Atlanta Developer Eyes Cypress Gardens

ORLANDO-At the urging of Gov. Jeb Bush, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is talking with Cypress Gardens owner Bill Reynolds on buying all or a part of the 223-acre, 67-year-old Polk County attraction that closed suddenly April 13 after failing to find additional operating funds, hospitality industry brokers intimate with the property tell GlobeSt.com.

At the same time, Atlanta entrepreneur Kent Buescher, president and CEO of the Wild Adventures outdoor attraction in Valdosta, GA is also talking with Reynolds on the same deal, Polk County real estate sources tell GlobeSt.com. One part of Cypress Gardens that is not expected to become part of any single land purchase is the 36-acre internationally known Botanical Gardens, sources say..

Buescher and Reynolds couldn’t be reached by press time to learn what price range the possible deals could command. But industrial real estate brokers in Orlando and neighboring Polk County tell GlobeSt.com the prime lakefront dirt at Cypress Gardens could generate bidding prices of at least $300,000 per acre ($6.89 per sf) or a total $66.9 million.