The first project in the multi-phased undertaking facing Interstate 4 near the Polk County line is one of three 18-hole, championship-caliber golf courses. The project will comprise 540,000 sf of commercial; 3,000 hotel rooms; and 5,000 resort units made up of time shares and single-family homes.

The project's estimated buildout date is 2016. No ground-breaking dates have been set for the other development phases. Funding sources for the entire project haven't been disclosed by the Palm Coast, FL-based developer.

Texas-based Centex Homes plans to construct 700 for-rent and private ownership single-family and townhome units within Reunion Resort.

Ginn, a developer in Florida and the Carolinas for 30 years, bought the 2,500 tract last year from the Herman J. Heidrich family, a pioneer Orlando citrus and land-holding family that generally conceived the current resort project's plans in 1952--16 years before the late Walt Disney secretly began buying up virgin land 25 miles south of Downtown Orlando for $200 an acre or a quarter of a cent per sf.

Heidrich paid about $12.5 million for the dirt, or about $5,000 per acre (12 cents per sf). Ginn paid Heidrich about $45.5 million or $18,200 per acre (42 cents per sf), according to deeds filed in the Orange County records division.

Ginn was reported to be traveling and couldn't be reached at GlobeSt.com's publication deadline. But a broker who has assisted Ginn on previous transactions tells GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity, "When you buy land at the right price and at the right site, you can plan almost any kind of quality project and be almost certain you will show a profit at the end of the run."

He adds, "That's what Ginn is doing here."