Westlake at Wellen Park: New Homes, Builders & Amenities Guide

New Community Spotlight | By Tana Showalter, Rogue Realty

There's a brand new gated community that just opened for sales in Wellen Park — built around a 30-acre lake, sitting right across the street from Downtown Wellen — and it comes from builders that have already proven themselves in the area. Here's what Westlake actually is, why ICI Homes is the builder to pay closest attention to, and why their already-established community, Palmera, is the best proof of what to expect.

What Is Westlake?

Westlake officially opened for sales this month, and it's already worth your attention. It's a brand new, gated neighborhood of luxury custom and semi-custom single-family homes — 156 homesites total, built around a 30-acre lake and wetland preserves. It's ICI Homes' third community in Wellen Park, and it's not ICI alone here — Lee Wetherington Homes, Neal Signature Homes, and Homes by WestBay are also building in Westlake, so you're getting a real range of custom and semi-custom product in one gated neighborhood.

"You're getting the privacy of a gated, custom-home neighborhood without giving up the walkability that makes Wellen Park itself so popular."

The location is what really stands out. Westlake sits right across the street from Downtown Wellen — which is not something every new community in this market can say.

Why ICI Homes Is the One to Watch Here

Of the builders in Westlake, ICI Homes deserves real attention, because their approach is genuinely different from most production and semi-custom builders in this market.

ICI is based in Daytona Beach, with over four decades of Florida-specific building experience, and they're ranked among the nation's top builders with a customer recommendation score in the mid-90s. But the number doesn't tell the story — how they actually build does.

Most builders in this price range give you a floor plan and a menu of upgrades. ICI's approach is closer to true customization. They'll move walls, reconfigure a floor plan, add a private gym, build for multigenerational living — things that are simply off the table with a lot of semi-custom builders, where the floor plan is the floor plan and your choices are finishes, not structure. If you're the kind of buyer who has a specific vision for how a home should actually function, not just look, this is the differentiator that matters.

The Proof: Palmera

Here's why ICI is a confident choice in a brand new community that hasn't fully built out yet: they've already done this exact thing successfully, right down the road, at Palmera.

Palmera is ICI's first Wellen Park community, and it's a much bigger neighborhood — six builders, an estimated 1,260 homes at build-out. It's already established, it's selling well, and the amenity package there is impressive: a coastal-inspired clubhouse, resort-style pool, golf simulator, fitness center, pickleball, splash pad, and on-site dining. That's the kind of amenity package you'd expect from a large-scale, multi-builder community, because Palmera has the scale to support it.

Westlake is a different animal from Palmera — much smaller, at 156 homesites instead of over a thousand. So don't walk in expecting a Palmera-sized amenity center. What Westlake offers is proportional to its size: a real amenity area with a resort-style pool, poolside cabanas, a clubhouse, and pickleball courts — appropriately scaled for a smaller, more intimate, gated community. That's not a knock on Westlake. It's actually part of the appeal for a certain buyer — trading amenity scale for privacy, exclusivity, and a quieter neighborhood feel, while still being an easy walk to everything Downtown Wellen offers.

Who Westlake Is Actually For

If you want a true custom or semi-custom home, want a builder who will actually work with you on how the home functions rather than just what finishes you pick, and you value walkability to a real downtown over having every amenity on-site in your own neighborhood — this is worth a serious look.

And if you're not sure ICI's approach is right for you, Palmera is a great place to see it in person first. Same builder, same customization philosophy, just at a larger scale and further along in construction — so you can walk a nearly-finished product before committing to something still being built out in Westlake.

Frequently Asked Questions

Westlake is new, it's smaller, and it's proven by a builder that's already delivering nearby at Palmera. If you want to talk through whether this is the right fit for you — or how it compares to other Wellen Park communities — reach out before you register at any sales center. There's no cost to you; my fee is paid by the builder.

Tana Showalter

Broker/Owner, Rogue Realty

Tana specializes in buyer representation across Lakewood Ranch, Wellen Park, Sarasota, and Parrish — with a focus on out-of-state buyers navigating new construction for the first time. No fluff, no upsell, just straight answers.

Work With Tana