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FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — One of Florida's biggest citrus growers
plans to build a 3,000-acre (1,200 hectare) community in
southwest Florida, just months after announcing it was
abandoning its citrus-growing operations at the end of this
year's season.
Alico, Inc. said it has filed a development application for the
first of two villages near the intersection of Collier, Lee and
Hendry counties. Each village will have about 4,500 homes and
will be integrated with 6,000 acres (2,400 hectares) of
protected conservation land, the company said.
The Fort Myers-based company owns 53,371 acres (21,600 hectares)
across eight counties in Florida and 48,700 acres (19,700
hectares) 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 by 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% decline in the state’s orange production
over the past two decades. Meanwhile, with 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 Florida at the turn of the century, populated
scarcely 275,000 acres (111,300 hectares) last year, and
California has eclipsed Florida as the nation’s leading citrus
producer.
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