April 25, 2026· 10 min read· By Ryan Solberg
32827 Zip Code: Lake Nona Homes, New Construction, and the Medical City Premium
Inside 32827—Tavistock's master plan, Medical City employers, price range from $400K to $3M, and the CDD fee reality every Lake Nona buyer needs to understand.
Lake Nona is the most planned, most deliberate, and most talked-about neighborhood in Orlando real estate. It was designed from scratch by Tavistock Development Company starting in the 2000s, and the result is a neighborhood that doesn't feel accidental — because it isn't. Here's what buying in 32827 actually means, what the different communities offer, and why the Medical City employment base shapes the entire market.
What Tavistock Built and Why It Matters
Most Orlando neighborhoods evolved organically — a subdivision here, a commercial strip there, infrastructure added reactively. Lake Nona was designed the other way around. Tavistock acquired a large land position south of the 528 (Beachline Expressway) and developed a master plan that incorporated medical institutions, a tech incubator, residential communities, retail, and parks as a cohesive whole.
The result: Lake Nona has a legible structure. You know where the town center is. You know where the parks are. The roads connect logically. The mixed-use areas are mixed-use on purpose, not by accident.
That deliberateness has a price. Everything in Lake Nona is newer construction. Most residential communities are within CDDs (Community Development Districts). The "character" is still being built — the mature trees and worn-in neighborhood feel that Winter Park or Dr. Phillips have will take another 30 years to develop here.
For buyers coming from the Northeast who are used to planned communities (Reston, The Woodlands, Irvine), Lake Nona reads immediately as high-quality. For buyers who value historic character, it reads as sterile. Know which buyer you are.
Medical City: The Employment Engine
Medical City is the cluster of healthcare employers on the eastern edge of the master plan:
- UCF College of Medicine — one of Florida's public medical schools, opened 2009
- Nemours Children's Hospital — regional children's specialty hospital
- Orlando Health UCF Cancer Center — cancer treatment and research
- VA Medical Center Orlando — full-service VA hospital
- AdventHealth at Lake Nona (under development/expanded)
- Sanford-Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute — biomedical research
These employers collectively represent thousands of high-income jobs for physicians, researchers, nurses, administrators, and support professionals. The majority of those employees want to live near where they work, and 32827 is where they live. This employment base is what explains the income profile of the neighborhood, the school performance, and the sustained demand.
The USTA (United States Tennis Association) National Campus
The USTA National Campus at Lake Nona is the largest tennis facility in the world — 100+ courts on a purpose-built campus that hosts national training programs and tournaments. It's also a significant employer and draws sports-oriented buyers who value proximity to high-level athletic facilities.
For tennis-playing buyers, USTA membership and proximity to the campus is a real amenity. For everyone else, it's a source of short-term rental demand and event traffic on campus roads.
Key Residential Communities in 32827
Laureate Park
Laureate Park is Tavistock's flagship residential community within Lake Nona — roughly 1,200 acres of mixed-use, walkable (by Florida standards) neighborhoods designed around a central High Performance Living model. It includes:
- Single-family homes from $500K to $1.5M
- Townhomes from $400K to $600K
- Apartments (rentals, not relevant to buyers)
- LP Fit (community fitness campus)
- A dedicated fiber internet network
- Parks, trails, and community gardens
The design aesthetic is contemporary — modern farmhouse and neo-traditional architecture, alley-loaded garages, front porch culture. The community has a strong resident association culture and is popular with young professional families.
The tradeoff in Laureate Park: homes are on smaller lots than in older Orlando neighborhoods, and the newer construction means everything is still growing in. If you're coming from a large-lot suburban background, LP will feel dense.
Storey Park
Storey Park is a newer, larger community that straddles the 32827/32832 boundary on the eastern side of Lake Nona. It's built by Tavistock in partnership with multiple builders and offers more price diversity than Laureate Park — homes from $380K to $800K. The neighborhood has community amenities (pool, park, fiber internet) but is less walkable than LP and has a more conventional suburban feel.
