Built to Last: Homes Unscathed Through Record Storms

Homes in Hunters Point, a development of sustainably built homes in Cortez, FL, kept their lights on and stayed dry during Hurricane Helene despite the devastation elsewhere in the town and throughout the southeast. The development similarly withstood Hurricanes Ian in 2022 and Idalia in 2023.

With Hurricane Milton bearing down on the west coast of Florida, the small community of 31 homes (another 55 are planned) may face its biggest test yet. AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter warned, “Milton has the potential to become one of Florida’s most damaging and costly hurricanes, bringing a variety of life-threatening dangers.” A historic storm surge of 15-20 feet is expected around Cortez, a suburb just west of Bradenton.

Hunters Point homes are built to survive the floods, winds, and power outages of Category 4 and 5 storms. As Adele Peters wrote on Fast Company three days after Helene hit Florida, the development “was designed to be as hurricane-proof as possible.”

The LEED-certified homes use solar panels to produce more power than they consume, storing the excess in a battery that can last up to 10 days in emergency conditions. The first floor of each home sits 16 feet above the flood zone, and even the ground-floor garage was about six feet above the waist-high water that flooded the streets around the town. To fortify the homes against hurricane-strength winds, they are framed using two-by-six boards rather than the standard two-by-fours, anchored in concrete, and “wrapped” in steel – steel straps connect each floor. The roof is also made of steel. The solar panels are secured to vertical seams in the roof, making them less likely to be torn off by Cat 5 winds. And the windows are all hurricane-grade impact resistant glass.

Since the first homes were occupied in 2022, the Wall Street Journal and Business Insider have spotlighted Hunters Point for its innovative design and raised issues related to housing in Florida. Insider cited the insurance crisis in the state that has driven insurers out of the market but noted that homes in Hunters Point can still be insured because of their proven resilience.

Marshall Gobuty, founder and president of Pearl Homes, the developer of Hunters Point, told Fast Company after Hurrican Helene, “I was on the phone with our insurance company this morning, and let them know I’m sending pictures, everything’s great. She said, ‘Finally, [some] good news.’”

The Journal focused on the cost of the 1700 square foot homes, which range in price between $1.4 and $1.8 million. Today on Zillow, excluding the Hunters Point homes, the average cost of a house in Cortez was about $1.1 million and the median price, according to Realtor.com, was $770,000.

Whether Pearl Homes can scale their model to make their homes more affordable to the majority of residents in Cortez and elsewhere is an open question.

There should be no shortage of demand if they can.

Update Thursday, October 10 5:46pm EDT: Hunters Point developer Marshall Gobuty reported this afternoon that the homes made it through the storm as they did the earlier storms – undamaged and the lights stayed on thanks to the solar-powered batteries. And fortunately, the storm surge only reached the start of the driveways and never reached the homes.