For D-FW Parrotheads 55-Plus, You Won’t Be ‘Wastin’ Away’ in This Kind of Margaritaville

Can you imagine the homeowners association meetings in Latitude Margaritaville? Mature residents wearing Hawaiian shirts and parrot hats, carrying tropical drinks, and quoting Jimmy Buffett when talking to the board while Margaritaville plays in the background.

That could be the scene in the Dallas area soon. Last week, Margaritaville and Tampa, Fla.-based Minto Communities USA announced that Latitude Margaritaville is expanding into the Dallas, Austin, and Houston markets.

Using the brand’s Florida and South Carolina locations as an example, the communities with single-family homes and smaller villas include resort-style pools, fitness centers, live entertainment, and Margaritaville-style food and beverage outlets.

And, of course, they offer residents arts and learning programs so they can be “strummin’ my six-string, on my front porch swing” like Buffett, the singer-songwriter who penned Margaritaville.

The success of the communities surprised even Buffett.

“Who knew people wanted to live in Margaritaville?” Buffett told The New Yorker magazine. “I thought for a while it was a myth.”

The 1977 song spawned a sub-culture. They’re organized, too, with the nonprofit Parrot Heads in Paradise Inc. counting more than 200 chapters, including 16 in Texas, second only to Florida. In North Texas, Arlington fields a Parrot Heads club.

In a news release, Minto describes its tropical-themed developments as “wildly popular communities for those 55 and better.”

Minto is so confident that the concept can work in this market that it appointed a Dallas-based vice president of acquisition and development.

“Latitude Margaritaville has redefined how pre-and-active retirement living is viewed forever with a combination of world-class amenities and island-inspired villa, single-family and cottage homes,” Scott Rogers, Minto’s Dallas representative said in a statement.

William Bullock, the brand’s president of development, told the Houston Business Journal that setting up in Texas isn’t a “fact-finding mission.”

“Nothing is going to change in Texas in the next six months or a year that is going to change our mind. Our insertion into Texas is a long-term and strong commitment,” he said.

A couple of years ago, Latitude Margaritaville began looking into expansion into Texas after noticing Texans were visiting its Florida-based communities, Bullock said.

“We’d walk around the parking lots and see a lot of Texas plates. But they weren’t buying homes,” Bullock told the business news outlet. “That’s something unique about Texas. They don’t want to leave; they want to age in Texas.”

Latitude Margaritaville hired a consultant to verify the company’s research.

“Just based on the population alone, you could make a business argument to invest in Austin, Dallas, and Houston,” Bullock said. “Add in the migration we have seen going into Texas since the start of the pandemic, and it just made so much sense.”

The Dallas market is the farthest inland Latitude Margaritaville has ventured. Minto has developed Latitude Margaritaville communities in Daytona Beach, Fla.; near Panama City Beach, Fla; and near Hilton Head Island, S.C. In Florida, the communities are priced between $250,000 and $450,000, depending on the size and location.

It makes you wonder about the possibilities for Dallas-Fort Worth, which doesn’t exactly scream Key West. Being inland, these developments would be ideal around lakefronts in the suburbs.

The obvious choices are Lewisville Lake, Grapevine Lake, Lavon Lake, Eagle Mountain Lake, Joe Pool Lake, Lake Ray Hubbard, and Lake Arlington — all with residential development on their shores. In Dallas proper, one possibility would be White Rock Lake.

The beachfront approach does work in North Texas. Already, developers in Weston, Forney, West Dallas, Anna, and Prosper have built or plan to build residential communities around manmade lagoons.

Wherever the D-FW Latitude Margaritaville ends up, Jim Wiseman, the brand’s president of development, is excited about Texas.

“The Margaritaville brand has a strong foundation in Texas,” Wiseman said in a statement. “The state represents tremendous opportunity as we expand the development of Latitude Margaritaville communities. We look forward to bringing our iconic lifestyle to the Southwest.”