A 1,745-acre stretch of raw land has sold in Cape Coral, fetching a record price of $100 million.
The price is a record not just for the city, but all of Lee County.
Known as the Hudson Creek property, it’s already approved for a massive mixed-used development, with up to 3,500 homes and as much as 425,000 square feet of shops and restaurants, along with other commercial uses, including a 500-room hotel.
Other approved uses: 150,000 square feet of offices, an 800-bed assisted living center and a 3,000-student university.
Justin Thibaut and Billy Rollins of Fort Myers-based LSI Companies brokered the lucrative deal.
The land sits in the northwest Cape, east of Burnt Store Road, between Jacaranda Parkway North and Chiquita Boulevard. It borders large state-owned preservation areas on several sides.
“The Hudson Creek property sale represents the largest unimproved land transaction in Lee County and will serve as a much-needed location to deliver housing to one of the most active MSAs in the United States,” Thibtaut said in an email.
“In addition, the 200-acre mixed-use component fronting Burnt Store Road will likely become home to a vibrant commercial/retail and residential development,” he said.
Earnest efforts to develop the land began more than five years ago.
For LSI, securing the deal, with the right buyer, took about two years, Thibaut said.
A crucial step in the sale of the property came in March 2023, when city council unanimously approved the zoning changes necessary for the development to move forward.
“Very few, if any, properties of this size with zoning remain in Lee County,” Thibaut said.
More: Cape Coral development Hudson Creek is poised to bring 3,500 new homes
And: Cape Coral’s Hudson Creek development moves forward, but when can we move in?
The property’s new owner is the Forestar Group, which operates as a subsidiary of D.R. Horton, which is one of America’s largest homebuilders, with a strong presence in Southwest Florida.
Based in Arlington, Texas, Forestar is a residential lot development company. A representative for the company could not immediately be reached for comment about the purchase.
The listing price was $125 million.
The property had been owned by an affiliate of the Pinnacle Development Group, which purchased a big part of it from the Zemel family, one of the earliest major landowners in Southwest Florida, for $3 million at auction in 2016.
In 2010, Pinnacle Development bought Cascades, a 570-unit, 55-plus community at River Hall, out of bankruptcy for $4.95 million.
Matthew Simmons, a managing partner with Maxwell, Hendry & Simmons, a commercial and residential appraisal and consulting firm in Fort Myers, said the Hudson Creek property was the “largest available opportunity for development in Southwest Florida.”
