BY JOYCE OWEN SUN REPORTER
?Aquatera is the perfect place to find yourself.? That was the focus of a presentation on April 21 to introduce Aquatera and its designers to the South Walton community. It has it?s own drink ? the Aquatina ? a pale blue mixture of rum, blue curacao and pineapple juice with a slice of lemon representing the sun, sky and sea, the coastal elements of Aquatera. ZOL Development, developers of Aquatera, was founded on the simple premise, ?Americans love coastal living, especially at prices that offer a true value in the market place.?
The company is one of the largest landowners of Texas beachfront property and ZOL Development plans to build high-quality beachfront communities along the Gulf of Mexico in Texas and the Florida Panhandle, having identified the area as an emerging third coast.
Jose Lora, president of ZOL, said he uses a simple formula, ?listen to market needs. Find out what makes people feel comfortable.
?We designed a true sense of community through careful land planning, architecture and landscaping,? Lora said. ?We created pedestrianfriendly neighborhoods that bring people together in an appealing resort setting.
?We believe it is vital for our coastal developments to offer an exceptional vacation lifestyle, enjoyable amenities, appealing architecture and quality construction,? said Lora. ?We are an ocean front developer by design.?
Lora said the developers don?t plan to complete with the larger projects underway in South Walton, ?We are not fighting to compete with our neighbors. We want to provide quality, elegance and exclusivity.?
Town planner Jim Tinson said, ?Aquatera would become the next jewel on the Emerald Coast.?
Located on 26 acres near the intersection of County Road 30A and WaterSound Parkway, ZOL plans to build a community with 135 single family homes, 105 condominiums, three beach flats and a town center with 18,000 square feet of commercial space.
Real estate broker Johnny Earles is the exclusive sales agent for Aquatera. At Friday night?s event, Earles said he had seen incredible changes on 30A, and promised to bring exciting restaurants, retail and cultural experiences to Aquatera?s town center.
Construction is already underway with the first phase with 49 single-family homes to be completed in the spring of 2007.
Homesite prices start at $600,000.
Houses will range from about 1,200 to 1,800 square feet and will start at about $1.15 million.
Condominiums will start at $1.5 million and beach flat condominiums will start at $3.5 million.
For now, the sales office is at Gulf Place, but Earles said agents would relocate to a sales center on the site once the old Arnsdorff sales office was renovated.
