The first two-story, 30,000-sf phase of the planned five-building office campus is tentatively scheduled to break ground in 2005. County planning officials tell GlobeSt.com the decision to build the offices was made to accommodate South Lake residents who now travel 25 miles north to the county seat in Tavares to conduct various business transactions.
The South Lake site is north of Oakly Seaver Drive and east of Citrus Tower Boulevard. Government officials have been criticized for paying top dollar for land that could be purchased in other parts of the county for half the contracted price.
But area brokers familiar with the fast-growing metro area tell GlobeSt.com the county was paying for location. "That's always the wisest decision to make," a broker who has assisted the county in the past on other land deals, tells GlobeSt.com.
County real estate records show Home Depot last year paid $2.4 million, or $240,000 per acre, for 10 acres off State Road 50 near Downtown. South Lake Hospital paid $1.8 million, or $90,000 per acre, for 20 acres in 2001.
The new offices will have space for county commissioners, the property appraiser, tax collector, supervisor of elections, clerk of the courts and a sheriff's substation. These offices currently lease space in various metro area buildings.
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
