Trust Contracts to Buy Cypress Gardens

WINTER HAVEN, FL-In a complex transaction, Washington, DC-based Trust For Public Land has contracted to buy 142 acres of the controversial 159-acre Cypress Gardens water sports attraction from majority owners Larry Maxwell and William Reynolds for $22 million, or $154,930 per acre. The site is 60 miles south of Downtown Orlando.

Orlando area industrial real estate brokers tell GlobeSt.com the price is believed to be $5 million more than Maxwell and Reynolds initially asked for the entire property after the 68-year-old attraction suddenly closed April 13 due to low attendance.

The trust has until Feb. 24 to complete a financing package for the property and to exercise an option to separately buy another 7.1 acres on Swann Point at the north end of the 37-acre botanical gardens component of the park.