St. Cloud is talking with private developers to do the projectwhich has a tentative completion date of early 2005. The site iseast of Canoe Creek Road and south of Fertic Road in unincorporatedOsceola County, about 20 miles south of Walt Disney World. Theproject would be 30 minutes from Downtown Orlando.

City council still has to approve the land purchase at a publicmeeting Nov. 14. The city anticipates a proposed new FloridaTurnpike interchange will be built at Kissimmee Park Road that willtrigger commercial/retail/industrial/residential development nearthe Stevens Plantation site and allow motorists to bypass heavilytrafficked U.S. 192 while traveling to and from the plannedproject.

An Osceola County developer, not associated with the city's specventure, tells GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity St. Cloud canalways recoup its land purchase investment if the project fails byselling the dirt to a third party.