FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — One of Florida’s biggest citrus growers plans to b
uild a 3,000-acre (1,200 hectare) community in southwest Florida, just m
onths after announcing it wa
s abandoning its citrus-growing operations at the end of this year’s season.
Alico, Inc. said it has
iled a development application for the first of two villages near the intersectio
n of Collier, Lee and Hendry counties. Each village will have about 4,500 homes an
will be integrated with 6,000 acres (2,400 hectares) of protected conservation
land, the company said.
The Fort Myers-based co
mpany owns 53,371 acres (21,600 hectares) across eight counties in Florida a
nd 48,700 acres (19,700 he
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ctares) of oil, gas and mineral rights in the state. In announcing its decision to end
citrus operations last January, the company said its production has declined b
y almost three-quarters in a decade.
Alico’s woes are part of the larger struggle faced by Florida’s citrus industry.
Hurricanes and a vicious citrus greening disease have contributed to a 90% d
ecline in the state’s orange production over the past two decades. Meanwhile, w
ith huge numbers of people moving into Florida, developers
are increasingly building homes where the orange groves once stood.
Citrus groves, which covered more than 832,00 acres (337,000 hectares) in Fl
orida at the turn of the century, populated scarcely 275,000 acres (111,300 hecta
res) last year, and California has eclipsed Florida as the nation’s leading citrus producer.