Citrus World Signs Three-Year, $10.5 Mil Lease for Golden Gem

UMATILLA, FL-Two of Florida’s largest citrus juice processors have struck a deal to save the financially struggling 54-year-old Golden Gem Growers Inc. from being history. Umatilla is 35 miles northwest of Downtown Orlando.

Lake Wales, FL-based Citrus World, the largest citrus cooperative in Florida, will operate the 100-acre, 500,000-sf Golden Gem facility under a three-year, $10.5 million lease with Boeing Capital Corp., the Seattle-based subsidiary of aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co. The deal closes Feb. 28.

Citrus World also has an option to extend the lease for six years after it expires in 2004, according to U.S. Bankruptcy Court filings in Orlando where Golden Gem filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in September 2001.