January 6, 2015 0 Comment MasterKey
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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
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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
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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.