Is this the future for homes? Why a Florida community is getting attention

It was designed to be the home of the future — steadfast against extreme weather and reliant only on the sun for power.

But first, the concept had to be put to the test.

That’s why developer Marshall Gobuty and his team at Pearl Homes chose hurricane and flood-prone Cortez, a coastal village in Southwest Florida, to bring their new idea to life.

There, they planned the world’s first community of homes certified as “Zero Energy” by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program — a recognition of the homes’ ability to produce as much energy as they consume. They are also designed to withstand the impacts of a Category 5 hurricane, going above and beyond building code requirements.

The development, called Hunters Point in a nod to the Cortez fishing village’s original name, began construction in 2021.

Then, it got its trial in epic fashion.

After brushes with Hurricane Ian in 2022 and Hurricane Idalia in 2023, last year brought one of Southwest Florida’s most intense hurricane seasons on record. Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton walloped the region in quick succession with intense rainfall, flooding, storm surge and wind — a taste of the climate change-fueled super storms scientists say are the new norm for Florida.

Many local homes and neighborhoods were devastated. But at Hunters Point, the experiment in home design proved a success.

“In Milton, power around us was out for eight days. We had power during the storm, and every single day after,” Gobuty said.

Structurally, the homes easily withstood the hurricanes’ lashings.

“We had no problems whatsoever. Nothing blew off, nothing went away,” said William Fulford, a retired Virginia homebuilder who lives at Hunters Point. Fulford and his wife purchased the very first home in the community, where they’ve ridden out every hurricane since.

Hurricane Helene’s storm surge, a record-breaking flood event for Manatee County that washed out many homes in Cortez, didn’t even make it up the driveway of homes in Hunters Point, and the streets were dry by the next morning, Gobuty said.

“We didn’t have one insurance claim,” Gobuty said. “It’s supposed to be that way, but it was a great attaboy.”

It’s not just residents who are pleased with the thoughtful design of Hunters Point. The development has earned special recognition from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for its resilience, national media coverage for its survival of last year’s hurricane season and several major homebuilding awards, including the Green Builder Home of the Year award in 2024.

Hunters Point meets net-zero challenge

The idea to build Hunters Point was sparked by a friendly challenge, Gobuty says.

In 2015, Pearl Homes broke ground on Mirabella Homes, a development in Bradenton featuring 160 eco-friendly villas for seniors.

It became one of the first residential developments in the country to earn LEED Platinum status from the U.S. Green Building Council. The coveted title recognizes projects that incorporate water and energy efficiency, clean indoor air quality, responsibly sourced building materials, environmentally friendly design and other sustainable features.

After that recognition, Gobuty says then-president of the USGBC, Mahesh Ramanujam, challenged Pearl Homes to go a step further for its next project.

He said, “ ‘Marshall, you have to build a net-zero home,’ ” Gobuty remembers. “And I looked at him and I said, ‘What?’ So he explained to me that would be a home that generates more power than it consumes.”

Pearl Homes accepted the challenge.

‘The future of homes’ debuts in Cortez

Building the world’s first net-zero home might sound like a major feat of engineering.

But Gobuty says it wasn’t that difficult. Instead, he compares it to a kid’s toy. All the parts were there, just waiting to be assembled.

“It’s not that we’re that smart,” Gobuty said. “It’s like Mr. Potato Head. We take the most important components and practices and put them together ourselves. We don’t invent them, we just use them.”

For design help, Pearl Homes turned to the Florida Solar Energy Center at the University of Central Florida.

The university researchers brainstormed a system that uses an array of solar panels on the roof of each home to provide daily power. The solar energy also charges a Sonnen ecoLinx energy management system. More than just a battery, the smart technology manages the home’s energy use throughout the day, accounts for changes in the weather and collects extra energy while the sun is out to power the home during overcast periods and through each night.

They also planned for maximum energy efficiency and airtight design to reduce air conditioning and overall power needs.

Before trying the new home design in the real world, Pearl Homes built a prototype in a Palmetto warehouse and tested the concept for 18 months.

It was a success, earning the first ever LEED Zero Energy certification for a residential home.

Now that design is being replicated at Hunters Point, where 50 homes like it have been built and another 36 are planned. The development is designed to meet LEED Platinum and LEED Zero Energy standards.

In practice, it’s working even better than expected, Gobuty says.

“How it’s actually worked out is that we’re generating 35% more power than the house is consuming, and we’re using 25% less,” Gobuty said. “So the excess goes back to the grid, and the utility is giving credit to the owner. So at the end of the year ... there really shouldn’t be a bill.”

“We have no power bill,” Fulford confirmed.

