The builder to know if you want an acre, a boat, and a house nobody else has — which describes almost nothing else in Lake Nona.
ICI Homes built in two Lake Nona area neighborhoods: Live Oak Estates, where it built the gated section at the back and roughly half the homes overall, and Laureate Park, which it entered later as one of several builders. ICI was founded in Daytona Beach as Intervest Construction, Inc. by Mori Hosseini, who remains chairman and chief executive; the company took the ICI Homes name in 1998 and has built more than 16,000 homes. It is privately held and Florida-based, and it operates a division that builds on land the buyer already owns. Live Oak Estates sits off Lake Mary Jane Road with one-acre wooded homesites, both gated and non-gated sections, and boat access to Lake Mary Jane and Lake Hart.
Almost everything on the Lake Nona builders list is a variation on the same theme: a house on a modest lot in a planned neighborhood with an amenity center and a design code. Zero-lot-line, alley-loaded, architectural review. That is what this market is.
ICI Homes is the exception, and it is the exception in the most literal way available: it built on one-acre wooded lots, in a neighborhood where some sections are not gated at all, next to a lake you can put a boat on. If that is what you are looking for in this area, the list of places to look is very short, and this is most of it.
Which Lake Nona neighborhoods did ICI build?
Two: Live Oak Estates and Laureate Park.
Live Oak Estates is the one that matters for understanding this builder. ICI built the gated portion at the back of the neighborhood and roughly half the homes overall. Laureate Park came later and is a different proposition entirely.
| Neighborhood | Product | ICI Homes' role |
|---|---|---|
| Live Oak Estates | Custom and semi-custom single-family homes on one-acre wooded homesites, roughly 2,200 to over 4,500 sq ft, 3–6 bedrooms; neighborhood park with playground, sports field and pond; boat access to Lake Mary Jane and canal access to Lake Hart | Built the gated section at the back of the neighborhood and roughly half the homes; some vacant lots remain where buyers can build |
| Laureate Park | Single-family homes inside the Tavistock master plan, built to the neighborhood's design code with front porches and alley-loaded garages | A later entrant, one of several builders alongside Ashton Woods, David Weekley, Craft, Taylor Morrison, Minto, Dream Finders and Pulte |
Who is ICI, and who is Mori Hosseini?
ICI is a privately held Florida builder started in Daytona Beach by a founder who arrived from Iran by way of London and an aeronautical engineering degree.
Mori Hosseini was born in Iran and educated in London, earning a degree in aeronautical engineering, then came to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. He founded the company — then called Intervest Construction, Inc. — with two employees while working toward an MBA. By its tenth anniversary it had built more than 200 homes. It adopted the ICI Homes name in 1998 and opened a Central Florida division around 2000, which is how it eventually got to Lake Nona.
Today ICI has built more than 16,000 homes, is consistently ranked among the country's top 100 builders by Builder magazine, and remains private and family controlled with its headquarters still in Daytona Beach. Hosseini is also one of Florida's better-known philanthropists; Embry-Riddle's student union building carries his name.
Two things follow for a buyer. First, ICI is a Florida company building in Florida, which is not true of most of the names on this list. Second, it positions itself as a custom builder rather than a production builder — it runs in-house plan development and design services, makes structural changes to plans, and operates a division that builds on land the customer already owns. That last capability is genuinely unusual among the builders working in this area.
Why is Live Oak Estates unlike anything else in Lake Nona?
One-acre wooded lots, in a market where the standard homesite is small enough that your neighbor's wall is a few feet away.
Zero-lot-line is the Lake Nona norm. Stratford Pointe is mostly zero-lot-line. Laureate Park and Randal Park are alley-loaded on modest lots. Even the estate neighborhoods are working with a fraction of an acre. Live Oak Estates is one acre, wooded, with oaks and pines that were there before the neighborhood was.
