South Merritt Estates

South Merritt Estates In Merritt Island, Florida

The development began in 1960 when the Pinkerton family sold land to Merritt Investors, a group led by Benjamin Richland and Abraham Isserman. The Pineland Section was marketed first, and the earliest houses went up on Carambola Drive. Growth was slow at the start, with only eight or nine households in place by 1962. Water service arrived in 1968, streetlights in the early 1970s and a second access road in 1971, which is roughly the order in which a Florida subdivision of that era matured.

The association bylaws name five plats: the Pineland Section, the Second Pineland Section, the First Grove, and Plantation Section Plat No. 1 and Plat No. 2. On the ground it reads as one neighborhood rather than five. Streets carry a tropical horticulture theme, with Coconut Lane, Papaya Place and Pineapple Place alongside Heron Drive, Tina Place, Elliott Drive and Plantation Road. The whole thing occupies the ground between South Tropical Trail on the river side and South Courtenay Parkway to the east.

Houses date from 1962 to 2001 with the bulk of them from the early sixties. Living area covers an enormous range, 1,494 square feet at the small end to a 7,308 square foot estate at the top, with most homes near 2,125. Construction is block with stucco and poured concrete under shingle roofs, and there are a handful of frame and two story exceptions. Lots run 0.37 to 7.11 acres and the middle sits near 0.59. Public water is standard, and wastewater is handled by septic tank.

South Merritt Estates Association, Inc. is voluntary. Owners in the covered plats may join after taking title, and annual dues have been reported at $100, $125 and $150. What the money buys is the Waterfront Park on South Tropical Trail, deeded to the association by the developer in September 1966 once membership reached fifty households. It carries a boat ramp and a floating dock, is open daybreak to dark, and is limited to members and their accompanied guests. The pier deck was widened from five feet to ten in 1996.

This is one of the tightest selling neighborhoods on the south end. Homes have gone under contract in about 13 days and sellers have been settling within half a percent of their original asking price, which means the negotiating room is essentially zero. Pricing spans $350,000 to $1,475,000 because the lots vary so much, with the middle near $490,000 and about $209 a square foot. Two thirds of the houses have an in ground pool, most of those screened. Annual tax bills have run $2,266 to $15,244 with the middle around $3,257.