In November 2025, the homeowners association at Southshore Bay Lagoon in Wimauma bought its own clubhouse from Lennar for $8,550,000. The purchase is recorded under Hillsborough County instrument numbers 2025497697 through 2025497700. Members are now paying roughly $108 a month in special assessments just to service the loan that made it possible, according to the community's own resident-run tracking site, MedleyMembers.net.
Southshore Bay and Mirada were built by the same developer, under the same corporate structure, with clubhouses branded under the same "Medley" name. And according to a review of the recorded documents by the independent Pasco County outlet Medley Dispatch, Mirada's Club Plan contains the identical purchase-option language that put that $8.55 million bill on Southshore Bay's residents.
The Clause Reads the Same at Mirada
Every Lennar community built around a clubhouse and lagoon amenity operates under a recorded Club Plan, a legal document separate from the HOA declaration that governs who owns the amenity center and under what terms it can change hands. Section 5.5 of Mirada's Club Plan gives the power to buy the club to the HOA board alone. The document states the board may exercise the option "without the joinder of any Owner or any other person or entity." Once Lennar sets what the plan calls the Option Date, the sitting board has 90 days to act on it.
That means the decision to spend millions of dollars acquiring the clubhouse from the developer, and to pass the cost of that acquisition on to homeowners through assessments, never comes back to residents as a direct vote. It's a board decision, full stop.
What Southshore Bay's Timeline Actually Looked Like
The part that should give any Mirada buyer pause isn't the mechanism itself. Developer buyback options on amenity centers aren't unusual in Florida master-planned communities. It's the timeline.
Southshore Bay's resident board was seated in October 2024. By April 2025, six months later, documents confirmed the purchase option was already active, while the board had publicly described an expected window running to April 2027. Mirada's Club Plan contains the same timeline language as Southshore Bay's.
For someone weighing a purchase in Mirada based on today's advertised HOA and CDD numbers, that's the actual risk. It isn't a slow-moving, well-telegraphed process with years of runway for a new board to study the numbers and hold community meetings. It's a clock that can start earlier than a buyer would expect, and 90 days is not a long window to raise millions of dollars.
| Southshore Bay Lagoon | Mirada | |
|---|---|---|
| Same Club Plan option language | Confirmed by document review | Confirmed by document review |
| Purchase option exercised | Yes, November 2025, $8,550,000 | Not yet; no Option Date publicly confirmed |
| Direct resident vote on the purchase | None | None, per Section 5.5 |
| Financial result for residents | Roughly $108/month in special assessments | Unknown until the option is exercised |
The Ballot Is the Only Vote You Actually Get
On September 16, 2026, residents at Medley at Mirada, the 55-plus section of the community, held a Turnover Election, choosing three directors from a field of seven candidates. Ballots went out through GetQuorum, either cast electronically, delegated by proxy through the same platform, or returned on paper by residents who hadn't consented to electronic voting.
The candidates included Jody Lazzara, who moved to Medley at Mirada in October 2025 after 13 years in nearby San Antonio and previously served as treasurer and vice president of the Wood Ridge HOA board. Karen Ford, a nearly seven-year Mirada resident, campaigned on a record of pulling county-filed development plans to track what could be built near the community. Ellen Greco ran for a third term citing two years on the board and 37 years of U.S. Air Force leadership experience. Alejandero Kelly, an IT supervisor with the U.S. Treasury and IRS, listed transparency and financial stewardship among his stated priorities. Brad Warren and Catherine Hegarty rounded out part of the field, with Warren and Lazzara addressing residents at a separate "Cookies, Coffee & Candidate Chat" event on August 19 after both missed the official Candidates Night a week later.
Even the mechanics of the vote drew scrutiny. Candidate Jeffrey Clay flagged that the return address printed on paper ballots listed the community's zip code incorrectly, posting the concern to the Medley at Mirada Concerns Facebook page.
None of the seven candidates ran on a formal position regarding the club purchase itself, because there was nothing to run on. The purchase decision belongs to whoever holds the board seats, whenever Lennar sets the date. The election was the only moment residents had any say in who makes that call. There is no future ballot where the purchase itself comes up for a vote.
What Transfers Automatically If a Board Says Yes
If a future Mirada board exercises the option, Section 5.7 of the Club Plan states the Association is deemed to have automatically assumed every continuing service contract tied to the club. That includes the three-year management agreement Lennar's LEN-Medley at Mirada Club LLC signed with True Club, operated by Troon, in September 2025. That contract runs through roughly September 2028.
Assuming that contract isn't optional once the option is exercised. It comes with Lennar's existing operating standards, staffing levels, and the obligation to keep running the club as a full-service amenity, including the requirement to maintain it as a sales and marketing tool while Lennar still has Lagoon Villas on the market. A newly resident-controlled board wouldn't just be buying a building. It would be buying the staffing and service commitments that came with it, mid-contract, with no renegotiation window.
What This Means If You're Comparing Communities
If you're weighing Mirada against other new-construction communities in San Antonio and northern Pasco County, the monthly HOA and CDD figures quoted on a builder's site or a listing sheet are a starting point, not a ceiling. Ask directly whether the community's Declaration and Club Plan contain a developer purchase-option clause. Ask whether an Option Date has been set, or whether the board has been briefed on when one might be. If the answer is vague, the Southshore Bay timeline shows why the question is worth asking early.
This isn't unique to one address. Metro Development Group's other Lennar-built "Medley" communities, including Medley at Angeline, Medley Club at Prosperity Lakes, and Medley Club at New Port Corners, share the same corporate structure as Mirada and Southshore Bay, though their individual Club Plan language hasn't yet been independently reviewed the way Mirada's and Southshore Bay's have. Anyone comparing lagoon-amenity communities across that developer's Tampa Bay footprint is looking at the same open question in each one.
For a fuller breakdown of what Mirada's HOA and CDD fees actually run today, our earlier piece on Mirada's fee structure walks through the numbers by builder section. And if new construction elsewhere in San Antonio is on your comparison list, our guide to the area's newer communities covers what else is in active development right now.
A Few Straight Answers
Does this only affect the 55-plus section of Mirada? The Club Plan governs the shared amenity center and lagoon access, which serves the broader Mirada community, not just the Medley active-adult section. The board election covered here was specific to Medley at Mirada's own turnover process, but the purchase-option clause sits in the Club Plan that applies more broadly.
Can I read the Club Plan myself before making an offer? Yes. It's a recorded instrument, filed with Pasco County official records alongside the community's Declaration and Bylaws. A title company or real estate attorney handling your closing can pull it directly.
Is there any point where residents get a direct vote on the purchase? Based on the recorded language in Section 5.5, no. The board's authority to exercise the option doesn't require a separate resident referendum. The board election is the mechanism, not a preview of one.
If you're comparing Mirada, or any other Lennar lagoon community, against the rest of what San Antonio and northern Pasco County have to offer, the Club Plan is worth reading before the purchase contract, not after. Alicia Chapman can pull the recorded documents for any community you're considering and walk through exactly what you'd be agreeing to before you sign anything.
