Leesburg Betting Land Sales Will Spur New Area Growth and Revenue

LEESBURG, FL-Wastewater treatment facilities aren’t the most exotic cocktail circuit topic but in this Lake County city of 15,624 permanent residents, a 900-acre sprayfield near a newly planned highway interchange is getting attention. When that interchange is built in 2003, a good part of the land will become too valuable to use as a sprayfield, the city has decided.

“They are doing what every good developer and landowner considers over time,” Tom D. Cook, vice president/business development in the Orlando office of Carter & Associates-ONCOR, tells GlobeSt.com. “They are reviewing their assets so that they can position them for the highest and best use.”

The city plans to sell a portion of the prime dirt to developers and entrepreneurs, betting the deals will spur new growth, tax and impact fee revenue. City commissioners are studying how much land to sell off. At the same time, they will have to acquire additional nearby tracts from private owners for new wastewater treatment areas.