Unlock the Best of Lakewood Ranch Living: Inside Star Farms ft. Jason Golden

In this episode of Jim Sells the Suncoast, Jim Ahearn speaks with Jason Golden, General Manager of Star Farms at Lakewood Ranch. With over 25 years of experience in hospitality, fitness, and community management, Jason offers an insider's perspective on the unique lifestyle Star Farms offers. From resort-style living to diverse home options and top-notch amenities, Star Farms stands out as a premier Lakewood Ranch development.

Jason breaks down the wide range of living options, including single-family homes, townhomes, and villas, as well as the community’s resort-style amenities like pools, sports courts, and fitness centers. He emphasizes the importance of the onsite hospitality team and how they foster a welcoming, service-oriented environment for residents.

Key Takeaways:

• Overview of Star Farms’ amenities, including resort-style pools, fitness centers, sports courts, and a concierge-style hospitality team
• A range of home options, with prices from $300,000 to $4 million
• Separate amenities for family-friendly and active adult areas within the community
• The value of maintenance-free living, with HOA fees covering landscaping and community upkeep
• Star Farms’ integration into the Lakewood Ranch community, contributing to the area’s ongoing growth and development
• Upcoming amenities like a restaurant and additional sports facilities

What's Next?
Follow Jim Sells the Suncoast for more insights on navigating the best communities in Florida’s Suncoast.

Interested in learning more about Star Farms? Contact Jason Golden or visit the Star Farms website for more information.

Looking to buy or sell a home on the Suncoast? Reach out to Jim at jim.ahearn@gmail.com or visit his website, Jim Sells the Suncoast.

A Personal Note from Jim:

Hey there, I’m Jim Ahearn, your go-to real estate guide and host of Jim Sells The Suncoast podcast! 🎙️✨ Dreaming of Florida life? I’ve got you covered! As your dedicated buyer's agent, I’ll handle everything from walk-throughs to closing, making your home-buying journey as smooth as a Florida breeze.

Whether you're local or tuning in from afar, I’ll bring the Suncoast to you with virtual tours and expert advice. Let’s chat about your dream home and I'll connect you with all the right people to make it happen.

Ready to move to paradise? Drop me a line – I can’t wait to help! 🌴🏡

Transcript

Jim: 0:00

Good morning. And today with me, I have Jason Golden. He is the general manager at star farms at liquid ranch, as well as a regional director of fitness and sports courts for four star and has over 25 years of experience in the hospitality and coaching industries. Prior to joining the Star Farms teams, Jason has worked in various hotels, clubs, and resorts worldwide with an emphasis in operations, racket sports, fitness, and spa. Most recently, some of his scope of work included overseeing numerous resort style HOA communities in Florida, ranging from budgeting, programming, staffing, and overall daily operations. Jason is a USPTA Elite Tennis Professional and Pickleball Professional, Certified John Maxwell Leadership Coach, and a Certified Reach Development Coach. Jason earned his BA degree in sports management and coaching in 1996 from Lakeland University, where he played number one singles and number one doubles and was captain of his tennis team. Jason lives in Lakewood ranch and his hobbies include spending time with his family, watching sports, reading and endurance running. It sounds like you have got the finger on the pulse of the lifestyle. In the area. I think it sounds like you're touching base on everything that people come down here to do.

Jason: 1:10

Yeah. First of all, thanks again for having me on your podcast, Jim. I really appreciate it. Sure. I've been very fortunate. I moved to Lakewood Ranch in 2001. And it's just been amazing to live here and being active myself. It's what it's about living here is that so

Jim: 1:24

perfect. Just for the listeners, one of the things that's different is Jason is not a salesman for a particular development, but he's overseeing the whole development that has different builders and developments within it. So we're really going to be able to look at some of the lifestyle and oversight view rather than particularly like how big is a house. What sets star farms apart in terms of lifestyle and community experience. Especially compared to some of the others in the area

Jason: 1:50

that really starts with four stars vision, and there are developer and the programming they have in place, the amenities and the lifestyle that they have installed into this. It's a branding with them. So it's, this is where it starts is just their vision for the wellness of the residents and that resort ranch living that we want them to experience when they're here at star farm. Then the next part would be the amenities, the programming, right? And then the third part, I think is important component is the onsite hospitality team. It's like a concierge team really providing the hospitality service for the residents that they're not going to get anywhere else, despite the other properties that are outside of star farms.

Jim: 2:33

Okay. So what variety of living options are available? There is single family homes condos and townhomes or no, it's really all single family homes.

Jason: 2:41

It's single family. There are townhomes. Okay. It's, so it's a lot of twin villas as well. So there are a number of variables that residents can potential residents can buy into.

Jim: 2:53

Okay. So really there's no one that's not going to be available, right? If somebody says, Hey, I want to townhome, you're like, sorry, I can't help you. You have everything available within star farms and they'll all have access to the amenities and everything having going on under that umbrella.

