Lennar Homes buys land for Bonita Springs project

BUYER: Lennar Homes LLC, Fort Myers
SELLER: RP Bonita Beach Rd LLC
PROPERTY: 17001 Bonita Beach Road S.E. and additional land, Bonita Springs
PRICE: $44 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $18 million, April 2011
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Greenberg Traurig LLP, West Palm Beach

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Miami-based homebuilder Lennar Homes purchased 691 acres east of Island Walk for $44 million.

The price equated to $63,676 per acre.

The property, located east of Interstate 75 at the end of Bonita Beach Road, was acquired along with roughly 640 acres of Florida panther and black bear habitat. The Hendry County land south of State Road 80 and east of State Road 29 was purchased for an additional $1 million as mitigation land to develop the Bonita Springs property.

The Lee County raw land is entitled for about 1,900 residential units.

The sale validates the sellers', Rockpoint Capital and The Ronto Group, continued interest in the property. In 2002, the two purchased the property as Beach Road Development LP for $42.19 million. Faced with the real estate crash, the purchase entity lost the property through foreclosure in 2009. They repurchased the property again in a different entity in 2011 for $18 million.

Randy Thibaut of Land Solutions Inc., who handled the transaction, says development is likely eminent.

“This is a flagship property that Lennar can work on for multiple years,” he says.