Arborwood Preserve

Arborwood Preserve is a gated community in Fort Myers spanning 332 acres, including 73 acres of lakes and more than 20 acres of nature preserve, originally developed by WCI Communities, which purchased the land in January 2015 and announced the community in February 2016. Lennar Corporation’s roughly $643 million acquisition of WCI Communities, completed in February 2017, transferred the balance of the community’s development to Lennar, which has built out the remaining phases of the planned 827 single-family and attached homes; the community is now reported as sold out of new construction. Arborwood Preserve is explicitly positioned as an alternative to golf-community living, with no on-site golf course and instead a substantial Town Center amenity complex offering a resort-style pool, a movie theater, an on-site restaurant, tennis, pickleball, and bocce courts. At least one Yelp reviewer expressed disappointment that "WCI products are no longer being built in the neighborhood" and felt Lennar’s later product was less appealing than the original WCI-built homes, a genuine, if anecdotal, quality-perception complaint tied to the WCI-to-Lennar builder transition. The community’s age-restriction status is a real, unresolved question worth disclosing plainly: some retirement-community aggregator sites market it as 55-plus, while other sources describe it as open to all ages and families, and this research could not access a primary deed document to settle the matter either way. Total carrying costs are similarly unsettled: three independent sources give HOA and CDD-adjacent fee figures ranging from roughly $1,500 to nearly $6,000 per year depending on home type and which fee categories (Master HOA, neighborhood HOA, mandatory club dues, food-and-beverage minimums) are bundled together, a genuine complexity that buyers should confirm directly with the HOA before purchasing rather than rely on marketing figures. This research found no dedicated news coverage or community-specific damage report documenting Hurricane Ian’s impact on Arborwood Preserve in September 2022; the only concrete related data point found was a City of Fort Myers building-permit record showing a $12,000 screen-enclosure replacement at one specific address, finalized in August 2023, consistent with routine post-Ian lanai and screen repair rather than catastrophic damage. Given the community’s inland location along the Treeline Avenue/Gateway corridor near I-75, well away from the coastal storm-surge zones that devastated Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel, it is reasonable to infer the community saw primarily wind and screen/lanai damage rather than severe flooding, but no community-specific source confirms this directly, and it should be treated as informed context rather than a verified fact. No HOA litigation, board disputes, or major resident controversies were found in this research, which should be read as an absence of findings rather than confirmation that none exist. Given how many of this community’s core figures, from home count to total carrying costs, come from conflicting secondary sources rather than a single primary document, prospective buyers should treat this profile as a starting point for direct verification with the HOA and CDD offices before relying on any specific dollar figure.

Age Restriction

Arborwood Preserve’s age-restriction status is genuinely conflicting across sources: several retirement-community aggregator sites (55places.com, activeadultliving.com) list and market it as a "55-plus community," while other sources state it is not legally age-restricted and is open to all ages and families. This research could not access a primary deed-restriction document to resolve the conflict definitively, and it should be disclosed to buyers as an open question rather than asserted either way.

Housing Types

• Single-family "Manor Homes"
• Single-family "Executive Homes"
• Attached "4-Plex" coach/carriage homes
• Villas
• Grand Villas

Pricing

WCI Communities purchased the land for Arborwood Preserve in January 2015; the community was announced in February 2016 bordering Gateway Golf & Country Club, with sales centers and models opening later that year. Lennar Corporation’s roughly $643 million acquisition of WCI Communities, completed February 2017, made Lennar the builder for the balance of the community’s build-out. Total planned homes are consistently reported at 827 single-family and attached homes across 332 total acres, including 73 acres of lakes and more than 20 acres of nature preserve. The community is now reported as sold out of new construction, implying it has reached or nearly reached its full planned home count, though this research could not independently confirm an exact final built total. Original 2016-2017 launch pricing ran from the low $200,000s to the $400,000s; current resale listings (as of a 2025-2026 snapshot) range roughly $319,000 to $1,100,000, with a trailing 12-month median sale price reported as either $475,000 or $500,000 depending on the aggregator, and one source noting homes here average 108 days on market versus a 56-day national average, a soft indicator of slower resale velocity.

Fees & Assessments

HOA Dues: HOA fee figures conflict substantially across three independent sources and could not be reconciled: one source cites a flat $125 per month; a second, itemized by product type, cites annual dues of $2,596 for villa homes up to $3,925 for carriage homes, plus a one-time working capital contribution of $800 to $1,050 depending on home type; a third source describes single-family homes paying a $597 quarterly Master HOA fee plus a mandatory $405 club fee and a $200 food-and-beverage minimum (totaling roughly $4,568 per year), with condos/attached homes paying more (roughly $5,972 per year) once a separate condo fee is added. These figures range from roughly $1,500 to nearly $6,000 per year depending on home type and which fee components are bundled, and buyers should confirm current dues directly with the HOA rather than rely on any single source. A separate Arborwood Community Development District, established under Florida Statute Chapter 190 with an elected five-member board, levies its own non-ad-valorem assessment on the Lee County property tax bill covering operations, maintenance, and capital-improvement bond debt service; this research could not obtain the specific current CDD dollar amount.

Amenities

• A Town Center/clubhouse complex, reported inconsistently as either roughly 8,000 or more than 23,000 square feet, including a fitness wing, banquet/café wing, and activity wing per one architectural source
• Resort-style swimming pool (roughly 4,000 square feet, with lap lanes per one source) plus a spa
• Movie theater, card room, arts and crafts studio, and coffee lounge
• On-site restaurant and outdoor dining pavilion with a bar, plus a fire pit and event lawn
• 4 lighted tennis courts, 4 pickleball courts, and 2 bocce ball courts
• No on-site golf course; the community is explicitly marketed as an alternative to golf-community living, with several off-site golf clubs nearby
• Guard-gated entrance with 24-hour security

Getting Around

Healthcare: Gulf Coast Medical Center (Lee Health system) is the nearest major hospital referenced in connection with the Daniels Parkway/Gateway corridor where Arborwood Preserve sits, with a general driving distance of roughly 6 miles cited for the broader area, though this figure was not calculated specifically from the community’s address.

Airport: Southwest Florida International Airport is reported at roughly 15 minutes away, with the community explicitly marketed as being "in the heart of the Gateway corridor, minutes from RSW Airport." Gulf Coast Town Center, JetBlue Park, and Hammond Stadium are all cited as being within a short drive, with longer-drive options including Bell Tower Plaza, Edison Mall, Coconut Point Mall, and Miromar Outlets.