Jason: 3:07

So yeah, so there's two types of. It's a multi gen. So there's two types of we'll say it's there's an active adult and then there's a family So depending on where they live depends where they have access to amenity wise Okay

Jim: 3:24

Okay, so maybe we can go down. Let's start talking about some of the amenities in there You know, I had the opportunity to go through and tour the pool, beautiful. The restaurant coming in is going to be nice. And in that training facility that it looks like it could belong right in an NFL locker room. Just the setup of it.

Jason: 3:42

It is amazing. That's part of the vision that I shared with that four star gifts. That is their branding and their visions, which starts there. So let's start at the resort club as we experienced, right? So you pulled in the resort club, you have the trade route coffee kitchen. You got the star fit complex, which is the fitness center and the athletic performance center, and then you got the resort style pool. So that it's really that whole resort style living that really pops on the campus right there. It brings life to things. And then as you break it down to each part of the outside of Star Farms, you have the act of the events retreat. which is all right. Active adults. They have sports courts there. They got their own clubhouse there, their own pool there. And then you have come over the junction place, which is the family side. They're gonna have their own clubhouse, their own pool, their own sports courts, and then they're gonna have a splash pad as well. And then you're going to have the baseball field there, the sports fields along the other side of that. So it really encompasses the living that people come to Liquid Ranch for. Like you don't have to leave Star Farms to get whatever you want to do in your active lifestyle and your wellness and want to be at a resort without even leaving Star Farms.

Jim: 4:58

You can walk or bike or golf cart over and you're right there instead of having to jump out on the roads and. deal with traffic or whatever that might be 30 minutes away. Can you tell me some of the, maybe the price range of the different communities within star farms?

Jason: 5:15

So the price range could be 300, 000 or 400, 000 up to 4 million. So that's the range of prices. We have five builders. And so we have Daryl Horton, we have West Bay, we have John Cannon, Arthur Rutenberg, and Lee Weatherington. So those prices range within those five builders, three or four thousand up to 4 million.

Jim: 5:37

Okay. How many houses are going to be in the development and what's the size of the development?

Jason: 5:42

So Star Farms Lakewood Ranch build out will be 1, 500.

Jim: 5:47

Okay.

Jason: 5:48

And then currently we are approving. Probably around close to 600, I believe of that 1, 504 star farms.

Jim: 5:55

Do you have an anticipated end date that you guys think you'll be hitting that 1500?

Jason: 6:01

We don't, there's a lot of variables in that as well.

Jim: 6:04

There's plenty of room and time right now for anybody that's interested. It's going to be there for a little bit.

Jason: 6:09

Absolutely.

Jim: 6:10

Yeah. We're not saying, Hey, December, this is it. No time to go. It's exciting times.

Jason: 6:14

have a lot of new names come on board to over. Time, and it's a great time to be here. It really is. It's a lot of exciting with a lot of energy with the lifestyle and the program, like we talked about and just, the onsite hospitality team provides that concierge service for the residents and their guests.

Jim: 6:32

Beyond the home purchase, what are the costs for HOA? As you said, it was two tiered. So HOA fees, any maintenance, any CDD that's going on in that area.

Jason: 6:41

So it depends on where you purchase that. So it could be around three to 300, 350 a month, and pretty much includes most everything, we can get in a little more detail if you want to, but yes, it does include landscaping. Yes, that's about the average.

Jim: 7:00

Right. And I think people, when they're looking for that lifestyle or coming in, they want as maintenance free as they can get, generally speaking, and then the ability to jump to the different. areas, jumped out of the pool, jump over the fitness center, jump in and in the restaurant. I know that's coming up. That's going to be open to the public.

Jason: 7:17

So that is coming up. We're still working on programming through that. The plan is for it to be open to the public, yes. Like everyone, the resort club, everyone has access to the resort club. And then adventure retreat has access to adventure retreat amenities, the resort club, and then cabana corner, which are smaller satellite pool, and then junction place. Everyone there has access to Junction Place and then the map of the Resort Club and then Cabana Club. So really, Junction Place does not have access to Adventure Retreat, and Adventure Retreat does not have access to that.

Jim: 7:54

So that resort's kind of that center hub. Everybody can get in and out of there. And then they have their amenities specific to their area.

Jason: 8:00

Correct.

Jim: 8:01

Okay. And

Jason: 8:01

then Cabana Corner, which everyone has as well. It's a great satellite pool. Yeah.

Jim: 8:06

Who do you think is the ideal buyer or resident for this community?

