 TO MARKET: ALLAPATTAH UP FOR BIDS Palm Beach Post -- Wednesday, August 1, 2001 By: Susan T. Port and Sarah Eisenhauer, Palm Beach Post Staff Writers STUART -- After 14 years of trying to find a buyer, the trust that owns the Allapattah Ranch has decided to list the land with a Fort Pierce real estate agency. Allen Real Estate has put the 22,656-acre property on the market for $58.5 million. We've never had it listed before," said Rolla Mottaz, trustee for the Allapattah Ranch's owners. "We think an exclusive broker will make an aggressive effort to sell it." Allapattah has long been on top of the state's to-buy list because of its native wetland habitats and its potential as a water preserve that would help clean the St. Lucie River. But brokers with Allen Real Estate said five private potential buyers - including a hotel company from Naples - have already expressed interest in the property. The real estate firm's agreement with Allapattah also specifies that brokers will not be involved in any sale to the state or the county, Mottaz said. I.A. "Mac" Mascioli, owner of Allen Real Estate, said the ranch could be sold as three separate 7,000-acre parcels for $2,600 an acre, though the trust prefers to sell it as one piece. "Someone looks at a property and thinks one thing, and someone else sees something else," Mascioli said. "It could be operated as a ranch, or could be a golf community, or could become a whole city." The Naples hotelier and two other buyers are interested in using the land for farming for at least a couple years, said Judy Townsend, a broker at Allen Real Estate. The property is zoned only for agricultural use, but might still draw developers because State Road 714 runs through it, she said. Townsend speculated that the land could be rezoned for commercial interests now that the political orientation of the Martin County Commission is seen as friendlier to business interests than recent pro-environment commissions. Allapattah has been high on public and private wish lists for several years. In 1998, the state made a serious bid to buy the land but was never able to agree on a price. The owners were asking $60 million, and the state appraised it at $32 million, said Patricia Sime, an environmental specialist with the South Florida Water Management District. The ranch has remained a desirable location for public preservation, storm-water cleanup and local Everglades restoration projects. Sime said the buyout of Allapattah for shallow marshes and natural water storage is an element of the Indian River Lagoon Feasibility Study, part of the local Everglades restoration projects. But because those projects also must be approved by the federal government, Sime said the state cannot yet make an official bid to buy. "We're very interested in moving forward, but it's very risky to jump out ahead," Sime said. "We know this piece is definitely under pressure from developers and other buyers, but for us to stick our necks out is very difficult, when we're still waiting on approval from our federal partners." Allapattah Ranch also was the focus of a years-long fight over a plan by West Palm Beach developer Robin Rockwell to build a huge airport called Aeroplex International on the land. Martin County Commission Chairman Dennis Armstrong said he's long predicted that developers or other outside interests would attempt to make a move on the property before the state was able to get everything together. "It's exactly the type of thing I've foretold was going to happen," Armstrong said. "The county's been trying to get them ahead of the curve before the property got tied up." Armstrong said the ideal outcome would be for Allapattah to come under public ownership for water projects. Any kind of development on the ranch would be complicated by the fact that it's outside the county's primary growth district -- the area beyond which the county won't provide services such as water and sewer. Several county commissioners have publicly said they won't support moving the district's line westward. But Armstrong said those who are looking to buy the property are most likely looking farther into the future for real development, perhaps when most of the available land within the county's growth district is used up. "The key thing is what's going to happen in the future," he said. "Looking at a 20- to 30-year time frame, this is still an issue." Armstrong said he would be willing to look at a limited amount of development on the property if a developer comes in with a plan to dedicate most of the property to water cleanup projects. Allen Real Estate's Mascioli described Allapattah as the "biggest listing we've ever had." "We want to find a responsible buyer for the property," said Mottaz, the Allapattah trustee. "But once you sell a property, you can't say what happens to it." Copyright (c) 2001, The Palm Beach Post |