A dwindling supply of highway-fronting, one-acre tracts is going for $8 to $12 per sf. "That's double the price in only one year," Paul Bryan, owner/broker of Bryan Properties Inc. Realtor, tells GlobeSt.com.

He says the rush by developers for prime parcels and the prices they are willing to pay is "unbelievable," especially in a Lake County-seat city such as Tavares with a permanent population of 9,700. David Walker Road, the newest artery leading to the hospital area from Eustis, FL, nine miles away, is commanding lot prices of $2 to $4 per sf, says Bryan, whose firm has operated since 1981.

Lots suitable for multifamily development are priced from $1.15 per sf to $1.38 per sf. Even on Dora Avenue, a once-sleepy road now leading to the hospital area, lot prices are trading in the 92-cents-per sf-range.

The current development focus is at Lakeview Center, a 40-acre, 15-year ongoing development directly across from the hospital. Half-acre to two-acre lots at the Lakeview Professional Medical Campus, within Lakeview Center, start at $5.97 per sf. The Fountains, an 18,000-sf building, will house medical offices with asking average base rent of $18 per sf.

GC Construction, headed by Gerry Guenther and Sue Ellen Coughtry, have controlled the 40-acre development for the past two years and directed its growth. Their current focus is on developing 30,000 sf of retail, including several restaurants to serve the growing medical office sector, area brokers familiar with this submarket tell GlobeSt.com.

Already spotting a niche market is Al Jamal, a director at Alysha Enterprises, which has broken ground on an 80-room, $4.5-million Best Western hotel scheduled to open in July. Rates will run from $59 to $99 per night with marketing focused on the business traveler.

Orange and grapefruit groves dotted the land area around the hospital 20 years ago. The 1985-86 freeze killed many of the groves and forced owners to sell their land to commercial and residential developers.

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