Builder: Impact fee hike will add $18K to buying Manatee County home

At 76, longtime prolific homebuilder Pat Neal still has the energy to speak long at a Manatee County Commission meeting one day and spend his time the next day promoting the June 27 grand opening of his Palm Grove Discovery Center in northeast Manatee. 

He certainly doesn't have to do it, because according to Forbes, Neal is worth over $1 billion. His firm, Lakewood Ranch-based Neal Communities, handled $787.7 million in revenue in 2024. So it would be easy to have someone else handle such responsibilities.

So why, after all the success he has experienced as a homebuilder across the region, does Neal want to continue, especially when some current Manatee County commissioners have voiced animosity toward development? And there certainly is an abundance of residents, given social media posts, public meeting comments and more, who would like to see all builders blown out to sea.

"I don't want to fish, and I don't want to chase a little white ball around," says Neal, sitting in the Palm Grove Discovery Center (sales office). "I have fun doing this, and I think we improve lives. We have great homes, and happy customers.

He is a master at work, although an unpopular one in certain circles. He says that is OK.

"People are sick of growth. and that is justified," he says. "But we need to plan for growth."

Manatee County commissioners Bob McCann, Tal Siddique, Carol Felts and George Kruse rode a wave of anti-builder/developer sentiment to their seats in the 2024 election. There was an overwhelming perception some commissioners were ignoring the desires of their constituents to serve the special interests of the builders and developers.

It appears, at least to developers and builders, that at least three members of the commission want to drastically curtail development and growth — even though all seven commissioners are Republicans. One commissioner, McCann, proposed a building moratorium earlier this year. After pushback from some other commissioners, and developers, the proposal hasn't gained much traction — yet. 

McCann, whose District 5 covers Lakewood Ranch in east Manatee County and parts of south-central Manatee, was transparent about his anti-growth stance in the campaign. And since being elected in November, McCann has cast votes against final plats, rezoning requests, commercial proposals and an affordable housing land use restriction agreement because the project will add cars to Lorraine Road. 

“If there’s a blade of grass, (developers) want to build on it,” McCann previously said. “I got 42,000 votes that said, ‘Hey, stop the building.’” 

Time to buy 

In short, it is a tricky time for builders. 

It is also going to be more expensive for buyers.

This commission is going to significantly increase impact fees on builders, which Neal says will cost new homebuyers about an average of $18,000 per home.

Photo by Jay Heater

That's a significant increase given the overall economy. 

The Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee Counties reported June 24 that median sales prices decreased in both counties, indicating "a continued downward pressure in the market." In May, single-family home sales were down 7.3% over May 2024 in Sarasota County and down 1.9% in Manatee for the same period.

During that same time period, the sales price of single-family homes dropped 12.3% in Sarasota County and 8.9% in Manatee.

None of it rattles Neal, who has been through the ebbs of the market.

He easily names the different crises he has faced, such as the mortgage crisis in 1974, which included a credit crunch and soaring interest rates that led to a housing recession. Then there was the 1981 Paul Volcker shock when Volcker, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, significantly raised interest rates to combat high inflation. The result was a recession.

Neal kept rattling them off as he went through the years.

"It's part of the real estate business," he says with a smile. "But now is a good time to buy a home."

Fortunately for Neal, who builds in communities from Manatee through Collier counties, he concentrates on Lakewood Ranch and its surrounding areas. He has built homes in the Lakewood Ranch area since 1994.

"There is only one Lakewood Ranch, and it has everything," Neal says. "Neal Communities has built about 4,000 homes here and we intend to build a few more, including the 934 homes here at Palm Grove."

While Palm Grove sits just outside the perceived border of unincorporated Lakewood Ranch, off State Road 64 and just east of Uihlein Road, it certainly is a Lakewood Ranch-area development.

"I've always called Lakewood Ranch the center of the universe," Neal says. "And Palm Grove will have access to grocery stores, to schools, to everything. The reason we chose this land is because of the Lakewood Ranch schools ... the best in the region. That is the most important thing for families."

Neal instructed his staff to design more family homes for Palm Grove. He says 25% of the home sales in the new community will be targeted to adults only while the other 75% of the homes will be occupied by families.

Follow the buyers

The argument on whether growth is a healthy thing for Manatee County, or all the other counties in the region, is one primed to be around for a while. Neal's position, similar to many other builders and developers, is that because people are coming anyway, to Florida in general and the region specifically, it's best to prepare — in housing and infrastructure. 

Neal Communities is a leader in the details-matter side of that argument.The firm has won multiple awards and accolades for its community beautification and other efforts, and Neal himself, a former member of the Florida Senate and Florida House, has garnered statewide praise over several decades for his environmental and conservation work.

At Palm Grove, meanwhile, the firm began selling homes in November, and more than 30 sales have been recorded since.

"In these times, that is big," he says

Photo by Jay Heater

Palm Grove offers nine decorated models. Plans for the community include a centrally located amenity center clubhouse with a social spaces, a fitness center, resort-style and lap pools, pickleball, a yoga lawn, a tot lot, dog parks and more. It has two different townhome models, one that starts at $319,900, two villas and five single-family home models. The upper end of the single-family homes can go to $935,000. 

"I am surprised to be selling $331,000 homes (move-in)," Neal says. "But we follow the prices wherever they go."

This article originally appeared on sister site YourObserver.com.