Inside Club Catalina, there will be a large central lobby and lounge space. A smaller lobby space will lead to a 500-person banquet hall, complete with a stage, a concessions area, a catering kitchen, and a demo kitchen for cooking classes. The hall would be ideal for concerts, movies, events, and entertainment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rounding out the high-end amenities will be an arts and crafts room, three card rooms, a poker room, a billiards room, a space for arts and crafts, office spaces and a multipurpose room that can double as a movie theater.\u00a0 A large indoor dining room with tables and booths, and an expansive outdoor dining and lounge area, will be located next to a bar and a full-service restaurant serving lunch and dinner. Additionally, a wellness area will have a nail spa, a hair salon, a cold plunge and mineral spa, multiple massage rooms, table tennis, men\u2019s and women\u2019s locker rooms with a sauna, a sports simulation room, a yoga room and outdoor yoga space, and a gym with cardio and weight equipment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since community programming has become a non-negotiable among 55-plus homebuyers as well, an on-site fitness director, lifestyle director and trainers for the sports courts and gym will also be available to residents.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a cruise ship on land,\u201d Akel said. \u201cWe have to compete, and that\u2019s your opportunity to wow them, by providing everything at their convenience within their community. That\u2019s what makes this community so special\u2026you don\u2019t have to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
Homes at Catalina Palms at Sundance price from the low $300,000s up to the $800,000s, and include a mix of attached villas and detached single-family residences.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many prospective buyers interested in the community are from nearby Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade Counties, all of which offer significantly higher prices for far fewer amenities. Other prospects are from expensive Northeastern markets such as New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe kind of sucked the oxygen out of the market in such a short period of time because our pricing is really strong, our features are a step above the competition and our proposed amenities are some of the largest that have ever been built before for a master plan community,\u201d Akel explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Creating an attractive selling experience<\/p>\n
Catalina Palms at Sundance now has a 12,000-square-foot sales center, but the sales experience starts at the front entrance. When prospective buyers enter the community, they are greeted by a multi-million dollar entrance feature with 260-foot-long fountains on each side of the entrance road.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"catalina-palms_hero_013026\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/catalina-palms_hero_013026_eb8dfd.png\")
(Courtesy of Akel Homes)<\/p>\n
Having a grand entrance and creating a memorable first impression were important parts of the community\u2019s design and aesthetic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEven before we got to the clubhouse, we wanted to take a hospitality focus to everything that we do. The community needs to look like you\u2019re coming into a high-end, exclusive resort,\u201d he said,\u00a0<\/p>\n
From there, prospective buyers pass through a gatehouse before pulling up to the sales center.\u00a0 Inside the sales center, there is a design studio, at least a dozen standalone offices, customer lounges, a \u201clifestyle wall\u201d with a 55-inch micro LED TV, and a 3D model of Club Catalina. According to Akel, the sales center is designed to resemble a resort reception area rather than a traditional sales office.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The community offers 29 plans, and 18 of them are now available for viewing as furnished models on-site. The rest of the floor plans can be viewed interactively in the sales center.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEven the floor plans\u2026we have them on rotating pyramids so it\u2019s kind of interactive, and people get up close and personal with the product, rather than just sticking some floor plans on the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n
The strength of the active-adult segment<\/p>\n
Active adult communities are arguably the strongest segment in homebuilding right now, and Census data helps explain why. In 2010, less than 13% of the United States population was 65 or older.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That share has continued to increase every year since, climbing to 16% in 2020 and about 18% in 2024, and is expected to continue to increase in future years. This is a trend that Akel has focused carefully on in Akel Homes\u2019 strategic planning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSouth Florida, obviously being a magnet for that demographic, is well-positioned to take advantage of that perfect storm. We\u2019ve been sitting on this project for the last 20 years, so we\u2019re looking at this as a long-term play, and we see it as something that\u2019s going to be incredibly successful,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n