Ginn Signs $112 Mil in Options on SW Florida Acreage

FORT MYERS, FL-Ginn Development Co. has quietly amassed 4,500 acres of land just east of Florida Gulf Coast University with plans to build an estimated 1,600 upscale homes on three golf courses, GlobeSt.com has learned from public records.

Ginn is rapidly becoming one of the most aggressive privately held developers in Florida, based on its recorded land acquisitions and project filings with state planners in various communities over the last six months.

The development group, based in the Flagler County community of Palm Coast, has assumed an option on 2,500 acres that Naples/Dallas Venture Inc. acquired at an estimated price of $50 million or $20,000 an acre (46 cents per sf) in a deal in December 1999 with Alico Inc., the diversified agricultural operation.