"Nothing Else Like It"

The former Musgrave Dairy Farm in Manatee County north of Lakewood Ranch is expected to fetch more than $70 million when offers are collected on the 326.6-acre property early next year.

The property, at 8500 E. State Road 64, is bounded by Interstate 75, State Road 64, Lena Road and open land, and is considered one of the few large, contiguous tracts in Florida with existing infrastructure in place capable of a mixed-use development.

The land also is attractive because it is in close proximity to an interstate interchange, which is separately in the process of being upgraded by state transportation officials. In all, $59 million is being spent to add a new diamond configuration and ramps and widen State Road 64. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2019.

“There’s really nothing else like this on the market in the entire state of Florida,” says Dana Speer, an associate in commercial real estate brokerage Marcus & Millichap’s Tampa office who is listing the property for sale.

“It’s near several established residential areas, including Lakewood Ranch, the median household income is significant in the area, and it’s close to Interstate 75 with good access to the highway,” says Speer. “It’s everything a developer might look for in a signature project.”

Under current zoning, residential, office, retail, medical office or light industrial space could be developed on the tract.

The property is within a mile of a new 350,000-square-foot Costco Wholesale Club being developed, along with a plethora of retail shops, restaurants and limited-service hotels such as a Days Inn and Holiday Inn Express.

In addition to being located a short drive from the master-planned community of Lakewood Ranch, the Musgrave property also is in close proximity to a pair of major residential communities, Stoney Brook and Greyhawk Landing. Combined, those two communities will contain more than 2,000 homes at build out.

“We anticipate that whoever buys this property will want to develop commercial space on the frontage of I-75 and State Road 64, with residential uses such as single-family homes filling much of the interior,” Speer says.

“But I wouldn’t be surprised if a plan is put forward to construct some new, Class A apartments there,” she adds. “With all the development around there, there’s a significant need for new, higher-end apartments.

“Any developer who acquires this property will have the opportunity to build a real legacy project,” says Speer, who previously had been a principal at Grand Realty, in Sarasota.

Speer and her partners at Marcus & Millichap, Senior Vice Presidents Ronnie Issenberg and Gabriel Britti, both of whom are based in Miami, say the pending opening of the Costo warehouse shopping club should add greatly to the cache of the area and boost marketing efforts.

“We’re marketing this to the largest homebuilders in America, both public and private, as well as several large retail developers, because they understand the value of having this kind of frontage on I-75 and State Road 64,” Issenberg says.

Marcus & Millichap intends to set a call for offers for the property in late January and select a winning bid shortly thereafter. Speer hopes a closing will occur within 12 to 18 months of selecting a winning offer, a timeline that is typical in sales involving large tracts of land.

From there, however, construction could proceed fairly quickly, based on the future land use and zoning designations.

“Because the future land use that’s in place already calls for a mixed-use development, this property doesn’t need to have a (comprehensive) plan developed for it,” Speer says. “That will make obtaining approvals somewhat easier.”

Speer hopes to receive between 10 and 15 qualified offers for the property, based on the current level of interest and inquiry.

Roger Musgrave, the patriarch of the family that controls Musgrave Dairy, has owned the State Road 64 land since the late 1950s — even prior to the opening of Interstate 75 in the area.

Speer, whose parents grew up in Bradenton and knew the Musgraves, has been working with the family for the past year to ready the property for sale.

The dairy moved more than a decade ago to Lafayette County, in North Florida, just outside the town of Mayo.

“They got together and just decided that now was the appropriate time to sell it, and they recognize the value because it’s the last, large piece in that area,” Speer says.

“With market conditions being what they are, the family realizes now is the ideal time to bring this property to market.”