Osceola County reopens bidding for development site on Lake Toho

Osceola County has reopened bidding for 309 acres of land next to the Valencia College Poinciana Campus and has set a minimum price of $85,000 per acre.

The “Mac Overstreet” property, formerly known as College Station, stretches from Pleasant Hill Road to Lake Tohopekaliga. The acreage abuts two residential subdivisions, the Bellalago boating community to the south and Concorde Estates to the north. It has Employment Center and Institutional future land use and is zoned Institutional.

According to the solicitation, the county is looking for “a project that exemplifies the highest and best use of the property that must target the green energy technology sector, especially in terms of manufacturing, R&D, office, and auxiliary uses in addition to creating high-wage green technology jobs.”

This is the second time in the last four months the county has put the property out on the market. The procurement office published a Request for Letters of Interest four months ago but quickly canceled it. The previous solicitation did not include a minimum purchase price. If the county sets the base at $85,000 per acre for the gross acreage, that would bring in at least $26 million. The Invitation to Bid was released Feb. 12 but updated the next day to clarify that the county intends to retain 42 acres for a public park with a boat ramp. With that revision, the amount of lake frontage was reduced from 2,650 feet to 930 feet.

The letter of intent should include the purchase price, time needed for due diligence, deposit and timeframe needed for development. All of those factors will be considered by the selection committee, as well as the number of types of jobs the project would create.

Bids are due on Feb. 28 at 2 pm, but brokers and developers who spoke with GrowthSpotter said it’s unclear if the minimum price applies to the gross acreage or the uplands, which would set the base at $17.76 million. The procurement office issued an addendum late Monday noting that the price applies to the gross acreage.

“I’m not sure if the county is looking for a bidding war,” developer Kal Hussein said. “85 is a little rich in these market conditions. It’s doable, but that would put it at the top of what the range should be.”

But Hussein said the potential for developing a mixed-use town center in conjunction with a county-operated marina/boat ramp, makes it attractive. The bid package notes that partnership on the shared public recreation amenities will be a key consideration.

“There’s definitely going to be a lot of interest,” he said. “We’re starting to think really hard about it.”

Daryl Carter, president of Maury L. Carter & Associates, said the permitted uses will determine the market value of the land. “It sounds like a great piece of property in a great location. But if the county will only consider R&D and offices, that could be very limiting,” he said. If the county will allow apartments with a mix of uses, that would bring more buyers, but the property would need to be rezoned.

Carter also questioned why the county set the bid deadline just 16 days after publication — with no question and answer period or property tour. “I don’t understand what’s the rush,” he said. “I understand the county has some noble goals to generate tax revenue and create jobs. But on the other hand, things need to work in today’s economy. And it has to be profitable for a developer so everybody wins.”

Back in 2016, the county had been in negotiations with an Indiana-based developer who was planning a wellness-themed mixed-use community that would complement the college. But the developer backed out of the project over a dispute about whether to include a student housing component.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been updated with additional information about the minimum price.

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