Residents also have peace of mind during power outages. The Sonnen system can keep a home powered for 10 to 14 days when the grid is down.

Manatee County’s storm-resistant community

It’s not just the solar power that makes Hunters Point attractive to residents.

Fulford said he and his wife can enjoy the beauty of living on Florida’s coast without worrying about what the next hurricane season might bring.

“The way they’re put together ... they went over and above what they needed to do,” Fulford said. “The whole house is put together the way it should be. It’s done well.”

For ultimate hurricane resistance, each home is built 16 feet above sea level on a solid concrete slab foundation. The first floor is a garage lined with flood vents, and its block walls are reinforced with extra rebar and poured solid with concrete. Atop the garage, the extra-thick walls of the two-story living space are reinforced by hundreds of steel strap connections and capped with a steel roof, and the homes are outfitted with windows and doors designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane.

“Everything that we do is double code,” said Alex Velichko, Pearl Homes’ director of construction. “That’s why we’ve stood up to the last four hurricanes.”

Fulford said all the extra safety measures at Hunters Point also made it easy to get affordable flood insurance. He still carries a minimal plan, “just in case.”

“This is what Florida needs,” Fulford said.

Hunters Point earns praise from FEMA

After it breezed through last year’s hurricane season, Hunters Point earned some rare kudos — straight from the federal government.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency recognized the ingenuity of Hunters Point with a visit to tour the community after Hurricane Milton, and, earlier this year, a press release praising its design.

“Hunters Point serves as a model for integrating natural hazard-resistant construction techniques,” the press release says. “Its design and construction principles offer valuable insights for future developments in hurricane-prone regions, demonstrating that it is possible to build communities capable of withstanding extreme weather events.”

Victoria Salinas, former deputy administrator for resilience at FEMA and a senior resilience fellow at the University of Miami Climate Resilience Institute, says Hunters Point is special for its combo of net-zero technology and storm resilience.

“If all they had done was net zero, it would have been a great sustainability story. But it wouldn’t have necessarily been a resilience story,” Salinas told the Bradenton Herald. “All the things they did so that you can not only have your power on, but you can survive — that’s the distinction.”

Can resilient homes be affordable?

While the design of Hunters Point can add up to major long term savings for residents, the cost of the homes places it firmly in the luxury market, out of reach for many. Recent sales in the community have ranged from $1.1 million to $1.9 million.

But Gobuty says Hunters Point is just the beginning of his company’s quest to build resilient homes.

“We had to start somewhere,” Gobuty said.

He said it was important to test the concept in a high-hazard zone, and the cost of buying waterfront property and then elevating it resulted in a significantly higher cost for the end product.

Now, Pearl Homes has begun taking some of the resilient and sustainable concepts from Hunters Point and applying them to rental developments.

In Bradenton, affordable housing project The MET opened in 2024 with 199 units featuring energy-efficient design.

And in Ellenton, Pearl Homes is planning a new single-family rental community called OurLives.

“We’re trying something different. It’s hard for people to buy right now, so we’re going to build to rent. But they will be built with the same sustainability and resilience,” Gobuty said.

The project is planned to include 600 homes, including town homes, single family homes, attached homes and homes with garages, all equipped with sustainable and smart technology.

Instead of packing in the maximum number of units, a common development practice, the Ellenton community will maximize space, with 15 feet between most buildings and ample community green space.

Gobuty estimates that OurLives will offer rates around $2,200 a month. Construction is planned to start in early 2026.

Building a sustainable future in Florida

On a Wednesday morning in October, a bus full of students from Roots Nature & Leadership Academy in Sarasota visited Hunters Point to learn about sustainable building.

They watched as concrete poured to form the foundation of a new home and toured the inside of a model house, getting an up close look at its energy-saving technology.

Teacher Casey Gramaglia said he was aware of Hunters Point, but didn’t learn until recently that it was a sustainable project. He said it made a perfect field trip for his classroom’s unit on sustainable and disaster-resistant structures.

“I was really stoked to find out what they’re doing here. This is great,” Gramaglia said.

Gobuty says he wants to help get younger generations excited about the possibilities for a more sustainable future.

“The more kids get these concepts early on, the more it becomes normal,” Gobuty said.

They’re not the only ones that he wants to get onboard.

While pioneering a new type of homebuilding has its challenges, Gobuty says the outcome has been well worth the investment. Now that his team has proven it can be done, he’s hoping that more homebuilders will leap into the future with them and “give back to the planet.”

“It’s a good feeling,” Gobuty said. “This is the future of homes.”

This story was originally published October 28, 2025 at 8:06 AM.