Orlando real estate broker Daryl Carter has closed some massive land deals over his career, and this next one looks to be a blockbuster.
Carter’s Maury L. Carter & Associates has the exclusive listing for the Arnold Groves & Ranch, a 1,750-acre property in Lake County’s Wellness Way area. The site is home to the family-operated orange groves and cattle ranch and abuts the family’s tourist attraction on U.S. 27 known as the Showcase of Citrus, which is not a part of the sale. And it’s 5 miles west of Walt Disney World.
“It’s a smokin’ piece of real estate,” Carter told GrowthSpotter. “It’s world-class property, and there just aren’t that many properties like that close to Disney. So it’s gonna be quite a fun project to work on.”
Carter said he’s already received multiple offers since the listing went active a few days ago, even though the property still has agricultural zoning. That’s not a concern because it’s located in Lake County’s Wellness Way Area, which has a planning overlay that allows a mix of uses, and will be home to the new Orange-Lake Connector, toll road connecting U.S. 27 to S.R. 429 in Horizon West. County Road 455, which will have a full interchange on the toll road, is located within the Arnold property.
“People have a pretty good comfort level that you’re going to get zoning,” Carter said.
The sellers plan to retain 130± acres north of Frank Jarrell Road abutting the Showcase of Citrus property.
To get an idea of the potential price, Canadian homebuilder GT Homes paid $51.5 million in 2021 for roughly 700 acres just north of the Arnold grove that also wasn’t zoned. That property is now under contract to Pulte, which has applied for zoning to build a mixed-use community with 1,635 homes and a commercial center on Schofield Road. Lake County’s Sawgrass Bay community is just south of the property.
Less than two weeks ago, Pulte and land-banking partner Sun Terra Communities paid $33 million for 304 acres in Wellness Way with plans to start construction this month.
“It really is a property that has such appeal to the development community, we’re gonna have a slew of offers on it,” Carter said.
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at lkinsler@GrowthSpotter.com or (407) 420-6261. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.
