CalAtlantic buys 700 acres in Lee County

CalAtlantic Group Inc. appears to be going out with a bang. In one of its final land deals in Southwest Florida as an independent entity, the home builder late last year acquired a nearly 706-acre tract in Lee County for $27.5 million.

That price represents one of the largest purchases of raw land by a homebuilder along the Gulf Coast in the past year, according to records.

The property, on the emerging Corkscrew Road minutes from Florida Gulf Coast University, is expected to be developed for single-family homes that surround a massive lake.

CalAtlantic, which is in the process of merging with Miami-based Lennar Corp. in a $9.3 billion deal, acquired the Corkscrew Road land from Alico East Fund LLC, a Fort Myers company controlled by Private Equity Group.

“It's a beautiful property, and one of the few places you can build around an existing lake,” says Gary Tasman, CEO and principal broker at commercial real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield | Commercial Property Southwest Florida, who together with Shawn Stoneburner of the same firm negotiated the transaction.

“It's also fast becoming the epicenter for growth in Southwest Florida.”