FPL pays $30 million for 3,400 acres in Manatee County

The power company has bought the acreage in Myakka City as state records show it plans to build three solar centers in the county.


  • By Louis Llovio
  • | 3:00 p.m. July 25, 2023
  • | 2 Free Articles Remaining!
The panels at the Manatee Solar Energy Center stretch into the distance, covering 751 acres.
The panels at the Manatee Solar Energy Center stretch into the distance, covering 751 acres.
Photo by Ian Swaby
  • Manatee-Sarasota
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Florida Power & Light has bought 3,397 acres of agricultural land in Myakka City.

According to a copy of the deed posted on Manatee County's court records website, the power company paid $30 million for a total of eight parcels. County property records identify the parcels as being at 73rd Avenue East, Juell Gill Road, Wauchula Road and Roy Moore Road.

A Sarasota-Manatee FPL official referred calls to the FPL media relations. FP&L did not respond to multiple requests for comment about what it intends to do with the land.

But according to the company’s “Ten Year Power Plant Site Plan: 2023-2032” submitted in April to the Florida Public Service Commission, it has big plans for the county.

According to the report, FPL is building three solar facilities in Manatee County: the Long Creek Solar Energy Center on 1,236 acres; the Three Creeks Solar Energy Center on 700 acres; and the Sambucus Solar Energy Center on 482 acres. Three Creeks and Sambucus have field construction start dates set for this year, the report states. Long Creek has construction start date of 2024.

There could be a fourth Manatee project as well. FPL lists the Flatford Solar Energy Center in the county on a list of potential sites, though it does not provide any specifics.

FPL is major property owner with dozens of properties in Manatee County, so it is not immediately clear if the recently purchased properties are being set aside for some or any of these projects.

Here, based on the Parcel ID numbers in county records, are the properties FPL bought:

  • A 315-acre parcel at 73rd Avenue East
  • A 322-acre parcel at 73rd Avenue East
  • A 424-acre parcel at 73rd Avenue East
  • A 428-acre parcel at Juel Gill Road
  • A 432-acre parcel at Juel Gill Road
  • A 496-acre parcel at Roy Moore Road
  • A 322-acre parcel at 6671 Wauchula Road
  • A 658-acre parcel at Wauchula Road

The land was previously owned by Grove City Investments, which bought the tracts in 2015 paying $17 million, according to property records.

 

author

Louis Llovio

Louis Llovio is the deputy managing editor at the Business Observer. Before going to work at the Observer, the longtime business writer worked at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Maryland Daily Record and for the Baltimore Sun Media Group. He lives in Tampa.

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