In June, a home at 100 Blue Mist Way in Wild Blue at Waterside sold for $2.53 million. It had been built in 2026. In the week of Oct. 19–23, the same house sold again for $2.9 million, according to Your Observer's weekly sales column. That is $370,000 more in about four months, for a house nobody had time to renovate.
The resale is not a fluke. It is the clearest sign of how Wild Blue is pricing this fall. Here, a home that is finished and ready to close is worth more than a builder contract. That premium depends on the supply around Wild Blue, and the supply is about to change.
Three Streets, Two Kinds of Sale
Here are the Wild Blue closings that appeared in Your Observer's Lakewood Ranch sales columns between August and late October 2026. Price per square foot is our arithmetic from the reported figures.
| Sales week | Address | Seller | Price | Living area | Per sq. ft. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug. 3–7 | 328 Blue Pearl Court | SDWB Waterside LLC | $1,678,300 | 2,446 | about $686 |
| Aug. 17–21 | 1007 Blue Shell Loop | SDWB Waterside LLC | $2,288,100 | 3,756 | about $609 |
| Sept. 28–Oct. 2 | 149 Blue Mist Way | SDWB Waterside LLC | $2,430,000 | 3,756 | about $647 |
| Sept. 28–Oct. 2 | 312 Blue Pearl Court | SDWB Waterside LLC | $1,890,000 | 2,636 | about $717 |
| Oct. 12–16 | 1018 Blue Shell Loop | John Cannon Homes Inc. | $3,790,000 | 3,780 | about $1,003 |
| Oct. 19–23 | 100 Blue Mist Way | Private owners | $2,900,000 | 3,126 | about $928 |
The four closings by SDWB Waterside LLC, the entity behind Stock's Wild Blue sales, came in between roughly $609 and $717 per square foot. The private resale on Blue Mist Way came in near $928. Even its June purchase price, about $809 per square foot, was above every SDWB Waterside closing in the table. The John Cannon Homes sale on Blue Shell Loop sits in a different tier, as custom builds usually do.
The difference between those figures is the price of having a house ready now instead of waiting through a build. This fall, that price ran to hundreds of dollars per square foot.
Why a Finished Home Is Scarce Here
That gap exists because of how much of Wild Blue is still unbuilt. In March 2026, Stock Development sales associate Dominick Giallombardo told Your Observer that Wild Blue, which will have 505 homes at build-out, was about 50% sold. He added that two homes priced at $6 million to $7 million had sold in the previous month. In the same article, a John Cannon Homes design specialist said Schroeder-Manatee Ranch had "pretty much run out of land to sell" in Lakewood Ranch.
When half a community is still in builder pipelines and the master developer's land is nearly gone, a finished, closeable house has few substitutes. Lakewood Ranch lists single-family homes in Wild Blue from the high $900s to $4 million and up, with HOA fees of $800 to $900 a month that include maintenance. A buyer who wants that setting now has two options. One is a resale. The other is a build contract and a wait.
That is true in November 2026. Several miles of new road being built to the east are about to change it.
The Substitute Supply Is Already Zoned
On Sept. 23, 2026, Sarasota County commissioners voted 4-0 to rezone the last two project areas of Lakewood Ranch Southeast, according to The Sarasota Record. Area 4 allows up to 299 homes and Area 5 up to 789. Together they complete zoning for a planned community of 5,000 homes on roughly 4,120 acres owned by Schroeder-Manatee Ranch. The county's Planning Commission had voted 8-0 on Aug. 20 to recommend denial. The earlier project areas were rezoned in January and May 2025.
Construction is well past planning. In February, Your Observer toured the site with SMR president of development Bob Simons. He described a four-lane Bourneside Boulevard running about five miles from University Parkway to Fruitville Road, with the road and supporting infrastructure due to be finished just after the start of 2027. "When we start a project, we build to buildout conditions," Simons told the paper. "The communities grow into our infrastructure." SMR CEO Rex Jensen said he expected models to rise in eight to 10 months and builders to begin marketing new homes in 2027. A July Your Observer column put the start of Southeast sales earlier, at late 2026. Both dates are forecasts, and either puts new-home sales within months.
The same report named the builders selected for the Southeast: John Cannon Homes, Neal Signature Homes, Neal Communities, Pulte and Taylor Morrison, with the existing Monterey by Toll Brothers included in the district. John Cannon Homes also built the $3.79 million home on Blue Shell Loop in the table above. Once those models open, a buyer weighing a Wild Blue resale will also be able to get bids from at least one of the same builders a few miles east.
The Roads Wild Blue Uses Are Being Rebuilt for the Newcomers
Wild Blue's mapped entrance is Blue Wave Drive, off Lorraine Road south of University Parkway. Lakewood Ranch's directions bring visitors from I-75 at Exit 213 along University Parkway. That stretch is the center of the Southeast build-out.