It sits off Lake Mary Jane Road in the southeast part of the area, just north of Lake Mary Jane and east of Moss Park, Orange County's largest park — 1,500-odd acres with hiking trails, boat ramps, a beach on Lake Mary Jane, pavilions and camping. Residents have boat access to Lake Mary Jane and canal access through to Lake Hart. The neighborhood's own park has a playground, a sports field and benches on a pond.
Two structural quirks worth knowing. The neighborhood has both a gated section and a non-gated section — ICI built the gated portion at the back — so "Live Oak Estates" describes two somewhat different living situations. And vacant lots come available where a buyer can bring their own builder, which means the housing stock here was not produced by one company to one standard. Homes run roughly 2,200 to over 4,500 square feet, three to six bedrooms, and they vary more than they would in a single-builder neighborhood.
Browse what is currently available on our Lake Nona vacant land page if the lot route interests you, and compare the amenity picture on the amenities chart — though the honest answer is that the amenity here is the acre and the water, not a clubhouse.
What does it actually mean to buy a lot instead of a house?
A different loan, a longer timeline, and a set of risks that do not exist when you buy something already standing.
This section applies to a small number of Lake Nona buyers, and there is almost nothing written for them locally, so it is worth doing properly.
Financing is the first difference. A lot purchase and a construction loan are not a conventional mortgage. Construction financing typically draws in stages as work is completed, carries different rate and term structures, and converts to permanent financing at completion. Get pre-approved for the construction loan before you commit to a lot, not after.
Then the timeline. Design, permitting and construction on a custom or semi-custom home is measured in many months, sometimes longer, and you are carrying the lot the entire time. Ask specifically what the builder's current permit-to-completion timeline looks like in Orange County and what happens contractually if it slips.
Then the site itself, which is where one-acre lots differ most from a finished subdivision homesite. Before you buy any acre in this part of the county, confirm in writing: how the property is served for water and sewer, whether the lot requires fill or tree removal, where the buildable envelope actually sits after setbacks and any wetland or conservation lines, and what the HOA's architectural requirements are. On a wooded lot near preserves, those answers can change your budget substantially, and none of them are visible from the road.
Finally, cost certainty. Fixed-price contracts, allowance schedules and change-order pricing differ by builder. Read how allowances work before you sign, because that is where custom projects most often exceed budget.
What about ICI in Laureate Park?
A completely different product from the same company, and the opposite of what makes Live Oak Estates interesting.
Laureate Park is the Tavistock master plan next to Medical City: aquatic center, fitness center, community garden, dog park, the trail, the Village Center, Canvas on the water, and Laureate Park Elementary inside the neighborhood.
It is walkable, amenity-heavy, and governed by a design code that determines the exterior of every house regardless of builder. That is close to the exact inverse of an acre on Lake Mary Jane Road.
So do not shop ICI as a brand across both. Decide first which life you want — walk to the pool and the restaurant, or an acre and a boat ramp — and then look at what the builder offers in that setting. Buyers who tour both usually know within a day which one they are.
What should you check before buying in Live Oak Estates?
Which section, who built the house, how it is served for water and sewer, and what the drive really costs you.
Section first. Gated and non-gated are different experiences and can carry different obligations. Confirm which one the address sits in.
Builder second. ICI built roughly half the homes; the rest came from elsewhere, including lots where buyers brought their own builder. On a resale here, the construction standard is a property-specific question, not a neighborhood-level one. Get the permit record and hire an inspector who will look hard.
Utilities third, and this is the one people skip. On acre lots at the edge of the developed area, do not assume the arrangement matches what you would find inside a Lake Nona subdivision. Confirm the water and sewer situation for the specific parcel in writing, and if there is any private system involved, budget for its inspection and its eventual replacement.
Then the drive. Live Oak Estates is roughly ten miles from Lake Nona Town Center. That is fine for some households and a dealbreaker for others, and it is the single most common reason buyers who love the lot end up elsewhere. Drive it at the hour you would actually drive it. Our CDD fees explainer covers confirming assessments on a specific parcel, and school zoning is set by OCPS and can change — confirm assignments for the exact address using our schools guide.
