Florida May Buy More Alico Land

The state of Florida has entered into an option agreement to purchase approximately 5,804 acres of land from Alico, Inc.’s Alico Ranch for approximately $14.6 million under the Florida Forever program.

“The 5,804-acre parcel is considered a primary and secondary zone for the federally endangered Florida panther and can contribute to increased protection of Florida’s biodiversity at the species, natural community and landscape levels,” said John Kiernan, the company’s president and chief executive officer. “If the state were to elect to exercise this option, we would expect the closing to occur in the beginning of the third quarter of our 2021 fiscal year.”

“Over the last two years, Alico has sold approximately 16,000 acres of pristine land to the state of Florida for permanent protection under the Florida Forever program,” Kiernan said. “These transactions in aggregate are intended to preserve sensitive lands for Florida’s future, enhance protections for the Florida panther and protect the health of the Caloosahatchee River and the Western Everglades Basin.”

The latest of those previous sales of land to the state occurred in September. In that transaction, the state purchased 10,702 acres from the company for $28.5 million. Learn more here.

“As it has for generations, Alico will continue to support conservation and land management programs on the remaining acres of the Alico Ranch, which are currently leased for recreational hunting and cattle grazing activities,” Kiernan added.

Alico has also been a recent purchaser of land. On Oct. 30, it bought approximately 3,280 gross citrus acres in Hendry County for $16.45 million from Gardinier Florida Citrus, Inc. Read about that transaction here.

The company primarily operates two divisions: Alico Citrus, one of the nation’s largest citrus producers, and Alico Land Management and Other Operations, which include environmental services, land leasing and related support operations.

Source: Alico, Inc.