The continued expansion of Lakewood Ranch over the last couple of years, has sure peeked the interest of locals as well as long-time Sarasota/Bradenton visitors. The somewhat more surprising people that have been the most affected have been the millennial age group. The Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch area has been well-known as one of the top places to retire, but is also steadily climbing to a top place for millennial first-time home buyers.
The ranked number two best master-planned community is attracting millennials who seek the live-work-play lifestyle, with its Main Street condos, restaurants, and shopping.
Millennials-ages 21-37 are 75 million strong and are today’s largest demographic, making them the best age group for new developments to target. Lakewood Ranch saw a 56 percent growth in millennial home purchases in 2017.
Manatee’s newest master-planned development, The Waterside, will feature a similar layout as downtown Lakewood Ranch and is scheduled for this fall.
Southwest Florida in general is seeing a rise in its Millennial population with Sarasota-Manatee’s population shooting up by 11.1 percent over the first half of this decade. This puts our region to ninth among the nation’s top 10 metro areas for millennial growth rates.