Developer's Cash-Land Offer to City Pays Off

MINNEOLA, FL-Money talks, especially in this tiny South Lake County municipality (Pop. 7,000). Local elected officials voted Sept. 10 to accept $300,000 cash and 60 acres from developer Terry Hagen in exchange for annexing his planned 711-home community, The Reserve at Minneola. The site is 25 miles west of Downtown Orlando.

Area brokers tell GlobeSt.com the transaction was important locally because it marked the first time a local government disregarded advice from the Lake County School Board to reject a deal involving new school construction. Hagen had previously offered the school board 19 acres of free land to build a school.

When the board publicly refused to go along, Hagen turned to city officials and offered them the 19 acres plus $200,000 in cash. But when officials hedged on that offer, Hagen upped the stake to 60 acres and $300,000. Neither he nor city officials could be reached by GlobeSt.com’s publication deadline.