Wellen Park Florida

Wellen Park is located in southwest Florida about 30 miles southeast of Sarasota. The area of development is between the towns of Venice and North Port, Florida mainly along highway 41 and just south and west of Interstate 75.

The area was originally dubbed the West Villages as the West Villages Improvement District as a specialized taxing district that would provide infrastructure to support the development. Since the area started being developed with the West Villages name in the early 2000’s, the original name is embedded in many minds.

However, the West Villages name is a bit confusing because there are a number of developments with similar names. For example, The Villages is a hugely popular large retirement community that’s actually up near Ocala, Florida — nowhere near Sarasota.

So the name was officially changed to Wellen Park as of January 1, 2017 to better avoid confusion with other locations and developments that have similar names.

This is a great question, as there is a bit of confusion around this. Originally the West Villages was being developed in an unincorporated part of Sarasota County and most of the locations here had Venice, Florida addresses.

Since that time, the city of North Port annexed main sections of the area now known as Wellen Park, including the Downtown Wellen Park area and most of the communities. This allowed for quicker development and closer relationships with the city rather than the larger county.

As a result, many homes in Wellen Park communities may still have Venice addresses. But the city of North Port provides city services, such as trash collection, and residents also pay North Port city taxes accordingly. However, some communities technically exist outside of the North Port (including Grand Palm which is Venice & Esplanade and Boca Royale which are Englewood). 

For this reason, we primarily refer to the whole area as Wellen Park even though some parts could be North Port and others could be technically Englewood or Sarasota County and while most addresses here are Venice.

Yes, Wellen Park does have CDD fees. What is a CDD fee? Basically, it stands for Community Development District. Basically, when a whole large area is being developed it costs quite a lot of money to put the infrastructure in place to support it.

Some communities and local governments may not have the funds to invest in building this infrastructure up front on such a large scale. So a CDD is created to take this on and the homeowners pay them back over time through their property taxes.  The residents must pay this additional tax up to a certain time (say 30 years after its creation) until everything is paid for.

How much you will pay for your CDD fees depend on various factors, including the development where you purchase your home. When you are searching for a home in Wellen Park communities you should be able to find the details of the CDD fees and any other related fees.

Yes, you can buy resale homes in Wellen Park. Even though you can find many new construction homes here, there are many Wellen Park communities that are in the middle of construction or finished. So it is possible to find resale homes in Wellen Park — and some of them could be fairly new in age. 

Building a new home in Wellen Park will depend on the builder & community you choose. Some builder can finish a home in 6-8 months, while luxury custom home builders could take 16-18 months!

However, it is possible to buy a quick move-in “inventory” home in some communities. These are homes that are brand new — either under construction now or just finished. Purchasing one of these homes allows you to be the first to live in it, and be able to move in much faster – possibly even right away if the home is finished!

Yes, you can use an outside real estate agent to help with your purchase of a new home in Wellen Park (and it is highly recommended). In fact, most new construction home buyers in Wellen Park choose to use a 3rd party Realtor to help the transaction go more smoothly and to have someone representing their best interests with the builders. 

When it comes to buying a new home from a builder in Wellen Park, not using a Realtor doesn’t give you a discount. That’s because builders have separate budgets for marketing communities and building homes.

Builders depend on real estate agents to help them market their communities, and they want to work with great agents who bring them business and their expertise to help transactions go smoothly. As a result, builders include buyer agent compensation fees in their marketing budgets for these new communities.

So not using an agent doesn’t give you a discount on the home itself because it is a totally different budget; it just means the builder gets to keep their marketing dollars. 

Ultimately, if the builder is already planning to pay an outside real estate agent to represent you in your new home purchase, then why not take the help! Plus – if you work with a strong agent who has great relationships with the builders and already has multiple homes in progress for other clients with them, then the agent may be able to negotiate a stronger deal and extra incentives that you didn’t even know to ask for! 

No, CDD fees are not the same as HOA fees. 

Home Owner Association (HOA) fees are separate and depend on the development where you live. HOA fees can cover things such as yard maintenance and other amenities such as community pools. Keep in mind that when you are searching for homes in the Wellen Park area you will likely pay both HOA fees and CDD fees. So it’s important to budget accordingly.

For more details please refer to our blog post about all about what CDD & HOA fees are and how they are paid. 

Wellen Park is just a few miles from Venice, Florida and there are numerous beaches in Venice that are all within about 10 miles from Wellen Park. Depending on traffic & which Wellen Park community you live in, you can get to the beach within about 15-20 minutes.

You could easily visit the famous Venice Beach just down the street from downtown Venice or you could explore Caspersen Beach which is famous for hunting shark teeth! There’s also the beaches area near the Venice Fishing Pier as well as the Brohard Dog Beach (where you can bring your pup for some off-leash beach fun). 

Another hugely popular beach to visit is Manasota Beach, which is just south of Venice and north of Englewood Beach. As a part of the Wellen Park development that is currently going on, there are plans to build a road that will actually take residents straight from Wellen Park to Manasota in a more direct route. Making the trip to the beach even quicker. However, that road could still be years in the making. 

Lastly, some residents in communities closer to River Road may find that Englewood Beach is the closest to where they live.

Being located just southwest of Sarasota, Wellen Park is just a short drive away from the popular Siesta Key, frequently voted the #1 beach in the USA! Depending on traffic, it could take you about 30 minutes to get to Siesta Key from Wellen Park.

Home to the Atlanta Braves for their Spring Training, CoolToday Park is a centerpiece in Wellen Park Florida. Residents can easily make their way over to the stadium to enjoy a game. And when the team isn’t in town, there are also regular events that take place here, from family day festivals to concerts and even grilled cheese festivals!

Plus, the Tomahawk Tiki Bar is open daily to the public when games are not being played, and offers fantastic food and drinks in an outdoor setting overlooking the field and you can watch games on the big screen! In fact, this is honestly one of our favorite places to go for lunch on a beautiful day! Try the shrimp po’ boy, you won’t be sorry!

For more information about Wellen Park Florida, including available homes for sale in Wellen Park or any of the communities, please contact Josh Wilson. As a licensed real estate agent with eXp Realty here in Venice, Josh specializes in the Wellen Park area and happy to help you find your dream home.

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