According to public records, it paid Pine Island Groves Inc., the locally based owner of all three parcels, close to $1.8 million or about $17,375 an acre. The cost of similar acreage on the east coast of South Florida, when available, begins at about five times that price, brokers tell GlobeSt.com.
Michael Nissley, VP of investment services in the Boca Raton office of Grubb & Ellis, represented Stringfellow in the transactions. Realty World in Matlacha on Pine Island represented the seller.
Pine Island, which is located north of the well-developed islands of Sanibel and Captiva and south of Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda, is approximately 15 miles long and a mile wide. "It's an interior barrier island with no beaches," Nissley says. "It consists primarily of fruit tree and palm tree farms, but it's very beautiful and home to a lot of authors and artists. It's also popular with boaters."
The new owner is affiliated with locally based Bougainvillea Growers International, which operates the largest bougainvillea nursery east of the Mississippi. For now, the nursery will expand its bougainvillea crop. "This represented a good opportunity to get South Florida land at a good price," Nissley says, suggesting, "long-term, when the value of the land reaches a certain level, it will probably go residential."
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.