Keith Laytham
Poinciana resident

An old adage of investing is to “buy low and sell high.” It appears that this could not apply more to the current situation in Poinciana. Now is the time for investors in real estate, commercial ventures, industry or whatever to take a fresh look at Poinciana.

What are we referring to when we say Poinciana? Poinciana spans both Polk and Osceola counties. From an investment/economic viewpoint, Poinciana includes not simply the Association of Poinciana Villages, but the collection of neighboring developments such as Crescent Lakes, Doral, Wilderness, etc. Residents who live in these neighborhoods send their kids to Poinciana schools, use Poinciana roads, shop in Poinciana stores and enjoy the amenities of living in Poinciana. They all need to spend money for goods and services. According to the U.S. 2010 census, the population of this area exceeds 83,000 people.

When looking at Poinciana as an investment opportunity, a shrewd investor needs to look at both the upside and downside potential. Because the area grew at a rate exceeding 279 percent in the first decade of the 21st century, it became a victim of the great housing bust of 2008. Too many houses were built for not enough people who could afford to own those houses. As a result, Poinciana recently has suffered from a large number of foreclosures and a large turnover of population living in the community. It can be debated whether or not the national housing market has “hit bottom” but there is no doubt Poinciana was on the leading edge of the housing boom, the leading edge of the housing downturn and if you take a look at the neighborhoods today, with very few exceptions, you find the neighborhoods to have begun to stabilize.

So who lives in Poinciana and what makes Poinciana a good investment opportunity? A typical Poinciana neighborhood consists of residents having 50 percent Hispanic origin, 25 percent Anglo American and 25 percent other racial backgrounds. Of this population, there are 26,000 kids age 17 and under. Many of the parents of these kids are first generation mainland Americans. Poinciana has a very large Puerto Rican population so immigration status is not a huge issue. Yes, many of the parents speak Spanish or other non-English languages but their kids who attend the Poinciana schools are taught in English with the result being that Poinciana offers a large number of young Americans reared in a multi-cultural, multi-lingual background. Of course, Poinciana lies adjacent to the tourism capital of the world.

Disney World, Universal, Sea World, Legoland and all the hospitality industry businesses that support them have the need to hire workers having these multilingual and multiethnic skills at all levels of their organization. In other words, Poinciana’s youth offers exactly what the central Florida hospitality industry needs.

So why does that make Poinciana a good investment opportunity? As this large next generation Americans enter into the workplace they will need more stores, services and amenities than the first generation of immigrant parents that brought them here. The large population of Poinciana creates an investment opportunity for new businesses. With roads being what they are and gas prices expected to remain high, this large number of residents would much prefer to shop and enjoy leisure activity locally as opposed to traveling to Kissimmee, Haines City or Winter Haven.

As the additional census results for the Greater Poinciana Area become available business investors are going to start to realize what has been happening in Poinciana over the past decade. They will take advantage of these business opportunities. The question becomes, “Will those of us currently aware of what is happening in Poinciana be able to beat them to the opportunity?” The shrewd investors will be those who are the first to invest in the opportunities.

Keith Laytham is a member of Poinciana Residents for Smart Change.