According to a Lakewood Ranch Stewardship District project sheet, the work includes:
- Widening University Parkway to four lanes between Lorraine Road and Bourneside Boulevard, scheduled from December 2025 to March 2027.
- New roundabouts on University Parkway at Covenant Way and at Lake Club Boulevard/Blue Mist Way.
- A northbound right-turn lane on Lorraine Road at University Parkway, plus improved signals at that intersection.
- The Bourneside extension to Fruitville Road, with roundabouts at both University Parkway and Fruitville, scheduled from July 2025 to March 2027.
The same sheet says these improvements are funded through the Stewardship District and apportioned to the new residential areas. That July column reported that the widening had begun, with median work starting July 6. The Lake Club Boulevard/Blue Mist Way roundabout was expected to start late this year, and the remaining work was forecast to finish in March 2027.
That cuts both ways for a Wild Blue owner. The corridor gets wider at no cost apportioned to Wild Blue. It will also carry more traffic. At the September hearing, the developer said the new Bourneside Boulevard would send 75% of the Southeast's peak traffic to University Parkway instead of Fruitville Road. Opponents pointed out that the traffic counts were taken in June, according to The Sarasota Record.
The Routes South Run on a Slower Clock
The roads east of Wild Blue run on SMR's schedule. The roads south run on Sarasota County's, which is slower.
- Lorraine Road Extension, CIP 95832. A 2.1-mile, four-lane divided road from south of Fruitville Road to Palmer Boulevard, with sidewalks and buffered bike lanes. The county's November 2026 project sheet puts design beyond 95% complete and right-of-way acquisition underway. Construction is scheduled from Winter 2027 to Winter 2029.
- Fruitville Road widening, Debrecen Road to Lorraine Road, CIP 95853. About 1.5 miles widened to four lanes, with a standard signal at Lorraine Road and a roundabout planned at Laceleaf Boulevard. The November 2026 sheet schedules construction from Spring 2027 to Spring 2029.
- Fruitville Road east of Lorraine. County staff confirmed in September that this 4.6-mile stretch has no money allocated for construction.
The Southeast's own roads are forecast to be finished by March 2027, about two years before the county's southern links. In the meantime, the new traffic will lean on University Parkway, which is Wild Blue's route as well.
What the County Numbers Say About Timing
The broader luxury market gives buyers and sellers some room. In September 2026, Sarasota County recorded 103 single-family sales at $1 million or more, up 18.4% from a year earlier, with a median of 65 days to contract in that tier. RASM's September detail report shows 19 of those sales between $2 million and $2.999 million and 14 between $3 million and $4.999 million. Across all single-family homes that month, the county summary shows 3.7 months of supply, down from 4.8 a year earlier, and a median time to contract of 51 days. October figures are due Nov. 16.
Taken together, high-end buyers in the county are active but not rushing, and Wild Blue's finished homes are currently selling above what its builder charges. That gives the Wild Blue resale seller the stronger hand today. New supply to the east, forecast to reach the market between late 2026 and 2027, is the main thing that could change it.
Weighing a Wild Blue Decision Against the Southeast Launch
- If you are selling a finished Wild Blue home, the Blue Mist Way resale shows what a finished house can fetch while the alternative is a wait. That case gets weaker once Southeast models open and buyers can compare finished homes against new-build bids just east.
- If you are buying a resale, price the premium in square-foot terms against the SDWB Waterside closings in the table. A gap of $200 or more per square foot is what you are paying to skip the wait.
- If you are building, your completion date may fall while new homes to the east are first being marketed. For buyers comparing options then, a home that is finishing construction will compete with brand-new models.
- For daily routines, the University Parkway lane shifts and the roundabout work near Blue Mist Way are forecast to run through about March 2027.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Southeast road work add costs for Wild Blue owners? The Stewardship District's project sheet says these improvements are apportioned to the new residential areas. Owners should confirm their own assessment details with the district. This post is general information, not legal or financial advice.
When could new homes in Lakewood Ranch Southeast go on sale? SMR's CEO told Your Observer in February that he expected builders to begin marketing in 2027. A July Your Observer column forecast sales beginning in late 2026. Neither date is confirmed.
Is the Lorraine Road extension to Palmer Boulevard under construction? Sarasota County's November 2026 project sheet schedules construction to start in Winter 2027, with right-of-way acquisition underway.
Pricing a Wild Blue home this winter, whether you are buying or selling, depends on what will be for sale nearby over the next year as much as on today's comparable sales. Tonna Gruber and the Let's Move team can help you time your offer or listing around that window. Let Us Guide You Home.