ICI Homes in Lake Nona: pros and cons
What works. The acre is the whole argument, and it is a good one — privacy, mature trees, room for a pool and a shop and a boat, none of which the rest of this market offers. Water access to Lake Mary Jane and through to Lake Hart is real and permanent. ICI is a genuine custom builder with in-house design capability, so a home here can be specific to you in a way a production plan cannot. It is a Florida company that has been building in this state for more than four decades and is still run by its founder. And the low-density setting means the neighborhood cannot be intensified around you the way an active master plan can.
What does not. You are ten miles from the Lake Nona core, with no walkability and no town center within reach on foot. An acre is a maintenance obligation, not just an amenity — landscaping, trees, and more of everything to keep up. Mixed builders and a long build-out mean quality and condition vary house to house more than they would in a single-builder neighborhood. The gated and non-gated split makes the neighborhood harder to describe and comps harder to read. And building from a lot is a longer, riskier and less predictable path than buying a finished house, which is exactly why most buyers do not do it.
Our take. Live Oak Estates is the answer to a question most Lake Nona buyers never ask, and the right answer for the few who do. If you want space, trees, water access and a house built to your specification, there is essentially nothing else in this area that competes — and that scarcity is the durable part of the value. Go in clear about the two costs: the drive, which you will pay every day, and the complexity of a lot-plus-construction purchase, which you pay once and which is where people get hurt. Get the utility and buildable-envelope questions answered in writing before you buy any acre out there. In Laureate Park, ICI is simply one of eight builders and the neighborhood is what you are buying.
What the neighbors know
The water is the thing. Residents talk about boat access to Lake Mary Jane and getting through to Lake Hart, and about Moss Park being five minutes away with its beach, boat ramps and trails — a genuine amenity nobody pays dues for. In December the park runs a Santa village and a night 5K, which is the kind of local ritual that makes a place feel like a place.
The other recurring topic is the trees. On an acre in Old Florida you inherit oaks and pines, and residents talk about them the way people in newer neighborhoods talk about landscaping packages — except these took fifty years and cannot be bought. The flip side comes up too: what they cost to maintain, and what happens in a storm. Everyone out there has a tree opinion.
Official sources
The inclusion of businesses, individuals, groups, associations, and links on this site does not imply endorsement by the site owner.
Thinking about an acre in Live Oak Estates, or building rather than buying? I can tell you which section a home sits in, who actually built it, and what questions to get answered in writing before you commit to a lot. Call/Text David Myers at 407.801.3286 or use the contact form.
Frequently asked questions
Which Lake Nona neighborhoods did ICI Homes build?
Two: Live Oak Estates, where ICI built the gated section at the back of the neighborhood and roughly half of the homes overall, and Laureate Park, which ICI entered later as one of several builders.
Where can you buy a one-acre lot in Lake Nona?
Live Oak Estates, off Lake Mary Jane Road in the southeast part of the Lake Nona area. Its one-acre wooded homesites are unusual in a market where zero-lot-line and alley-loaded homesites are the norm, and it is one of the few Lake Nona area neighborhoods where vacant lots come available and buyers can build.
Who founded ICI Homes?
Mori Hosseini, who founded the company in Daytona Beach as Intervest Construction, Inc. and still serves as chairman and chief executive. Born in Iran and educated in London in aeronautical engineering, he came to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach and started the company with two employees while completing an MBA. The company took the ICI Homes name in 1998 and has since built more than 16,000 homes.
Is Live Oak Estates gated?
Partly. Live Oak Estates has both a gated section and a non-gated section, with two entrances on Lake Mary Jane Road. ICI Homes built in the gated portion at the back of the neighborhood. Because the sections differ, confirm which one a specific home sits in rather than assuming from the neighborhood name.
Can you get to the water from Live Oak Estates?
Yes. Residents have boat access to Lake Mary Jane and canal access through to Lake Hart, and Moss Park — Orange County's largest park, with boat ramps and a beach on Lake Mary Jane — is a short drive away. That water access is a large part of what distinguishes this neighborhood from the rest of the Lake Nona area.
