Park East
Park East has its own community amenities, including a pool, playground, dog park and recreational areas.
Park East has its own community amenities, including a pool, playground, dog park and recreational areas.
Park East at Azario is the smaller neighbor to Esplanade at Azario, but the two are quite different.
Park East has roughly 300 single-family homes, no golf course and a much simpler amenity package. It's also not gated. Taylor Morrison has finished building here, so if you're looking in Park East today, you'll be shopping the resale market.
It tends to get overshadowed by Esplanade next door, but for buyers who don't want golf or a long list of resort-style amenities, that may actually be part of its appeal.
Park East has a look that's very Taylor Morrison: newer Florida homes with clean lines, gabled roofs, front porches and a mix of stucco, siding and stone accents. It's noticeably different from the more Mediterranean-influenced architecture you'll see next door in Esplanade.
The homes also vary more in size than you might expect. There are plenty of moderately sized homes, but Park East isn't limited to them. Some homes are over 4,000 square feet, and a couple of those larger properties have sold for more than $1 million.
With construction complete, the neighborhood also feels more settled than some of the communities still being built farther east in Lakewood Ranch.
Park East has its own community amenities, including a pool, playground, dog park and recreational areas.
The amenity package is much simpler than Esplanade's, and that's an important distinction between the two neighborhoods. Park East residents aren't buying into the golf-and-resort setup next door.
Outside the neighborhood, you're in the same farther-east section of Lakewood Ranch as Esplanade at Azario. Lorraine Road and State Road 70 are the main routes back toward shopping, restaurants, medical services, I-75 and the more established parts of Lakewood Ranch.
Park East is more of a traditional residential neighborhood than Esplanade. You have amenities, but they aren't the centerpiece of living here.
It's also entirely resale now that Taylor Morrison has finished building. Ten homes have sold in Park East in the past 180 days, which is a reasonable amount of activity for a neighborhood of roughly 300 homes.
Because you're shopping resale, it's worth looking at what previous owners have already added. Depending on the home, that might include a pool, landscaping, window treatments or other improvements that can add considerably to the cost of a new home.
There's also quite a range of homes within the neighborhood, so I wouldn't make assumptions about Park East based on one price point. The larger homes can be substantial, even without the golf and resort amenities associated with Esplanade.
The easiest way to understand Park East may be to stop comparing it with Esplanade.
Yes, they're both part of Azario and were built by Taylor Morrison, but they're different choices.
Park East gives you newer single-family homes in a smaller, non-gated neighborhood with a simpler amenity package. If you don't golf and don't need a restaurant, spa and extensive amenities inside your community, you may prefer not paying for all of that.
The location is the bigger consideration for me. Park East is farther east in Lakewood Ranch than some buyers initially realize. If you're regularly heading toward Sarasota, I-75 or the older parts of Lakewood Ranch, I'd drive those routes before deciding whether it works for your everyday life.
For the right buyer, Park East's simpler setup may be exactly the point: newer single-family homes, a smaller neighborhood and enough amenities without making the amenities the reason you live there.
I focus on Bradenton real estate, helping buyers and sellers navigate the local market with confidence. I also work with clients in nearby areas like Palmetto, Parrish, and Sarasota -when that’s where the right fit is.