Jason: 8:10

That's a great question. It's totally open. That's my honest opinion. It's a multi gen, right? So it's the range of the home prices are affordable depending on where you are in your life. It's across the board open. Correct. And, with that new school coming on, outside of star farms and there's, there for people of all because of the prog team will install and put residents, it makes it, for everybody where wellness, lifestyle, fitness, sports courts, anything. We have the whole gamma for anyone who wants to look, come in here and be a part of what is going on here at star farms.

Jim: 8:50

Okay. And then you mentioned the concierge, is there a team that's working or the hospitality working towards setting up, pick a ball tournament or whatever's going on, whether they want to take a group that's going to go out and golf and they're arranging that. That interactive lifestyle.

Jason: 9:05

Yeah. Another great question. So the onsite hospitality team includes a trade rock coffee manager. a membership concierge manager. a director of fitness and sports courts, a licensed community association manager, a lifestyle director and myself. So that's the onsite team that we have now. So we have our team is in place to serve every piece of those puzzles the residents would want to get a part of. Great. Great lifestyle.

Jim: 9:34

And so how is the support set up for once the people have bought their house and they've moved in what's available obviously the amenities should be available right away. How else are you serving them and taking care of that homeowner?

Jason: 9:47

So when they close in their home their next step would be come to the On site team. And then we walk them through their next processes to make them feel comfortable, get them settled in, assist any way we can service wise to them and just get them in that next step of, okay, I just bought a home. A lot of stuff going on. We're here to help you serve you and assist you and make you help make you feel comfortable in this process. And that's what hospitality is, right? Just to serve others and genuinely care for others and be a part of their lives too, in this process, because we're going to be here for a long time.

Jim: 10:19

I think that really helps drive that welcome portion of it too. I've bought a house before where you get all the paperwork in a five and you're like how do I use any of this? Walk through and make you feel welcome and understand how to utilize all of that so that it's not one more chore on top of what you're doing.

Jason: 10:33

And we want to build our relationship, right? Cause life's all about relationships. We want to build that relationship. It's meeting that onsite team. It's getting to know each other and helping them again. Like I said, anyway, we can assist them as not only new homeowners, but as they walk through each year of their lives here at Star Farms,

Jim: 10:51

Oh, fantastic. What else is going on around there? That's going to contribute to that lifestyle. I know there's a lot of. Commercial is starting to come into the area. You've got the public's at white Eagle. There's another one coming down on you line. You've got a couple other different developments. What else is coming out? That you're aware of, at least in the area.

Jason: 11:09

Yeah, I moved down here in oh one and that's when university park, it was a two lane road and you saw cows on the side of the road. For myself to see the development over 23 years. It's been amazing. I absolutely love Lakewood ranch and part of people buying a star farms, they buy into Lakewood ranch as well, which is a great, it's in the top 10 mass plant community, United States. So it's amazing. So you have premier sports campus right down the road from star farms. You have that a new public, like you mentioned on the corner of you line 64, I don't know, I do not know what else is going in that shopping center at this point, probably retail, like other publics just have the K through eight schools going in on academic Boulevard, right outside of star farms. And there's going to be more building going on to the east of star farms, which I'm not sure what that is. It's all the activity going on. You have main street, you have, waterside, you have all of these things that people can do. It's about the wellness, the lifestyle, the walking trail, the dog parks. So it's being active, being healthy in your life. So there's just so much in it. Again, like I said, to see the development of this area in 23 years has been absolutely amazing. I've been fortunate to live here for that long. And it's just, and then Star Farm is coming along. It's just. That this encompasses what Lakeridge is right here.

Jim: 12:25

I like the, in its location, it's far enough out of the city that you're not in the city, right? But when you drive out and for the people listening, you're talking some nice big main roads. When you look at university, you look at State Road 70, it shoots right down to the main Street of Lakewood Ranch. Yep. Tons of restaurants, things to do, walking you've got UTC, which is a huge mall and development, Waterside, which has just started to open with some really great restaurants and Waterside dining and cocktails. So it's all close.

Jason: 12:57

A great point. Like I was talking to my two daughters who are 21 and 20, and they grew up in Lakewood Ranch too, and I tell them I'd never go west of UTC anymore. There's just no need to. Everything I have is on the east side of 75. Everything. It's like going to UTC seems far sometimes, but it's really not, but it's like everything is really in Lakewood Ranch.

Jim: 13:20

And if you need an airport, you've got SRQ and TPA that are both 40 ish minutes tops.

Jason: 13:26

Correct. So it's really accessible and everything is here.

Jim: 13:30

All right. Maybe we can speak a little bit about how does this development integrate into the local community and contribute to its future growth plans?

Jason: 13:39

Yeah, I think that goes part of the developments going on right now. Has more just move in more will go out and experience liquid ranch as well and see what it has to offer once they get settled in here. But it's networking as well. They're going to tell their people that they love star farms. They love liquid ranch. And that's definitely going to bring more people. In here is my opinion, and I don't see Liquid Ranch slowing down. I mean it is just booming and I don't see it slowing down. So it's the experience, right? When I moved down here, I experienced things I enjoy, I told people as well. Now, whether they move down or not, I don't know, but it's the connection relationships that draw people down. So I don't see slowing down whatsoever.

