Home buyers are increasingly being enticed by beachfront-like homes that share stunning neighborhood lagoons for relaxing and leisure. Indeed, the concept of “crystal lagoons” is likely to expand in the U.S., CNBC reported.
To date, five lagoon communities exist in two U.S. states, Florida and Texas, and seven more are set to open later this year in California and Pennsylvania. One company that builds the large pool areas says it has orders for 30 more throughout the U.S.
The artificial lagoons can stretch as far as 8 acres and contain more than 16 million gallons of water. They’re often surrounded by an artificial sandy beach, and the water is often crystal clean or simply blue, just like the Caribbean Sea.
“When you see this thing, it really, really pops and is spectacular,” Greg Singleton, president of the Metro Development Group, told CNBC.
His company worked with a firm called Crystal Lagoons to develop a community in the Tampa, Florida, area. “It’s way cheaper than a golf course, and it appeals to so many different people. It just became a cost-benefit analysis for us. We thought we’d sell more homes quicker and get a price premium when it’s all said and done.”
There are no less than seven builders currently building over 1,000 homes around the Tampa lagoon, with prices starting at $200,000. And the homes are selling much faster than those in nearby area, Singleton said.
The water is constantly filtered in the lagoon, whose creators say it uses around 100-times fewer chemicals than conventional swimming pools, and just 2% of the energy. In addition, the lagoon’s water level can be reduced ahead of a storm so there’s no chance of flooding.
“We’ve got 30 signed projects and it’s really been kind of an inflection curve in the last couple of years,” Eric Cherasia, vice president of Crystal Lagoons, told CNBC.