Places in this guide Wellen Park Venice
The largest projects coming to the area around CoolToday Park are a 149-room Marriott hotel in Downtown Wellen, a second phase of downtown shops and restaurants, and Westlake, a new neighborhood of custom homes across from downtown. Farther out, River Road is being completed as a six-lane road, and the developer of Wellen Park hopes to add the 3,148-acre Winchester Ranch to the community.
CoolToday Park has been the spring training home of the Atlanta Braves since 2019, and it sits within Wellen Park in North Port. Most of the change around the ballpark is Wellen Park itself, which plans about 22,500 homes at full buildout. If you are considering a home near the ballpark, these projects will shape your drive, your errands, and the character of the area five years from now. You will find every home for sale there on my Wellen Park page.
The projects around CoolToday Park at a glance
| Project | What it is | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Wellmar hotel (Tribute Portfolio by Marriott) | 149 rooms on five stories, with a rooftop restaurant and bar | Broke ground January 20, 2026; opening expected in early 2028 |
| Downtown Wellen, second phase | 44,000 square feet of restaurants, shops, and offices | Openings from spring 2026; Agave Bandido listed for fall 2026 |
| Westlake | 156 custom and semi-custom homesites across from downtown | First homes expected in early 2027 |
| ALDI | About 12,000 square feet at U.S. 41 and Mezzo Drive | Expected by summer 2026 |
| River Road widening | U.S. 41 to I-75, from two lanes to six | Final landscaping and striping under way; completion in early 2027 |
| Exalt Health rehabilitation hospital | 40 beds | Broke ground April 2025; planned for mid-2026 |
| Sarasota Memorial Wellen Park campus | 28-acre site at 7900 S. Tamiami Trail | No construction date set |
| Winchester Ranch | 3,148 acres, with about 6,000 homes planned | Annexation talks approved June 9, 2026 |
A hotel and a second phase for Downtown Wellen
The project ballpark visitors will notice first is Wellmar, a Tribute Portfolio hotel by Marriott. It broke ground in Downtown Wellen on January 20, 2026, and the Town Chronicle reported that it is expected to open in early 2028.
The hotel will rise five stories and offer 149 rooms. Its lobby bar and cafe will open onto a pool, and a rooftop restaurant and bar will overlook Grand Lake. For you as a neighbor, that means a new place to dine, a comfortable place for visiting family to stay, and more visitors during spring training season.
Beside the hotel, the second phase of downtown adds two two-story buildings with restaurants and shops on the ground floor and offices above, 44,000 square feet in all. In October 2025, Wellen Park said the space was fully leased and that merchants would open through spring and summer 2026.
Not every merchant is open yet. On October 12, the Wellen Park business directory still listed Agave Bandido, a Mexican restaurant and tequila bar, as coming in fall 2026. The same plan includes more luxury apartments and a fenced dog park, and the dog park, called Fetch, was open by May.
Westlake: new custom homes across from downtown
Wellen Park introduced Westlake on May 20, 2026. It is a gated neighborhood of 156 homesites across from Downtown Wellen, and its lots overlook a 30-acre lake and wetland preserves.
Lee Wetherington Homes and Neal Signature Homes are building the custom homes on the widest lots, which measure 85 feet, while ICI Homes and Homes by WestBay are building semi-custom homes on narrower lots. Homes range from 2,600 to more than 5,500 square feet, and Wellen Park expects the first ones to be finished in early 2027.
Custom and semi-custom building is the part of this business I know from the inside, because I led sales and marketing for custom luxury builders before I began representing buyers. My advice is to compare lot premiums and what each builder includes before you fall in love with a model. A good place to begin is Lee Wetherington Homes at Westlake, and I would be glad to hear from you before your first visit to a sales center.
Roads, groceries, and health care near the ballpark
River Road is the main route between Wellen Park and I-75, and the work on it is nearly complete. FDOT is widening the 5-mile stretch from U.S. 41 to I-75 to six lanes. Its project page, updated October 5, 2026, shows crews on final landscaping and striping, with completion set for early 2027.
For groceries, Wellen Park announced an ALDI on March 3, 2026, at U.S. 41 and Mezzo Drive near the Costco, and it was expected to open by summer 2026.
Emergency care is already close at hand, since HCA Florida Wellen Park Emergency is open around the clock. Exalt Health broke ground in April 2025 on a 40-bed rehabilitation hospital in Wellen Park, which is planned to open in mid-2026.
