- October 4, 2024
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If negotiations with D.R. Horton go according to the builder’s proposal, Manatee County will get its money back on the controversial 2020 land purchase.
The $32.5 million purchase was for 161 acres near the Lena Road Landfill. D.R. Horton has offered the county $35 million.
“On March 8, the evaluation committee met to review the four proposals received as a result of the Invitation to Negotiate,” Outreach Information Manager Bill Logan said. “The evaluation committee recommended the county enter negotiations with D.R. Horton. As of today, negotiations are ongoing.”
Commissioners George Kruse, Kevin Van Ostenbridge and James Satcher joined the board in 2020, a month after the property was purchased. While campaigning, all three said the land was overpriced at $187,488 per acre.
The board, at that time, purchased the former dairy farm from Musgrave Real Estate Holdings to build a county operations center and extend the life of the landfill.
A press release dated Oct. 13, 2020, said the site would eventually house a district office, property and evidence warehouse and a fleet maintenance facility for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, along with field operation facilities for the Utilities and Public Works departments and possibly an EMS station.
The idea of building a transfer station adjacent to the landfill was also discussed by then Utilities Director Mike Gore.
D.R. Horton’s proposal, submitted on Feb. 20, is to build a $187 million mixed-use project that would include 116 single family rental cottages, 222 single-family detached homes and 300 multifamily residences. Six acres would be set aside for commercial use and 11 acres for a warehouse site to be used by the county.
Not one commissioner who voted to purchase the property at 1707 Lena Road still sits on the Manatee County Commission today. Kruse said due diligence was skirted in 2020 to push the purchase through before a new board came in.
By September 2022, the new board was ready to sell the property, so it was rezoned from Suburban Agriculture to Planned Development/Mixed Use.
“It creates value for us and also encourages developers to build what, we believe collectively, the community needs,” Kruse said during the land use meeting in 2022. “It’ll create an opportunity to do things for an area that could use some more employment base and higher density residential. It’s closer to I-75 and steering it a little bit more toward the west than some of the other development is going.”
Only former commissioner Misty Servia voted against the rezone. She said it wasn’t the commission’s place to decide what an area should be.
As for all the plans the county made for the 161-acre property, well, plans change.
“A handful of the plans for it are no longer necessary, and it was going to be very expensive,” Kruse said.
He said new locations were found for the Utilities administration and the Sheriff’s Office fleet facility.
Utilities moved from 4410 66th Street West to 3647 Cortez Road in March. The new location is a 20,806-square-foot office building in the Wildewood Professional Park. It sits on 3.7 acres and was purchased in October 2023 for $3,366,813.
In the same month, commissioners voted to convey the 8.7-acre property on 66th Street that Utilities formerly occupied to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
On June 15, the foundation broke ground on Bradenton Veterans Village, a residential facility for homeless veterans that will feature an 84-unit apartment complex, 38 homes, a support service center and workforce development center. Amenities will include a game room, gym, pickleball court and lounges.
Bradenton Veterans Village is expected to open sometime in 2025.
The Sheriff’s Office fleet maintenance facility is moving north to Palmetto. The approximately 27,000-square-foot facility is being built at 3105 Buckeye Road.
The Sheriff’s Office property and evidence warehouse is being built next to the Child Protection Investigation Division at 3500 9th Street West.
The two-story, 45,000-square-foot building would also house the Crime Scene Unit, Fingerprint Unit and Chemistry Lab. The estimated cost is $36,780,000 and it’s scheduled to be completed in August 2025.
A 5,000-square-foot Sheriff’s Office substation is being built at Premier Park in Lakewood Ranch. On top of previous plans for a substation on Lena Road, mold and a leaky roof forced officers out of their last Lakewood Ranch location on the corner of State Road 70 and Lorraine Road.
What was the Lakewood Ranch Information Center on the corner of Rangeland Parkway and Lakewood Ranch Boulevard is being used as an interim space for the Sheriff's Office until the $4,958,750 substation at Premier Park is completed in August 2025.
When the property was originally purchased, Manatee County Administrator Cheri Coryea said having additional acreage next to the landfill would prolong its life by six years. The estimated value of the additional air space was $75 million.
When opened in 1972, the landfill started with 132 acres. It’s since been expanded to 316 acres.
In August 2023, Deputy County Administrator Evan Pilachowski said the landfill had close to 15 years of remaining capacity, but it could be extended without using any additional acreage.
“Within the existing footprint and existing maximum height, we could add upwards of 21 years to the life of the Lena Road Landfill,” Pilachowski said. “It just changes how we do our filling operation, so we have maybe a slightly steeper slope on the sides and we have to manage our stormwater accordingly to make sure we can optimize that available air space.”
The landfill is split into three stages. Stage 2 is in use now. Stages 1 and 3 were exhausted and closed, but additional life can be gained by opening them up again.
When closed, fill dirt was put in place to make sure the piles were level. As the solid waste settled, each stage would be refilled to maintain the proper levels.
Not only can the soil be removed, it’s valuable. Staff estimates the fill material from both stages is worth $2.5 million.
Logan said a permit modification was submitted to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Approval is expected sometime this summer, but the slope modification isn't expected to begin for a "number of years."
"The projected lifespan of the Lena Road Landfill is now 35 years," Utilities Deputy Director Chris Collins said. "At present, there are no plans for a transfer station. However, potential future needs may arise over time."
