A master plan for a new development sought to replace a multi-acre horse farm that was sold earlier this year for $4.4 million calls for the construction of 202 homes at the site in northwest Ocala.
On December 11, Tillman and Associates Engineering filed a waiver request with the Marion County Development Review Committee on behalf of Sabana Owner, LLC, for Estela Living, the new development.
That request was heard by the MCDRC during its regular meeting on Monday, December 16.
According to state corporate records, Sabana Owner, LLC is owned by Luis Yanes, Luis Yanes, Jr., Rafael Celis, and Nicolas Salgado, all of whom are in the real estate investment industry. The company has a registered address in Key Biscayne, Florida.
During Monday’s meeting, officials heard the property owner’s request to waive a requirement that calls for approval of the improvement plan prior to approval of the master plan.
Plans are generally approved in the same order: 1. Master Plan, 2. Preliminary Plat, 3. Improvement Plan, 4. Final Plat, and 5. Major Site Plan.
According to staff, the applicant has already submitted a master plan that is scheduled to come before the Marion County Board of County Commissioners next March.
Located at 3718 NW 44th Avenue, just northwest of the Interstate 75, U.S. Highway 27 interchange in Ocala, the site encompasses over 74 acres, a portion of which was sold for $4,400,000 on October 8.
The master plan for Estela Living shows the community will have approximately 202 residences.
According to county property records, the farm was previously owned by Migdaly Serra and her family, who operated a Thoroughbred racing and breeding operation for over a decade at the site.
That family originally decided to move their operations from Venezuela to Ocala in the 2010s because of the city’s “future potential,” according to an article published in BloodHorse in 2020.
The possible addition of yet another development in northwest Ocala comes as no surprise. That section of the city has seen a explosion in residential and commercial growth over the past several years.
That includes several phases of Ocala Preserve, a new set of luxury apartments in Spires 27, a new Starbucks, and a new hotel, among other developments.
