The Villages land sale moves forward

LEESBURG — City Manager Al Minner expects that both Leesburg and The Villages will complete their “due diligence” checklists by the end of October for the sale of 1,200 acres to the mega retirement development.

“We’re really coming closer,” he told the Daily Commercial. “We expect to close on the 16th of November.”

The schedule for the transaction “which has a lot of moving pieces,” as Minner puts it, has shifted since the city agreed last May to sell land it owns on County Road 470 near Florida’s Turnpike. The most recent goal for closing was Oct. 8.

Originally approved by city commissioners for 1,938 vacant acres, the deal is now set for 1,275 acres.

The city originally acquired the land with a federal grant for use as a treated wastewater sprayfield site. It later decided to sell off some of the parcels for industrial development. Eventually, The Villages, with its explosive growth in neighboring Sumter County, came knocking.

The city will no longer need as much land for a sprayfield, because The Villages will be treating some of the city’s wastewaster, Minner said. It will still need about 500 acres south of CR 470, however, at least for now.

On Thursday, the city Planning and Zoning Board approved rezoning 11 acres for age-restricted development.

Among the items either already checked off the to-do list, or about to be settled are: repayment of federal funds used to buy the sprayfield site, final details of a wastewater treatment agreement between the city and The Villages, and an arrangement with The Villages on what kinds of services residents will need.

The Villages has tentatively agreed to treat about six million gallons per day from the city at its wastewater treatment facility. The developer plans to use its own fire department to service the area.

Minner said the most recent talks with the developer indicate it plans to build 3,000 homes on the land.

“Originally it was between 3,000 and 5,000,” he said.

The Villages is building thousands of new homes from Wildwood in Sumter County to Leesburg, including large tracts on the west side of the Turnpike.

City commissioners agreed to sell property after acknowledging it will vastly increase the tax base and bring jobs to the city.

“It’s a win-win,” Commissioner Jay Hurley said Friday. “It’s all positive. We’re rockin’ and rolling.”

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