Pulte Pays Premium for 80 Acres of Universal Land

Pulte officials couldn't be reached immediately to learn their plans for the site; but area land brokers familiar with the property and the current zoning tell GlobeSt.com Pulte plans to develop resort assets such as timeshare units, condominiums and hotel properties on the site--a first for Pulte which has focused on building multifamily and single-family properties for most of its portfolio.

For Thomas and Watson, the sale shows how fast land prices are appreciating in the State Road 535 and International Boulevard hubs in south Orlando. For example, in February 2003, Thomas, president of Thomas Enterprises--largely a shopping center development firm, paid Universal an estimated $70 million or about $38,889 per acre (89 cents per sf) for 1,780 acres along Sand Lake Road near Universal Boulevard, as GlobeSt.com previously reported.

Universal had initially planned to use this land for major theme park expansions. The theme park company had assembled the land by buying 2,300 acres from Lockheed Martin Corp. in 1998 for $54 million or $23,478 per acre (54 cents per sf), according to GlobeSt.com research.

In June of this year, Thomas sold off 29.5 acres of his 1,780-acre holdings to Intrawest/Orlando Development Corp., an affiliate of Vancouver, BC-based Intrawest Corp., an international developer of ski resorts. Intrawest paid Thomas $19.6 million, or $662,711 per acre ($15.21 per sf), for the parcel which it plans to develop as a new area resort, hospitality industry consultants following the company tell GlobeSt.com.

The Pulte land purchase was made formally with Universal City Property Management III LLC, a company controlled by Thomas and Watson. Thomas-Watson's 1,780-acre tract is considered prime development dirt because of its proximity to the four-million-sf Orange County Convention Center on International Drive.

Universal Boulevard parallels International Drive on the east side, connects with Interstate 4 on the north end and hooks up with the heavily trafficked Bee Line Expressway on the south end.