A full hospital inside Wellen Park is further off. Sarasota Memorial owns a 28-acre campus site there, but it is building in North Port first. Its SMH-North Port hospital, near I-75 and Sumter Boulevard, is slated to open in 2028, and the health system has not yet set a construction date for the Wellen Park site.
Winchester Ranch, the next major piece of Wellen Park
The largest change has not been built yet. The developer of Wellen Park asked North Port to annex Winchester Ranch, a 3,148-acre property, so that the city can provide water and other services. On June 9, 2026, the city commission voted unanimously to begin annexation talks with Sarasota County, as the Town Chronicle reported.
Plans call for about 6,000 homes there, while the county plan approved in 2021 allowed almost 9,000. A regional sports park between east River Road and Myakka State Forest is also in early planning.
None of this is final. Annexation still requires county approval, two city public hearings, and a planning board review. If you buy near River Road, you can expect more homes, shops, and traffic to the east over the next 15 years.
What this means if you buy near CoolToday Park
In my view, most of what is coming adds places to dine, shop, and receive care within a short drive of the ballpark. The hotel and the new restaurants will also make Downtown Wellen livelier, especially during spring training season.
Spring training brings the busiest weeks of the year to the ballpark. On October 22, the CoolToday Park schedule listed Braves home games from February 21 to March 21, 2027.
The ballpark seats 7,473 fans and has more than 1,000 parking spaces, according to its facts and figures, and its parking page says general parking was free for the 2025 season. On October 22, its events calendar also listed trivia nights and live music every week.
My advice is to see the street for yourself on a game day before you buy. Arrive an hour before the game and stay until the crowd leaves, noticing how you would reach the home, where cars park, and what you can hear from the lanai. Then come back on a quiet weekday morning and compare the two.
If you cannot be here in February or March, I can be your eyes. A buyer moving from across the country wrote in a Zillow review in December 2022 that I viewed homes for them and sent pictures and videos, and I would gladly do the same for you on a game day.
Before you choose a lot, ask the builder in writing what is planned for the land behind and beside it. Empty land next to a new home in Wellen Park rarely stays empty, and it is far better to know now than to learn after closing.
If you would like to walk or bike to Downtown Wellen and the ballpark, I would start with the two neighborhoods Wellen Park places closest to downtown. Westlake sits across from Downtown Wellen, and the developer describes it as walkable to the shops, dining, and trails there.
On October 22, Wellen Park’s Edgewater page placed that new neighborhood about half a mile from Downtown Wellen, beside the Grand Lake Trail, with CoolToday Park nearby. Its builders plan to begin sales in early 2027.
When you tour either one, walk the route from the homesite you like to downtown and the ballpark entrance rather than trusting a map. Notice whether a path runs the whole way, where you would cross a busy road, and how much afternoon shade there is. Then ask the builder in writing what will be built between your lot and downtown, and I would be glad to walk those routes with you.
Will all of this change what you pay near the ballpark? I have no closed sale on record showing the hotel, Westlake, or the wider River Road moving prices, and the hotel will not open until early 2028, so I would be cautious with anyone who promises it.
What I can see is how the builders are pricing the land closest to downtown. On October 22, the four homes featured on Wellen Park’s Westlake page were priced from $909,900 to $1,289,000, while most other Wellen Park neighborhoods listed starting prices in the $200s to $400s.
In my opinion, part of that gap is size, and part is the builders’ bet that walking to dinner and the games is worth paying for. My advice is to pay for that location only if you will truly use it. If you will mostly drive, the six-lane River Road should make the trip to I-75 easier from anywhere in Wellen Park.
For builders and prices in each neighborhood, please see my Wellen Park new construction guide. If you are still deciding between areas, my comparison of Lakewood Ranch and Wellen Park explains the differences, and my Venice homes for sale page covers the established neighborhoods nearby.
Thinking about a home near the ballpark?
Tell me how you would like to live here: whether you want to walk to dinner and the games, how much quiet you need on a March afternoon, your budget, and your timing. I will tell you which streets and neighborhoods I would look at for those wishes, and I will send you the listings that fit.
Whenever it suits you, call or text me at (813) 394-3313 or send me a note.
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Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Janelle Mertins is a licensed real estate agent with Compass.
