$11M co. embraces custom market

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Lee Wetherington Homes, a homebuilder nearly crushed by the recession, has re-launched a custom lot division.

The firm, with $10.5 million in 2011 sales, recently sold four custom lots to homebuyers, according to a release. Three of those lots were in Panther Ridge, in east Manatee County, while a fourth lot was on Siesta Key. The homes are planned at more than 3,000 square feet and will be completed sometime next year, the company says.

Peter Mason, vice president of sales and marketing, says the custom home interest is in lockstep with the local real estate market recovery. “In the downturn we stopped marketing to this segment,” Mason says in the release, “but with the market heating up, we've been inundated with requests for custom homes on buyers' lots.”