- Who: Brookfield Kolter Land Partners, the land development affiliate of The Kolter Group, with eight to nine homebuilders signed on.
- What: A roughly 3,300-acre master-planned community held its public debut, with seven neighborhoods already under site work.
- Where: North of Glades Cut Off Road in western St. Lucie County, west of Port St. Lucie.
Solaeris held its community debut on Friday, Oct. 9, at the development entrance on Glades Cut Off Road, marking the first public milestone for a project that has been moving through county approvals since late 2024.
Readers who have followed this one before may know it by its original name. The project was filed and reported for years as Oak Ridge Ranches.
Where the Project Stands
Seven neighborhoods have begun site work and master roadways are nearing completion, according to the developer. The first model homes are expected to open in spring 2027, with construction continuing through that year.
The master plan is divided into pods, each sold to a different builder. Builders identified within the community include D.R. Horton, Esplanade by Taylor Morrison, K. Hovnanian Homes, Meritage Homes, Perry Homes, Pulte Homes, Reverie by Dream Finders Homes, Ryan Homes and Taylor Morrison.
The 11 neighborhoods span active adult 55-plus through all-ages communities, each with its own amenity center.
What Was Approved
The development is approved for up to 650,000 square feet of commercial space and preserves more than 700 acres of pine and palm forest, waterways and green space, which the developer says will be accessible by trails.
On housing totals, figures have shifted. The developer’s October announcement states approval for up to 8,100 homes. Earlier county approval documentation and prior reporting referenced up to 8,600 residential units. The difference has not been publicly explained, and the final buildout number may depend on how individual pods are platted.
During the approval process, the developer committed to 400 affordable housing units in response to county and community requests. School sites are also part of the approved master plan, with earlier county documentation referencing an increase in the number of K-8 school sites during negotiations.
The Road Commitments
This is the part with the widest effect on people who do not live there.
Solaeris carries agreements to extend and expand Crosstown Parkway, improve Range Line Road and the intersection at Glades Cut Off Road, and extend Range Line Road further.
The community sits north of Glades Cut Off Road and west of the future Range Line Road extension, with access to Interstate 95 and Florida’s Turnpike.
How It Got Here
County commissioners began approving the first pods in November 2024. Esplanade at Solaeris, the Taylor Morrison golf community, received unanimous approval that month. Aurora at Solaeris and The Reverie at Solaeris received final approval on Jan. 21, 2025.
The developer says the project took six years of planning and entitlement work to reach this point.
The approvals were not unanimous in spirit. Commissioners raised questions during the process about residential density, infrastructure capacity and environmental impact, and traffic has remained the most persistent concern given a projected population in the tens of thousands.
Why It Matters
At the debut, St. Lucie County Commissioner Cathy Townsend of District 5 characterized Solaeris as the first project the county has approved in nearly 30 years. That framing is worth understanding precisely.
The county has approved plenty of development in that window, including Tradition and St. Lucie West. What prior reporting supports is narrower: Solaeris is among the largest residential approvals in St. Lucie County in more than three decades. Townsend’s comment reads as shorthand for a new master-planned community of this scale rather than a literal approval drought.
Either way, the scale is real. A buildout of 8,000-plus homes west of the current city edge reshapes where Treasure Coast growth goes next, and the road commitments attached to it will affect commuters well outside the community.
Additional neighborhood announcements are expected in coming months.
