Planned Mixed-Use Project Slowly Erasing Leesburg's Rural Aura

The newest $1 billion venture is being proposed by landowner Crayton Pruitt for his 3,443-acre ranch a slingshot away from the hamlet of Okahumpka, FL (Pop. 502), just outside the city limits of Leesburg, FL. (Pop. 16,911).

Pruitt envisions a mixed-use community that would comprise 350,000 sf of retail and a 400-acre industrial park surrounded by 2,750 multifamily and single-family units. The nine-year enterprise would break ground in 2004, conveniently after a new Florida Turnpike interchange is built and operating at County Road 470.

Pruitt already is on the monopoly playing board and has passed his first Go with a green light from Leesburg's planning commission. The planners are recommending the city annex Pruitt's ranch. That would put it in line for infrastructure such as city-provided utilities, water hookups and sewer connections.

The next step is getting a bigger green light on the annexation request later this month. Hard-liners against annexation already are lining up at city hall, insiders tell GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity.

But pro-development forces on the city's Main Street tell GlobeSt.com at least three commissioners will point out at the next public hearing that annexation will generate substantial annual new revenue to the city and give it control on how the development is built and maintained--authority it would not have if the venture is built in an unincorporated area of the county.

For example, annual property taxes would bring in $181,687 in the first phase alone from 2004 to 2006. From 2006 to 2010, projected property tax revenue would be $609,000. Annual utility revenue is estimated at $818,652. There would also be surcharges and franchise fees roughly amounting to $112 the developer would pay the city on each new home built.

As a bargaining chip, the city will ask the developer to pay additional fees for a fire substation, additional police and an expanded water and wastewater system.

The property owner couldn't be reached at GlobeSt.com's publication deadline but business associates tell GlobeSt.com the developer "wants to get the deal done and will do whatever it takes to get it done," including agreeing to the city's demands.

"He's not in any big hurry on this thing but he does want to be in a position to take advantage of the development growth that will surge after the new interchange is up and running in 2003," other business associates of the property owner tell GlobeSt.com.