Oviedo-based developer Sun Terra Communities is moving to purchase the proposed site of the huge, 1,088-acre Whispering Hills community in Leesburg out of bankruptcy court for $62 million.

According to documents from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Middle District of Florida, Orlando-based Marsan Real Estate Group — which owns the property as Bellaviva at Whispering Hills LLC — filed for Chapter 11 in October. A liquidation plan was filed last week, a move to clear the way for the controversial development which has lain dormant for four years, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.

Sun Terra Principal Richard Jerman said the developer is currently in its due diligence stage of acquiring the property over the next few weeks and has not yet closed on the purchase.

Early plans for Whispering Hills indicated developer Jean Marsan planned the community as a mixed-use development on the site of the former Journey M Circle Ranch in Leesburg, just east of U.S. 27 and north of Dewey Robbins Road. The property has zoning approvals for a golf and equestrian community with nearly 3,000 residential units and up to 451,000 square feet of commercial hotel, medical and office uses.

“We’re looking at all those alternatives, whether it’s a redesign or what we’re going to do, but we’re too early to talk about anything significant other than we have it under contract,” Jerman said.

Jerman called the property a good investment and acknowledged the difficulties in securing a property the size of Whispering Hills.

“It’s not easy getting an entitled property this large in this market at a reasonable location,” he said. “This is a good location for the Orlando metropolitan market. We’ve done well out in Minneola with Hills of Minneola, so we’re familiar with Lake County and its surroundings. We think it’s solid for us.”

SunTerra has a long track record in Central Florida of developing larger, master-planned communities, including Hills of Minneola, Harmony and Horizon West.

Whispering Hills got the green light from Leesburg City Council in 2022 after vehement objections from area residents and concerns from Lake County officials over the project’s proposed size. Marsan purchased the property that year for $21 million and later filed construction plans calling for 2,309 residential units — 1,525 single-family units and 784 multifamily units — across nine villages. He applied for mass grading permits for Phase 1A of Whispering Hills from the St. Johns River Water Management District last June.

Jerman said the due diligence period will be about 45 days, and he expects SunTerra to close on the purchase about 30 days after that, sometime around mid-April.

“We’re in control, which is about all that we can say at this point in time,” he said.

According to court documents from the bankruptcy case, Marsan owes over $53.6 million to various entities, including Legion Capital Corp., which loaned him somewhere between $22 million and $32 million. A former business partner who sued Marsan also filed a claim for $17.7 million. He also owes $886,936 in back taxes to Lake County.

If the Whispering Hills property is sold for the proposed $62 million to SunTerra, Marsan stands to make over $8.36 million in excess sale proceeds.

The surrounding area is developing rapidly.

Adjacent to the Whispering Hills property, Risewell Homes is currently selling within the 147-acre Hodges Reserve development. Planned for 449 single-family residential units near the north side of Dewey Robbins and east of U.S. 27, Hodges Reserve is actively in development.

Homes within Hodges Reserve will range from three to six bedrooms, two and a half to three and a half bathrooms, and 1,773 to 2,560 square feet, according to Risewell.

Just north of Whispering Hills — near No. 2 Road and Busby Road, east of the Windsong neighborhood — Richland Communities is planning development of its 337-acre Silver Springs community.

Concerns from nearby residents about traffic generated by the proposed 825 detached single-family homes on No. 2 Road early last year prompted Richland to move the proposed neighborhood’s access point off that road to an access point through Whispering Hills.

GrowthSpotter Editor Laura Kinsler contributed to this report.

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