NEIGHBORS: Mix of seasonal, year-round residents of all ages sets new community apart

This story was written as part of a new "Friends & Neighbors" page created to keep everyone informed as to the goings-on at gated communities and smaller neighborhoods in Bonita Springs and Estero. The page includes pictures, events and announcements.


Hawthorne Realtor Gabe Mellein points out the decoration at a Centex Home development to his client Nicole Addis. Addis is looking to buy a home in the neighborhood after transferring from Michigan to Bonita Springs for work.

Hawthorne is the new kid on the gated community block in Bonita Springs and Realtors are working to make it a mainstay in the city.

During a recent Parade of Homes event, balloons lined the Centex Home development that faces Old 41 on the west and the soon-to-be Three Oaks Extension on the east.

“It’s not a golf course community. We are more about families and all ranges and ages of people,” said Robin Willis, the Hawthorne sales associate. “We will have a good mix of year-round and seasonal residents.”

And those residents will have plenty of space to roam inside the 220 acres of land that will include two community recreational centers, moderately sized homes and a nature preserve.

“We have yet to sell all of the homes here but we have about 30 percent of people closed,” said real estate agent Lola Wellman, about the property that opened about a year ago. “We are trying to appeal to all sorts of folks and we aren’t restricting that.”

Reaction to the new community has been positive, said Willis, who says the location is continually attracting potential buyers.
“Our location is our best selling feature. Once the parkway opens, you can go north to Fort Myers or south to Naples ... all on one street,” Willis said. “There aren’t many communities that are this close to the Gulf of Mexico either.”

Construction on the property is expected to last another two years as each of its three residential neighborhoods is complete.

“This will be a close-knit community with neighbors walking their dogs and we have plenty of sidewalks that meander throughout the community,” said Wellman of the 398-unit single-family and carriage homes community.

Prices range from $320,000 to $515,999 and Willis says the added security at the site makes those prices even more attractive.

There are two gated entrances that residents can use and a security guard will stand guard at the Three Oaks Parkway entrance once the street opens.

“Our residents are very diverse. We have single professionals, families and winter visitors,” Willis said. “You can see them strolling around the place.”