A Canadian homebuilder paid a staggering $165 million Friday for 2,300 acres of undeveloped land in Lake County’s Wellness Way area, breaking the county’s previous sale record set just three months ago.

GT USA, the American division of GT Homes, bought the swath of land stretching from U.S. 27 to the Orange County line just minutes from Disney World, GrowthSpotter reported. It includes the Arnold Groves & Ranch at 1,769 acres and the adjacent Roper property at 552 acres, which the company plans to combine into a single master-planned community called Panther Run.

The sale nearly doubles the $90 million price Pulte paid to GT USA in July for the 518-acre Schofield property just up the road. It underscores the tremendous demand for housing in fast-growing Central Florida, as the lure of jobs and relative scarcity of land in Orange County have pushed homebuyers and homebuilders to focus increasingly on surrounding counties.

Doug Bruk, Chief Operating Officer of GT USA, said the company was first drawn to the Lake County area because “Wellness Way is a great location to either raise a family or retire.”

The company won the global bidding war for the Arnold property in April, going under contract about five months after it went on the market and then closing with breathtaking speed. The Roper property was added to the deal as an off-market sale.  “Acquiring, performing due diligence, underwriting, land planning and selling pods to builders concurrent with wetland delineation in six months has been a monumental undertaking,” Bruk said.

Daryl Carter and Conrad Carter with Maury L. Carter & Associates , together with Jim Dowd of Dowd Properties, and Tony Roper and Jimmy Roper of Roper Real Estate assembled and closed on the sale.  “It’s a smokin’ piece of real estate,” Daryl Carter told GrowthSpotter when he listed the Arnold property last November.

Carter said the land had been in the Arnold family for over 60 years and in the Roper family for almost 100 years, and had been used for citrus and cattle ranching for generations. “It has been said by others that the property is one of the best land development opportunities in central Florida and perhaps the entire State of Florida,” he said.

Bruk and his planning team from VHB and GAI Consultants have already met with Lake County staff to discuss the concepts for the Panther Run community with zoning entitlements for 2,805 single family homes and 360 apartments. The plan also designates 73.2 acres for commercial development.

Bruk said GT USA would be seeking a 20% density bonus, subject to negotiations with the county. The plan will include a wildlife corridor extending the length of the property to Lake Louisa State Park.

The new master-planned community will be just south of the new Orange-Lake Connector, also known as State Road 516, a toll road linking U.S. 27 to S.R. 429 in Horizon West. County Road 455 will have a full interchange with S.R. 516 and runs through both properties.

GT USA entered the U.S. market in 2021, paying $51.5 million for the Schofield property in Wellness Way. Bruk said the company was drawn to the area because of the location, road network and proactive planning by Lake County.

“Lake County leadership has done a great job forward planning for smart growth within the Wellness Way corridor,” he said. “It is a case study in how to do it right and how to do it well.”

Bruk told GrowthSpotter the company initially planned to launch its own Central Florida homebuilding operation at Schofield and “horse-trade” other portions of the project to homebuilders in exchange for positions in their communities. The company changed its strategy after Pulte made them an offer they couldn’t refuse, he said.

This time around, the company will act strictly as master developer and will sell pods to homebuilders.

The developer has deals with Ashton Woods and Dream Finders Homes for the Arnold property but is keeping the Roper land off the market for now while they fine-tune the plans.

The Wellness Way area has seen some of the largest land sales in Lake County history this year, including the $90 million deal for Pulte’s Schofield planned unit development (PUD) in July. The homebuilder has approved plans for a future Del Webb active adult community and an all-ages community just south of the Clonts Grove property. Pulte also purchased the 304-acre Chicone PUD just west of the Orange County line in May for $33 million. The homebuilder started horizontal development and will launch sales later this year in Parkside Trails.

In May, Richland Communities paid $60 million cash for the Hickory Groves PUD and is planning to submit revised plans for the mixed-use project that was entitled for 1,200 residential units and two commercial centers. Richland had acquired the Trout Creek PUD town center in Wellness Way in late 2022 for $13.3 million.

Beazer Homes is under contract for the residential portion of the Trout Creek property and is expected to close the transaction in October.

Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at lkinsler@GrowthSpotter.com or (407) 420-6261. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.