Donovan Trace is a small single-residential community off Sleepy Hill Road in north Lakeland, set between U.S. Highway 98 North and Kathleen Road in Polk County, near Lakeland Square Mall (Highland Homes community materials, 2016; nextdoor and listing-portal community guides, 2026). Highland Homes introduced the community in 2016 as a boutique enclave of roughly 56 home sites and has since sold out, so today it trades as a resale community.
The community was built by Highland Homes, a Lakeland-based builder. Listing and builder materials describe home plans generally ranging from about 1,301 to 2,179 square feet with three or four bedrooms; confirm the exact plan, size, bedroom count, and lot for any specific home, since a small community like this has a limited set of plans and elevations.
Because this is a small build-out community rather than a large master plan, the money is made or lost on the specific home, the lot, and the HOA, not on a townwide average. The drivers are the home plan and condition, the lot position, the annual HOA dues, and how the home prices against the wider north Lakeland and 33810 market, all of which have to be read from the listing, the association documents, and real comps.
The pitch is a newer-build address with everyday convenience: Lakeland Square Mall, dining, and the U.S. 98 North and Kathleen Road corridors are close, and the broader Lakeland and Interstate 4 access put Tampa and Orlando within reach. The work is the diligence: confirm the HOA dues and rules, read the home condition, check the lot, and price against the broader market before you buy.
