Beucher family selling undeveloped land, finished lots at Lake's Mission Inn Resort

For the first time, regional and national homebuilders will get a chance to build in one of Central Florida's most historic golf resorts.

The Beucher family, which has owned the Mission Inn Resort & Club in Lake County since 1964, has engaged Maury L. Carter & Associates to sell dozens of finished lots in the community, pad-ready townhome sites and nearly 500 acres of vacant land with residential entitlements.

Daryl Carter told GrowthSpotter he's still working with the Beuchers to finalize pricing on the various parcels, but the initial offering late last week has already generated significant developer interest.

"This is an active community that already has a mature residential component," Carter said. "We're going to bring some major builders to the resort to take advantage of the value and brand that Mission Inn has already created out there."

Located on C.R. 48, just west of Howie-in-the-Hills, the golf resort, formerly known as the Floridian Country Club, celebrated its centennial anniversary last year.

The Beucher family transformed the property into a Spanish Colonial-style resort in 1969 and renamed it Mission Inn Golf and Tennis Resort. In 1992, a second golf course was added called Las Colinas. The first residential areas were permitted in 1998.

The Beuchers also will be listing a separate tract on Lake Harris that currently houses the resort's 55-slip Marina del Rey and air-conditioned lakeside pavilion.

"We'll eventually be marketing that property, as well," Carter said. "It could be redeveloped according to the highest and best use."

Carter said he expects the finished lots to go quickly. The offering includes 21 villa lots, eight 65-foot-wide club lots and four duplex lots -- all on the Las Colinas golf course. All new construction will have to comply with the community's architectural guidelines, which means they must be built in the Mission style with a stucco exterior and barrel tile roof.

Five townhouse pads overlook the El Campeón Golf Course, including one pad next door to the club house and spa facilities.

"It would be nice if one developer could come in and take down all of the townhome pads," Carter said.

The two large undeveloped tracts are part of the county-approved Mission Inn PUD, which is entitled for 1,606 residential units. The resort property even has its own private utility system.

The vacant land consists of two large tracts of 186 acres and 295 acres. Both can be developed with a maximum of four units per acre, and the developer has the option of building private roads with gated access and/or connecting to the resort's roads, subject to a negotiated fee.

The larger tract, which borders the El Campeón Golf Course, has numerous ponds and canals.

"They can be amenities because they're water features, but they can also be restraints," Carter said. "We're going to want a developer or builder to do a plan that meets the family's vision and objective."

Chuck Hiott, project engineer with BESH, designed the Mission Hills PUD. He said the canals could be filled but would have to be mitigated for.

A 1.45-acre commercial lot just outside the resort's gate is also a part of the offering. The site currently houses a real estate sales office, but Carter said the buyer could redevelop it for retail use, subject to approval from the resort owner.

Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at lkinsler@GrowthSpotter.com or (407) 420-6261, or tweet me at @LKinslerOGrowth. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.