Talis Park Naples FL community offers high end without high drama
Talis Park offers residents amenities with a relaxed atmosphere
This is a place of luxury with multi-million dollar homes, a prestigious Greg Norman/Pete Dye golf course, and fountains, plazas, and bridges to give it an upscale feel. Yet Talis Park is a place where residents can stop in the café with sand between their toes, can run their dogs on the golf course after hours or do yoga on the green.
Its relaxed atmosphere makes it so different from most high end communities with their towering clubhouses, formal dining rooms and strict dress codes.
That’s what lured Fred and Jill Fanelli to take the big risk with being the first buyers in the newly resurrected community.
“Six or seven years ago we heard about WCI’s Tuscany Reserve and we were just blown away by what was happening in here,” Fred Fanelli began. “It was such a high end; not doable for most folks.”
Back then prices were so high that only 33 people bought under the old regime which lasted from 2003-2007. By 2008 WCI was in bankruptcy and the community stagnated. A foreign bank took over and kept the community running, but never added the promised amenities. Then in 2012 Kitson & Partners, the same company that owns Babcock Ranch, bought the property and renamed the 450 acre community off Livingston Road, Talis Park.
“We were driving down I-75 and see and sign along the highway that says Talis Park and we thought they turned it into a park,” Fanelli continues. “We find out it’s not a park; it’s a new community. It’s as magnificent as I remember.”
With better prices and promises of amenities, Fanelli began doing research into the new owners to see if it was worth the risk.
The Fanellis looked at other high end communities in North Naples and Bonita Springs, but kept coming back to Talis Park.
“Do we want to take it on faith?” Fanelli questioned. “Do we take the risk? Do you have any idea how scary it is building a home from 1,200 miles away?”
After doing extensive research on Kitson & Partners, and reviewing all their plans for Talis Park, the Fanellis become the first to buy a lot under the new owners when they signed the papers in Dec. 2012.
“I was the first buyer under Talis Park,” Fanelli boasted. “I am number 1.”
Number one gave them pick of the lots and they selected one on the 11th hole. Fox homes began construction in Feb. 2013 and the Fanellis moved in this October.
“Those of us who join early will be rewarded later,” Fanelli explained. “We will see a nice return on our investment.”
But it wasn’t an investment the Fanellis were looking for. It was a lifestyle. The couple was looking for a place that was upscale, yet relaxed.
“We feel much more at home here,” Fanelli began. “About 5 o’clock you will see people down this fairway with their dogs. We can grab a couple of golf clubs and head out the door and hit the ball out and back. There is nobody yelling at us to get off the course. There is nobody yelling at us for being in flip flops. If we feel like doing yoga out the fairways we will. If my wife wants to do Pilates on the grass she will. It’s much more laid back.”
While the couple does enjoy rounds of golf during the day, they also enjoy their after-hours relaxation or just hitting balls on the course behind their home in the evening.
Kitson & Partners began phase one of the main clubhouse that will open Dec. 1. Instead of an imposing, formal facility, the new gathering place is a simple coffee shop/wine bar with a fitness center and a place to purchase unique blends of coffee.
“It’s a different kind of club. It’s a different kind of era,” said John Hillman, sales and marketing consultant.
Fiona’s Market Café will be like Starbucks by day and a gathering place for wine and food too. There will be a woodburning pizza oven and both indoor and outdoor seating. An entire wall will be devoted to little cubbies filled with unique flavors of coffee and other items for purchase.
“It’s evolved. They want something more relaxed,” Hillman explained about the 6,000 square foot facility.
That‘s just the beginning. When the community reaches 150 members Kitson and Partners will begin phase two of the clubhouse. That phase includes 30,000 square feet of space encompassing a pool, lockers and a large restaurant and gathering areas.
“Vyne House is modeled after the Breakers Hotel,” Hillman described. “Vyne House was modeled after an Italian Piazza.”
Residents can choose to live in an area referred to as The Village which is near the Vynes. This area has a village setting with pedestrian walkways around the amenities. Homes there cost $750,000 to $1 million.
Other residents select homes in the section referred to as The Park. This area features open spaces, golf course views and wooded areas. Homes in this section range in the $1 million to $5 million price range. When complete Talis Park will have 585 homes.
“Luxury can come in many flavors,” Hillman described.
This October Kitson and Partners marked the one year anniversary of being open for sales. In that time they sold lots to 27 new owners. By the end of the year they hope to have more new owners than WCI did in their entire five years of ownership. The company added outdoor dining to their golf club, tripling the capacity. They are also starting to build “Resident Ready” homes. The company is constructing 20 homes that will be ready for new buyers to move right in.
“You can step in at any time,” Hillman stated. “By May 1 we will be inventory ready.”
There is a lot of construction see all around Talis Park now. Besides the “Resident Ready” homes, most of the lot buyers are building.
“It’s not people buying land and holding it,” Hillman said.
One new owner is building a 23,000 square foot home. It’s so humongous that many people mistake it as the clubhouse. Hillman said other new residents are downsizing and building smaller homes. Every new buyer is invited to a groundbreaking ceremony that welcomes them to the neighborhood.
“They are not just buying a house, they are buying a community,” Hillman said.
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