Dix Developments has acquired the 74-acre Blake Ridge property in Leesburg from retired motocross professional Blake Baggett for $4.875 million.

Formerly known as El Chupacabra Ranch, a nod to Baggett’s nickname during his racing career, Blake Ridge is set to contain 216 single-family lots, with earthwork expected to begin in September, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.

Clermont Realtor April Stevenson, who represented Baggett, said he had initially hoped to keep the land for use as a motocross facility, but ultimately decided to market it as a development site. Baggett had used the facility for training.

“Over the years of [Baggett] owning it and with The Villages pushing south by the time he had retired with his professional career, we were both hopeful that it would continue to be a motocross facility,” she said. “However, the land was too valuable to justify keeping it a track.”

Blake Ridge was the first of three closings for Dix that will bring 1,466 new homes directly across from The Villages’ border along County Road 48. The neighborhood will be integrated into the Oak Ridge Community Development District, a master-planned community by Dix Developments that will merge three subdivisions.

The district will encompass Blake Ridge to the south, 84-acre development Huntington Oaks to the north and the 597-acre Oak Ridge between the two.

“We have bookends in Huntington Oaks on the north side of what we call Oak Ridge and then Blake Ridge on the south end,” James Dicks, CEO and founder of Dix Developments, said. “That’s how we came up with Oak Ridge essentially.”

Huntington Oaks will contain 166 single-family lots and 144 villas. It is expected to close in June and commence construction that same month.

Oak Ridge, the largest of the three developments, will encompass 718 single-family lots and 222 villas. Dix Developments anticipates completion of permitting for Oak Ridge by mid-2026.

“We had a lot of work to do with the Army Corps and [St. Johns River] Water Management District, so I would say that the application is about to be submitted, maybe this week,” he said. “We’re probably talking about a year for rezoning.”

Dix Developments currently controls about 4,900 acres, either owned or under contract, according to the developer.

Dicks said his company is currently working on 27 projects, stretching from Brevard County to Citrus County, all north of State Road 60.

“We’re starting to build a pretty big presence in Lake County so we kind of like it because it’s halfway in between everything that we’ve got,” he said, referring to the Oak Ridge project. “We certainly like the area and it’s going to continue to grow because of The Villages.

“We plan on doubling, if not tripling, the impact we already have in the county,” he said.

Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at jwilkins@orlandosentinel.com or 407-754-4980. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.