Mine, anyone?

For the second time this year, an ongoing mining operation has been part of a major Southwest Florida land sale.

In May, a firm led by billionaire investor Jeff Greene acquired a 2,576-acre tract in North Naples for $38.5 million, property records show. 27th/Pico Boulevard Ltd. Partnership's property, on Jones Mining Road roughly a dozen miles from Interstate 75 in Collier County, also is zoned for agricultural use.

More recently, Oakbrook Properties acquired a 1,268-acre property in Bonita Springs for $7.5 million that also contains a mine — one that has been in operation since the early 1980s, records indicate.

Seller Bonita Grande Properties L.P., of the Netherlands, was represented in the transaction by Land Solutions Inc. CEO Randy Thibaut and senior broker William Rollins.

The pair also worked on behalf of the trustees that sold the North Naples' tract to 27th/Pico Boulevard.

Oakbrook, the company behind the Coconut Point mixed-use community, The Brooks subdivision and the Spanish Wells Golf and Country Club, all in Lee County, intends to develop the 25501 Bonita Grande Drive property into a residential community.

“We are uniquely qualified to transition the mine to a new land use,” Oakbrook CEO David McArdle says.

But while the sales prices appear to have quite a disparity, the total amount of money involved in each of the two deals isn't so dissimilar.

In the Bonita Springs transaction, Bonita Grande provided $18.1 million in seller financing to Oakbrook, according to a pair of mortgages filed in conjunction with the closing. It could not be determined what Oakbrook plans to use the mortgage proceeds for, or its timetable in redeveloping the property.