The average price of $25,000 per acre or about 57 cents per sfcompares with the larger Orlando area parks, 45 miles southeast ofLeesburg, asking $100,000 per acre or $2.30 per sf. Business hasbeen so brisk at the park, the city has only two one-acre parcelsleft.

"The park has been here all this time and it's only now beingdiscovered," says Robert Johnson, the city's departing economicdevelopment manager. Neighboring Tavares, a city of 8,000 residents15 miles south of Leesburg, lost no time in luring Johnson with ahigher salary and more responsibilities as director of communityservices.

Leesburg city invested $743,886 to create the park and has sold11 tracts valued at $413,920 or about $37,629 per tract. Some ofthe tracts are over an acre. Leesburg has pending contracts of$189,500. The city also collects property taxes and utilitypayments from the landowners. The park is off State Road 44 andFlatwood Road.