Storey Park is where buyers who want "Lake Nona" at a more accessible price point end up. The school zones are comparable (Lake Nona High is the high school), and the Medical City drive is similar.
Ravenna at Tavistock
Ravenna is the luxury tier within the Lake Nona master plan — a gated, lower-density community with larger custom homes. Prices range from $1.5M to $3M+. It's adjacent to the Lake Nona Golf & Country Club (a private club with membership separate from home purchase). For buyers who want the Lake Nona address at the luxury level, Ravenna is the answer.
Eagle Creek
Eagle Creek is a gated community on the western edge of 32827 near Narcoossee Road. It has a golf course (members/residents club), single-family homes priced from $500K to $1.2M, and a more established feel than Laureate Park — the development started earlier (2007). Eagle Creek is popular with Medical City physicians who want gated privacy and golf without paying Ravenna prices.
CDD Fees: The Number Everyone Forgets
CDDs are a common mechanism for financing infrastructure in Florida master-planned communities. Here's what they mean practically:
A CDD is a special taxing district. When you buy in a CDD community, your annual property tax bill includes a CDD assessment — typically split between a debt service portion (paying off infrastructure bonds) and a maintenance portion (ongoing upkeep). This appears as a separate line item on your tax bill.
In Lake Nona communities, CDD fees range approximately:
- Storey Park: $2,000–$3,000/year
- Laureate Park: $2,500–$4,000/year
- Eagle Creek: $1,800–$2,800/year
- Ravenna: $3,000–$5,000+/year
This is not a small number. On a $600K home in Laureate Park, a $3,500 CDD adds roughly $290/month to your effective housing cost — the equivalent of a meaningful mortgage rate difference. It also does not go away when you refinance, unlike mortgage insurance.
The debt service portion of a CDD decreases over time as the bonds are paid off, typically over 20–30 years. Some older communities have retired their CDDs; newer ones are in the early years of the debt cycle. Always ask your agent to pull the CDD schedule for any property you're seriously considering.
Price Ranges in 32827 (Q1 2026)
| Community / Tier | Property Type | Price Range |
|---|---|---|
| Storey Park | 3/2 SFH, new construction | $380K–$550K |
| Laureate Park | 3/2 townhome | $400K–$520K |
| Laureate Park | 4/3 SFH | $550K–$950K |
| Eagle Creek | 4/4 SFH with golf | $600K–$1.2M |
| Laureate Park | 5/4 custom SFH | $900K–$1.5M |
| Ravenna | Custom estate | $1.5M–$3M+ |
| Lake Nona Golf & CC adjacent | Custom luxury | $2M–$4M |
What's Driving Demand Beyond the Hospitals
Airport proximity. Lake Nona is 15–20 minutes from Orlando International Airport. For frequent business travelers, this is a significant quality-of-life factor that doesn't show up in school rankings or community amenities.
Epic Universe / Theme Park corridor. The new Epic Universe theme park (opened May 2025, operated by Universal) is about 25–30 minutes from Lake Nona. This has pushed up short-term rental interest in the 32827 adjacent areas, though Lake Nona proper has stricter HOA rules around STRs.
Infrastructure investment. SunRail commuter rail has a Lake Nona station in the planning/funding pipeline, and the 417/528 interchange provides highway access in multiple directions. The city of Orlando has invested meaningfully in this corridor.
Who Buys in Lake Nona
The Lake Nona buyer profile I see most often:
- Dual-income professional couple, one or both in healthcare
- Relocating from the Northeast or Midwest, drawn by Medical City employment
- Children of school age, prioritizing A-rated schools and new facilities
- First-time Florida buyers who want new construction rather than an older home with deferred maintenance
- International buyers (South American physicians, Middle Eastern medical families) drawn by Medical City
The buyer I don't typically see in Lake Nona: the historic-character buyer, the walkability-first buyer, or the buyer who prioritizes eccentricity and local flavor over planning and consistency.
Ryan Solberg is a luxury real estate agent with MaxLife Realty specializing in Lake Nona, Dr. Phillips, Winter Park, and Windermere.
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