Collier County considers buying more than 900 acres of environmentally sensitive ranch land in rural Collier after directing county staff to obtain updated appraisals for the property, known as HHH Ranch.
It is located east of Collier Boulevard and just north of the cross-state Alligator Alley stretch of Interstate 75 and is being offered for $11 million by broker LSI Companies Inc.
In a letter to county commissioners, a representative for LSI said the county has an opportunity to buy the property or it will be offered on the open market starting April 1. In 2017, the board rejected an offer to buy it for $7.5 million.
The future use of the property, according to commissioners, would be determined through a “very open, public process.”
The property is located in the Rural Fringe Mixed-Use District – 77,000 acres east of Collier Boulevard on the edges of Golden Gate Estates.
Areas designated as “receiving” are considered more suitable for development. About 380 acres of the HHH Ranch property are designated “sending”.
It is also not certain yet how the county would pay for the property.
Environmentalists say the land should be conserved.