Jim: 14:19

Tying into that, and you hear a lot of concern across the country about environmental considerations and how those are prioritized during planning and what's going in. And I know in these big, like the plan development communities that Star Farms is. Houses are congregated, but they're close and you have a lot of open space, a lot of acreage left to enjoy that greenery or the greenways and the open areas and lakes

Jason: 14:41

by the looks of the way this was developed and that would be. A question more to the developer on this with our nature preserves here and like you said green ways and trails, they've done a great job of navigating those, the star farms, and then even on the outside, as you drive up through here, it's well manicured as well. It's just, it's done very well. It's very planned strategically. But speaking against the star farms by what our developers done strategically. Yeah. You can see that's been very important in the planning of this development. 100%.

Jim: 15:13

Are there any specific guidelines or restrictions homeowners should be aware of, such as pet policies or rental regulations that would contribute to that harmonious kind of community?

Jason: 15:23

So that's part of the welcoming that we do for our new homeowners. So there are governing documents that they're given closing. It's a pretty big doc. About 150 some pages. So what we've tried to do to help the residents is condense that into what really is due restrictions for them. It's a one pager that we've done. So there's also a RC guidelines, so any additional exterior that they do, their home has get a board approval, right? So there's guidelines they have to adhere to, and then they submit to the HOA portal and get approval for that. So those are the two major ones. The government documents and the ARC guidelines.

Jim: 15:58

And that's pretty typical and common for any kind of development

Jason: 16:02

is,

Jim: 16:02

How do you think the local real estate market has influenced sales and pricing? What are we seeing out there now? I know it's been a huge run up through the COVID years. Things have seemed to be settled out steady now, maybe rates are coming down a little bit, which would be beneficial, but I know there's all kinds of deals and things going on.

Jason: 16:20

Yeah, that's another good question. That would be more of a builder question, I think. When homes are closed every month, they're still moving. I say we're right around 600 to date. And that's pretty impressive. I believe it's slower in the summertime, it's going to ramp back up. So we're looking at, 30, 40 a month yeah. They were moving pretty well. I don't see it slowing down once you get through summertime at all.

Jim: 16:44

Yeah, you know what, and I think that's one of the fun things when you're an early adopter into a community and you see it grow and you see the growth and you, oh, I remember when the street was just getting started,

Jason: 16:55

And that's a great point. And that's the energy behind that. Because. I've been involved with t for two years where the m you know, the dirt and to and the vision by four star come to fruition, That's very energizing an energized and it gets the And that builds that lifestyle that we've talked about. So it's, that's the fun part is that.

Jim: 17:24

Yeah, absolutely. Can you share any stories or testimonials from residents that highlight their positive experience and satisfaction?

Jason: 17:31

The residents that I've spoken to speak very highly of the resort club, the amenities, the programming, there was no one specific, but it's a general consensus that they come to us with and how hospital, the onsite team is, and just. Grateful for the communication and just the planning of the property and amenities. The energy is really good. And the residents are happy with the direction this is going that I'm aware of. So it's fun to watch, to interact with them and it's about people. It's about serving them. And it's just about talking to them and their ups and downs through our ups and downs and just walking together when it's going to be okay. We're gonna get through this together. And it's that trust that's built. So they've enjoyed that and they've enjoyed. The work that four star has done to bring us to where we're at now and to 2024 and to where we're going down the road as well with the vision of the amenities and the programming. So they're very grateful for that as well.

Jim: 18:32

That's awesome. Any last words you'd like to throw out about Star Farms?

Jason: 18:36

It's a great community to be a part of. I have not been a part of a community that provides this resort ranch living before where everybody wants to, we connect together and just the excitement and the feel of the way this has been brought to fruition by four star has been really great to be part of, and I'm excited about where we're going. I'm excited about the residents who are here. who will be here it's a beautiful property. It's gorgeous. It really stands out here. And that's what's important to me is us standing out above everyone else.

Jim: 19:07

Yeah, I think you guys give off that very welcoming vibe. I live close to the area. So when you hear people talk about it, it's not necessarily exclusionary that only this group or only this group, it's, we got something for everybody and we can have a great time together. So it's got a great feel.

Jason: 19:25

That's awesome. I appreciate that.

Jim: 19:28

Jason, thank you for joining me today and being able to talk about Star Farms, the lifestyle of what's going on in here. We'll have all your information, the Star Farms information in the show notes and anyone who's interested, we'll be able to contact through you or through the individual developers in there. That way they hit their lifestyle and their target. So thanks for coming out today.

Jason: 19:47

My pleasure. Thank you for having me, Jim.