builders” by BUILDER Magazine and voted the “2013 Best Residential Builder in Southwest Florida” in a readers’ poll sponsored by Gulfshore Business Magazine. Neal Communities was also named 2014 “Best Builder” in the Best of Venice, awarded by the Venice Gondolier, and was a finalist in the Sarasota Herald Tribune’s 2014 Reader’s Choice Awards for “Best Builder”. The company is ranked #1 locally by Metrostudy and by Hanley Wood Market Intelligence based on number of home sales and ranked #64 nationally among homebuilders by BUILDER Magazine. To date, Neal has built over 9,000 homes in Southwest Florida. As the area’s largest and most established, locally owned and operated private builder, Neal Communities is continually striving for excellence in every aspect of the home building and development business. John Neal Homes, Neal Signature Homes, Charlene Neal PureStyle, Waterscapes Pools & Spas, and Allegiant Title Professionals all contribute to the firm’s continued, record-setting local success. The company’s honors and accolades include 49 Parade of Homes 2014 awards, 49 Aurora Awards, 5 Best in American Living Awards, and hundreds of local and regional industry awards. For more information, please visit www.nealcommunities.com.

July 9, 2014 0 Comment MasterKey
Share:

Neal Communities Wins its 50th AURORA Award for Grand Palm

Neal Communities’ Grand Palm, a unique, master-planned community appealing to a multigenerational demographic in Venice, Fla., was recently honored with an AURORA Award for best community over 500 acres in the southeast U.S. The prestigious award, presented by the Southeast Building Conference (SEBC), brings the Lakewood Ranch based builder’s total to 50 Auroras.

The Grand Palm community, the first built under the Sarasota 2050 plan objectives, demonstrates a successful mode for building in concert with local government while preserving the environment. The neighborhoods are connected via an extensive 27-mile, multi-use trail system.

“We are humbled and extremely proud to have received this recognition from the SEBC,” said Michael Storey, president of Neal Communities. “Grand Palm took seven years of diligent planning and utilized cooperative partnerships with public officials and environmental specialists to create. The result was a beautiful master planned community that is intertwined within the natural beauty of the region, and to be recognized for this accomplishment is a testament to our hard working team,” he said.

The community boasts over nine miles of interconnected wildlife corridors, a 32- acre lake, a six-acre adventure island (with two fishing piers and a kayak livery) and an 18-acre central amenity area for all ages, which includes a 10-acre natural exploration park, clubhouse with fitness center, resort-style pool with slide, splash park, children’s playground, two dog parks and volleyball, tennis, bocce ball and basketball courts.

Grand Palm is a certified green community by the Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC). Other communities in the Neal portfolio to have earned an Aurora award include University Park and Central Park.

In its 35th year, the AURORA Awards are open to builders, architects, designers, remodelers, landscape architects, interior designers, merchandisers and other disciples who have projects located within the 12-state southeastern region and eastern Caribbean.

About Neal Communities

Neal Communities was named one of 2012’s “America’s Best Builders” by BUILDER Magazine and voted the “2013 Best Residential Builder in Southwest Florida” in a readers’ poll sponsored by Gulfshore Business Magazine. The company is ranked No.1 locally by Metrostudy and by Hanley Wood Market Intelligence based on number of home sales and ranked No.50 nationally among homebuilders by BUILDER Magazine. To date, Neal has built over 9,000 homes in Southwest Florida. As the area’s largest and most established, locally owned and operated private builder, Neal Communities is continually striving for excellence in every aspect of the home building and development business. Neal Signature Homes, Neal Land Ventures, Charlene Neal PureStyle, Waterscapes Pools & Spas and Allegiant Title Professionals all contribute to the firm’s continued, record-setting local success. The company’s honors and accolades include 42 Parade of Homes 2014 awards, 50 Aurora Awards, 5 Best in American Living Awards and hundreds of local and regional industry awards. For more information, please visit www.nealcommunities.com.

July 9, 2014 Comments are off MasterKey
Share:

My Favorite Home Art Contest

Neal Communities held its 16th annual “My Favorite Home” art contest at Annie Lucy Williams Elementary School in Parrish, Fla. on Wednesday November 12, 2014. Students in all grade levels participated in the program creating an image of a home on paper. The staff at Williams Elementary School selected the top ten finalists for each grade level. Then, a group of community leaders and Neal staff chose the winner for each grade. The Neal team will then select an overall winner, whose art will appear on the cover of the Neal Communities holiday card.

