Eagle, Panther Figure in $18M Land Deal

FORT MYERS, FL-A bald eagle and a Florida panther, both protected by Florida law, almost killed a $17.5 million land deal in this booming southwest Florida market. The eagle and the panther had homes on the land that was being sold. “We were finally able to re-work the site plan around the eagle’s nest and the panther’s home” to satisfy the buyer’s needs, Paul Sands, a broker at VIP Commercial TCN Worldwide, tells GlobeSt.com.

Sands and colleague Mike Doyle negotiated the 124-acre transaction for the sellers, Guy, Donna and E. Bruce Strayhorn of Fort Myers. The land had been in the Strayhorn family’s portfolio for more than 100 years, Sands says. Michigan-based Southland Investment Opportunities LLC paid $136,947 per acre or $3.14 per sf for the agricultural-zoned dirt at 5250 Luckett Road. The buyer plans to develop a light industrial park on the site after the land is rezoned.

“Location was the strong entitlement in this transaction,” Sands tells GlobeSt.com. “It’s one of the last large Interstate 75 development tracts” between Tampa and Naples. The city of Fort Myers could potentially annex the site and make it even more valuable, the broker says. Lee County currently provides water and sewer service along Luckett Road. “It’s a fantastic site for future mixed-use development.”