Cypress Gardens Closing Leaves 223 Prime Acres on the Table

WINTER HAVEN, FL-In a changing-times scenario, attendance-suffering Cypress Gardens is exiting Florida’s natural attractions playground after 67 years and leaving 223 prime acres on the table for possible furious bidding from residential, retail and office developers.

Polk County industrial real estate brokers familiar with nearby commercial projects tell GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity that the prime lakefront dirt could generate bidding prices of at least $300,000 per acre ($6.89 per sf), for a total $66.9 million.

Bill Reynolds, a former Anheuser-Busch Co. executive who is president of the seven-investor, brewer’s real estate management group that bought Cypress Gardens for an undisclosed sum in 1995, couldn’t be reached at GlobeSt.com’s publication deadline to learn whether he plans to put all or some of the park land up for sale.