Highland Homes now has county approval to build a 401-home subdivision just east of St. Cloud along the Old Melbourne Highway corridor, a project that will bring townhomes, detached bungalows, and single-family houses to a fast-growing slice of Osceola County. The community is being pitched as a mid-priced option for buyers drifting east from Orlando and will come with planned neighborhood amenities. With preliminary sign-offs secured, the developer is shifting from early land work into detailed engineering and permitting.
What Highland Homes Is Proposing
According to Homes.com, planning documents refer to the neighborhood as the Old Melbourne Highway Development. The community is expected to offer 18 floor plans, ranging from about 1,545 to 3,162 square feet, with a mix of rear-loaded townhomes, detached bungalows, and traditional single-family designs. The report says the plan calls for green space, a pool with a cabana, a playground, and possibly pickleball courts, and it projects prices starting near $339,900 and running into the low $500,000s.
Homes.com also notes that land development is already underway and that Highland expects to open the community for sales in the second quarter of 2028. The story adds that higher county impact fees have pushed up costs for builders, a backdrop that will hang over how this project is ultimately priced and phased.
Timeline and approvals
The Orlando Business Journal reported that Highland aims to start home construction in early 2027, with the first houses expected to be delivered in 2028, following county approval of the subdivision plan. Orlando Business Journal reviewed the company’s filings and comments to lay out that schedule. With approvals in hand, Highland’s next focus is on engineering, permitting, and the next round of infrastructure work that has to be in place before vertical construction ramps up.
Why this matters for St. Cloud
The Highland subdivision is landing at the same time, and East Osceola is bracing for a wave of growth. County leaders have been weighing a $261 million infrastructure agreement to support master-planned projects and major roadway improvements east of St. Cloud, WESH reported. Local school officials are already working alongside builders: ClickOrlando reported that another recent subdivision in the area is set to include a K-8 school site, raising questions about traffic and circulation.
Together, those projects highlight how housing growth in and around St. Cloud is tightly linked to decisions about roads, schools, and basic services. Whether the Highland community helps relieve pressure or simply adds to the region’s growing pains will depend on how quickly supporting infrastructure and classroom capacity catch up…