Mark Metheny, President, Casa Fresca A Division of WestBay

Mark Metheny, president of Casa Fresca, spoke with Invest: about trends in Tampa Bay area real estate, and how Casa Fresca adapts its business strategy to changes in the market. He also touched on the challenges presented by labor shortages and rising costs, and why commitments to quality and customer service are key priorities.

What are some of Casa Fresca’s standout achievements in the Tampa Bay region over the past year?

The biggest development is that we’ve opened five or six new communities, primarily in Pasco and Marion counties. We’ve also expanded into the Haines City, Davenport, and Winter Haven areas. In West Bay, we began purchasing storm-damaged homes in South Tampa to address a need for liquidity in the market. So far, we’ve acquired about 30 lots. That’s shaping up to be a major line of business for us in 2025, as we plan to tear down homes built in the 1970s and older, and rebuild them to meet current codes and new flood zones.

With Tampa Bay experiencing significant regional growth, how has this influenced Casa Fresca’s business strategy and project focus?

The traditional path for homebuilders is to continue to grow into other markets and grow to scale, but we’ve taken a different approach. We’re familiar with Tampa Bay and buy more into this market than Charleston, Atlanta, or Jacksonville. We’ve decided to get deeper into Tampa Bay, which means growing our core business and rebuilding single family homes in other redevelopment areas. We launched a multifamily group, which is still in its early stages. We are currently sourcing deals and building the team. 

What key projects are currently in the pipeline, and how do they align with regional needs?

Our biggest current project is the development of three communities in Pasco County, totaling about 2,600 homes, in an area called Villages of Pasadena Hills. It’s a large overlay district, and while we have two additional sites under contract, we’re opening three communities in 2025 in addition to more than 3,000 lots in other communities in Pasco. These will include homes from both West Bay and Casa Fresca, and we plan to bring in a third builder to complement our product lines.

This area is experiencing significant growth, supported by new infrastructure, including a new I-75 exit and an overpass road serving the district. The three communities will feature nine different product lines, ranging from townhomes to luxury homes across various price points. We’re also launching new communities in Sarasota County.

What’s driving the need for land disposition?  

It’s an interesting time in the market right now. We’ve acquired a lot of land over the past three to five years. There are new builders entering the market looking for land positions, and they’re willing to pay attractive pricing. When we have larger land positions, it gives us an opportunity to bring in another builder to complement our product and capitalize the project in a different way. We have four larger projects, one in Manatee County, two in Pasco County, and another one in Hernando County. It’s important to find the right builder partner to work with who can complement us, offer different price points, and help make the community more desirable and successful. We focus on long-term impact on the community, and as a builder it’s important we find a complementary partner. 

How is Casa Fresca addressing workforce needs? 

As the largest private builder in Tampa Bay, we’ve become an alternative to the national builders that are not managed locally. They’re driven by wherever their headquarters may be outside of the Tampa Bay market. We have the scale to compete with those groups for the trades and the land, but our ownership group is here in Tampa Bay and involved in the business every day. We see all of our employees every day, and they can speak with us and express their concerns and give us their feedback. They know we’re involved and making decisions to benefit them. On the subcontractor side, we’re fighting to get enough workforce and talent here to build homes. We focus on making our process, payment terms, and efficiency better. We need more trades here in Tampa Bay. The two biggest issues are housing affordability and trade availability, which are directly related to each other. If we had more trades, the pricing would come down, and housing affordability would improve. 

How is Casa Fresca contributing to affordability efforts in Tampa Bay?

We designed Casa Fresca to be a first-time and move-up product. We focus on quality and affordability. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to remain affordable. We’re building townhomes under $300,000 in Polk County, which we launched in 3Q24. Bringing price points down is difficult between land costs, regulations, cost of labor, and inflation. The regulatory part and the costs of doing business could improve. Municipalities have increased impact fees, which hurts affordability. We need more housing supply in the market to be able to normalize the rate of price increase. Price increases have priced out many first-time home buyers. 

How has demand shifted over the past year?

We saw some slowdown in demand in 4Q24. While the buying activity has slowed, our traffic numbers are still high. There are fewer people able to afford homes, and there’s been a lot of tempering expectations from interest rates and the election’s potential impact on home values, interest rates, and jobs. These things will make people think twice about making a move and taking on a mortgage. So far, in 2025, those things are starting to normalize slightly. People recognize that interest rates aren’t going to go down anytime soon, so they aren’t waiting for that. The economic outlook looks fairly positive. Things may be normalizing, but it’s important for us to competitively price our homes and ensure we are delivering a high-quality product.

What are some of the main products and features that entry-level homebuyers want in their new properties right now?

We survey every customer for feedback and focus on the product and the experience for our buyers. First, we make the process easy. We have a handful of partner mortgage lenders. The financing side is always a challenge for first-time and move-up buyers, and we want to make sure there are options for them to find a lender they trust. The quality of the product isn’t always apparent, and often requires a little more education from our sales consultants. Investing in higher quality cabinets, shingles, and flooring will lower maintenance costs. We put more money into things like paint, from a colors and material standpoint. We want customers to understand that they aren’t just comparing square footage and price and give them features they appreciate, like quartz countertops and luxury vinyl flooring that has better sound qualities and durability. People want a sexy kitchen, bathroom, and master bath, so we put a little more emphasis into those. 

What are Casa Fresca’s top priorities and strategic goals for the next three years?

Some of the land acquisitions we have made are in development and will have, towards the back end of this year, a pretty good ramp-up. Next year will be a big closing year for us. Our biggest focus this year is making sure we’re putting our team in place. We made a big investment in talent in 2024 and want to continue that in 2025. We have to ensure we get those people trained and ready to go. We’re focusing on affordability in places where that’s a challenge. We’re rethinking what the included features and specifications are, and making sure they are what the customer wants, with a continued focus on quality and customer experience.