“Each year, I am more impressed at the creativity the children display through their favorite home designs. This is always one of my favorite community endeavors and we are proud to support art programs in our region’s schools,” said Neal Communities’ President, Pat Neal.

Art instructor Nancy Seagle created a detailed lesson plan to incorporate a variety of mediums and materials into the project. Kindergarten students used construction paper collage, first graders used oil pastel technique, second graders used folded houses, third graders used print making collage, fourth graders used pen and ink, and fifth graders used two point linear perspective. “The students thoroughly enjoyed the entire process of learning a new art medium, illustrating their favorite home, and having their artwork displayed around the school. Establishing a foundation for the arts in elementary school is crucial for a child’s growing appreciation and respect for the creative process, and we are thankful to the Neal team for including us in this year’s event,” said Seagle.

Neal Communities donated $1,000 to the school to purchase art supplies. The winning students from each grade level were as follows:

Kindergarten – Briana Pickwood; first grade – Kiley Hoyer; second grade – Samantha Tucker; third grade – Aliya Barnett-Ferarraccio; fourth grade – Emily Greef; fifth grade – Jadon Pacaraw.

July 9, 2014 0 Comment MasterKey
Share:

Venice High School Scoreboard

Neal Communities made its final installment of a $40,000 donation to Venice High School (VHS) for a new LED screen, now on display inside their gymnasium. The screen and scoreboard made its debut at the first volleyball game played in the brand new gymnasium at VHS last year, but is used for all events at the high school gym.

“We are thrilled to have been able to help the Venice High School Indians celebrate their new gymnasium with this LED screen,” said Pat Neal, president and CEO of the Lakewood Ranch-based, new home building company, Neal Communities. “The athletes at the school deserve a state of the art scoreboard worthy of their athletic abilities, and we are pleased to assist,” said Neal.

The new screen is used to display scores, play videos, and show customized messages. It not only benefits the athletes who play in the gym, but also all of the students in school assemblies.

“What a tremendous donation from the Neal Communities team,” said Jack Turgeon, Venice High School Principal. “Our students and staff are so proud to show off this new addition at our many events inside the new gymnasium. It is truly the perfect way to finish off our new gym- it’s like the icing on the cake and we are so thankful to Pat Neal and his all star team!” said Turgeon.

The Venice High School Boys Basketball team had an outstanding season, rounding out the 7th consecutive year the team has been in the top three in the state for team GPA. This is the second time in 20 years that the team has made the “Sweet 16”, and two of the six senior team members attending college will play Division 1 Athletics. The Varsity Girls Basketball team doubled their wins from the previous season to end the year with a 15 – 14 record. After making the state playoffs, and holding the title of district runners-up, the Lady Indians finished off the season by winning 6A Team Academic State Championships with 3.6 GPA, awarded to the team with the highest average GPA. Venice High student athletes also hold the title of 2013 Class 7A State Champions in baseball and excel in other sports at the school include cheerleading, cross country, football, golf, swimming, basketball, soccer, wrestling, weightlifting, softball, tennis and track.

July 9, 2014 0 Comment MasterKey
Share:

Manatee Elementary Community School

Neal Communities, the area’s largest and most established, locally owned and operated private builder, recently donated $5,000 to B.D. Gullett Elementary School’s Neal Communities Golf Challenge.

Held each Fall, over 65 golfers, including a team from Neal Communities, participated in this year’s golf challenge. The elementary school, which has grown by 100-plus students, raised over $16,000. The funds, including Neal Communities’ donation, have been allocated toward technology for its students.

“Neal Communities is committed to building communities, not just constructing homes,” said Pat Neal, CEO of the Lakewood Ranch based firm. “The company and the people who work here are dedicated personally and professionally to the ongoing success of our communities, including the neighborhoods, their schools and the services that help make life here wonderful.”

The school has already used a portion of the proceeds to purchase tablets for students. “We had a very successful Golf Challenge this year, and are so thankful for Neal Communities and all of our business partner sponsors. The fundraiser has made a significant impact in furthering the technology and educational environment of our wonderful school,” said the Golf Committee Chair.