Toll Brothers is bringing its Regency active-adult brand to Howey-in-the-Hills, the small Lake County town on the shore of Lake Harris northwest of Orlando. Regency at Lake Hills will offer three collections of homes from about 1,600 to more than 3,300 square feet, priced from the mid-$400,000s, with sales expected to start in summer 2027 (via Toll Brothers).
The homes will go on the Lake Hills tract at the corner of County Road 48 and State Road 19, which Orlando-based Reader Communities bought in early 2025. Reader's project page and a 2025 Florida YIMBY report describe it as about 220 acres planned for roughly 560 homes for buyers 55 and older. Reader handles the infrastructure and land prep with development partner Hillwood Communities, and Toll Brothers buys the finished parcels and builds every home.
The town's own paperwork adds detail. Howey-in-the-Hills' Major Development Report, updated in October 2025, shows a preliminary subdivision plan approved for 571 age-restricted units: 98 two-family units on 40-foot lots, 321 single-family homes on 50-foot lots and 152 on 60-foot lots, split into five phases. The Town Council approved the main boulevard and mass grading plans on April 14, 2025. The report also notes a 19-acre school site sold to the Lake County School District, a replacement water plant on the north end, and a commercial piece anchored by a roughly 50,800-square-foot grocery store. One open item as of that update: the project still needed a sewage treatment capacity commitment.
Toll is pitching a resort-style setup. The release lists a lakeview clubhouse, a resort-style pool, a fitness center with a sauna, hot tub and yoga room, tennis and pickleball courts, a golf simulator room, an event lawn, a dog park and walking and biking trails. There's also a boat dock with access to the Harris Chain of Lakes, and a full-time lifestyle director to run events. Streets are planned to be golf-cart friendly.
Location is a big part of the pitch. Mission Resort + Club's golf courses are across the street, and a new Publix is planned next door. Toll's homes will come with the usual open floor plans and design-studio options.
"We are thrilled to introduce Regency at Lake Hills, a premier active-adult community," said Brock Fanning, president of Toll's Central Florida division.
The project is one piece of a much bigger wave in Howey. Spectrum News reported in September that the town of about 2,000 residents expects to go from roughly 1,000 homes to 4,000 within a decade. Town Manager Sean O'Keefe told the station that several of the projects now moving were first approved in 2005 and 2006, then shelved when the housing market crashed. The town's report lists others in the pipeline, including Meritage's Hillside Groves on the south side, Mission Rise, Watermark and Whispering Heights.
That growth has its critics. Residents have pushed back on traffic and on new commercial projects, and O'Keefe said keeping the town's small-town character, especially in the core, is a priority.
Why it matters for Contractors
More than 500 age-restricted homes with a full amenity package add up to a few years of steady work in south Lake County. Toll will build the homes with its own trade partners, so framers, roofers, drywall crews, HVAC and plumbing subs who want in should be talking to Toll's Central Florida division before vertical construction ramps up. The site work and amenity buildout run through Reader Communities and its contractors.
For small remodelers and specialty shops, 55+ buyers are a good long-term customer base. Once homes close, owners are natural customers for things like screened lanais, grab bars and aging-in-place tweaks, golf cart garage storage, and lake-access upgrades the builder doesn't offer.
And with Howey's home count expected to roughly quadruple, it's worth watching town council and planning agendas. The town posts a Major Development Report that tracks each project's approvals and permit status, which is a handy way to see what's coming before the groundbreaking.