Viera’s masterful growth is changing the Space Coast

VIERA, Florida. – In recent years, the Space Coast has changed a lot.

Besides the roars of rockets taking off, tractors and trucks are the sounds of Central Florida’s Space Coast, especially in the growing planned community of Viera.

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“There is development around the interchange that is mixed use, there is development in downtown Viera,” Viera Chairman Todd Pokrywa said. “There is this gravitational pull in central Florida towards Brevard County and Viera. When you look at the last 10 years or so, in 2010 the population was 20,000. With the census, the population is more than 30,000 people.

This means that the population has increased by 51% in the last decade alone.

“It wasn’t what the Space Coast was like 10, 20, 30 years ago,” Pokrywa said. “It’s a high-tech center. Many new millennials are coming onto the market. Families settle here. We have big stakeholders – SpaceX, Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, L3 Harris, Terran Orbital just announced they are creating 2,000 new jobs on the Space Coast with an average annual salary of $84,000. So Viera being at the center of this market, there really isn’t a better place.

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What has been 30 years of meticulous planning – new homes, schools and roads, built in unison – is now feeling the pressure more than ever to keep up with demand.

The median home price here is only around $300,000, about $25,000 less than in the Orlando market.

“We can’t get the infrastructure in place fast enough,” Pokrywa said.

There were around 500 new homes sold in 2019, Pokrywa said. But in 2020, that number has grown to over 700.

“That’s a 45% increase in sales year over year,” he said. “It’s hard to be able to replenish your inventory in such a short time.”

To overcome this challenge, Viera now uses a lottery system for new homes that aren’t even built yet.

“Buyers have to register before new lots come out in certain parts of Viera, and then it’s a lottery. They are randomly selected and given the opportunity to buy,” Pokrywa said.

It’s a gravitational pull that Pokrywa doesn’t see stopping anytime soon.