Developer buys 410 acres in Central Florida for $60 million

Colliers | U.S. has arranged the sale of 410 acres, known as Hickory Grove, in Central Florida’s Lake County for $60 million. Richland Communities purchased the property – which is located on the north side of Schofield Road and just west of the Orange County line, roughly 25 miles west of downtown Orlando – to develop a master-planned community.

Trevor Hall and Tommy Pinel of Colliers represented the seller, Hickory Groves LLC. Hall has a longstanding relationship with the seller, a New York-based charitable trust.

“This property’s location and access to State Road 429, Schofield Road and the new County Road 455 extension make the property highly desirable,” said Hall, executive vice president at Colliers. “The proximity to a future Valencia College campus in Horizon West was also a key selling point.”

Last year, the sellers had applied to Lake County for a comprehensive plan amendment and Planned Unit Development zoning for a master-planned community that would have entitled the property for approximately 1,200 residential units and 48 acres of non-residential uses. However, Richland Communities plans to resubmit. The earliest the developer expects to break ground is 2026.

The Hickory Grove property is located in the Wellness Way area, which encompasses 15,471 acres and is generally located east of U.S. 27 and south of S.R. 50. Wellness Way is divided into smaller portions, including a Town Center and four additional land-use categories, each with different density requirements. It is anticipated Wellness Way will include 16,531 residential units, but that number will adjust as more development occurs.

Richland Communities has several master-planned communities in Lake County. The developer’s Wellness Way acquisition is the latest in a series of large land deals in the area. Last year, Sun Terra Communities paid $33 million in a land-banking deal on behalf of Pulte for the Chicone planned unit development (PUD), which is near Hickory Grove. Pulte has already started construction on the project, which will have 948 single-family homes and townhomes and up to 75,000 square feet of commercial uses.

Hall has worked with the sellers for over 30 years and has represented them in the sale of numerous properties in the greater Orlando area.

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