The newest $1 billion venture is being proposed by landowner Crayton Pruitt for his 3,443-acre ranch a slingshot away from the hamlet of Okahumpka, FL (Pop. 502), just outside the city limits of Leesburg, FL. (Pop. 16,911).

Pruitt envisions a mixed-use community that would comprise 350,000 sf of retail and a 400-acre industrial park surrounded by 2,750 multifamily and single-family units. The nine-year enterprise would break ground in 2004, conveniently after a new Florida Turnpike interchange is built and operating at County Road 470.

Pruitt already is on the monopoly playing board and has passed his first Go with a green light from Leesburg's planning commission. The planners are recommending the city annex Pruitt's ranch. That would put it in line for infrastructure such as city-provided utilities, water hookups and sewer connections.