By Ira – JBizNews Desk

More than 100 Orthodox Jewish families are preparing to join roughly 60 who have already left New York for Lakefront Estates, a $300 million, 550-acre development that opened this month in Glades County, Florida, the New York Post reported Sunday. Families interviewed pointed to rising antisemitism in New York alongside the state’s housing costs and taxes as the forces behind the move.

The development, on the northwest side of Lake Okeechobee, is built around the needs of observant families: a kosher supermarket, a synagogue and a yeshiva are already operating, with plans for 1,000 single-family homes and 389 rental units. Four-bedroom homes of about 2,500 square feet start at $460,000, and seven-bedroom homes of about 3,700 square feet are offered at $585,000, according to Lakefront Estates CEO Yidel Perlstein. Glades County approved a community development district for the project that allows up to $132 million in bonds for infrastructure, county records show.

The antisemitism families describe is backed by official numbers. Jewish New Yorkers were the targets of 245 of 463 confirmed hate crimes in New York City in the first nine months of 2026, or 53%, even though Jews make up roughly 10% of the city’s population, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said this month, calling the figures deeply concerning. New York State Assemblyman Aron Wieder, whose heavily Orthodox Rockland County district has already seen about 20 families move to Lakefront, said the rise in antisemitism has pushed many in his community to look outside the state.

The economics push in the same direction. New York carries the highest state and local tax burden in the nation at roughly $13,000 per capita, according to the Citizens Budget Commission, and ranked last in housing affordability and homebuilding in the 2026 Realtor Housing Report Card. Orthodox families, who tend to have more children, need larger homes that are increasingly out of reach in New York. Florida’s private school tuition vouchers were also cited by families as a factor.

For Glades County, population 13,270, the arrival is an economic event. Perlstein said his investment has been a boon for the local economy and that Orthodox buyers represent the first wave of sales, though homes are open to anyone. Developer Yona Lunger has said 900 families paid $5,000 refundable deposits to reserve lots, and he has acquired more land nearby. Lunger has said the project is likely the first of several similar communities in the region.

JBizNews Desk | New York

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