North Port, Florida

5 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 4 Wellen Park, one of the nation’s top- selling master-planned communities that is located in North Port, Florida, was designed to be as unique as the people who live there. The community was designed with an intentional focus on vibrant and unexpected possibilities and heartfelt connections to neighbors and nature. Wellen Park offers an expansive mix of residential choices that includes single- family homes, paired villas, coach homes, condominiums, and rental apartments, as well as active adult rentals and independent and assisted living, as well as memory care. Downtown Wellen, a new vibrant central hub and social gathering destination for the region, anchors Wellen Park with premier dining, entertainment, shopping and outdoor recreation opportunities. The pedestrian-friendly downtown features a collection of restaurants, retail, and beauty and business services. In addition to a diverse mix of residential options, Wellen Park includes over 300,000 square feet of commercial and medical office space, a new healthcare campus and three new schools in the community. Wellen Park is also home to CoolToday Park, the spring training home of the Atlanta Braves. Wellen Park is transforming the landscape of the Sarasota County region and creating a new sense of place that more people are choosing to call home every day. For more information contact (941) 960-7105 Wellen Park: A New Sense of Place NORTH PORT, FLORIDA Spanning 104 square miles, North Port is the largest city in Sarasota County. Ideally located on Florida’s West Coast, the community of 82,000 is situated between Tampa and Ft. Myers, with two exits on Interstate 75, and an attractive stretch of U.S. 41 within its boundaries. North Port also boasts easy access to four airports, Sarasota, Punta Gorda, Fort Myers, and Tampa. With over 80 miles of canal waterways, Warm Mineral Springs, Legacy Trail and the Myakka State Forest, the city offers a plethora of recreation experiences, taking advantage of Florida’s sunny warm climate. Incorporated 64 years ago, North Port had an interesting beginning, as Mayor Barbara Langdon shares, “We are a General Development community. So, the implication of that is we are a pre-platted community with infrastructure, roads, and drainage throughout the 104 square miles.” As the second fastest growing community in the United States, she says that the city is working to guide that development while maintaining the natural areas. “I think we’re the only, or one of the very few, cities in the state of Florida with a State Forest within the city limits,” she notes.