Minto plans 6,500 homes for Palm Beach citrus grove

Callery-Judge Grove
Callery-Judge Grove

Less than a month after Minto Communities paid $51 million for a 3,800-acre citrus grove in western Palm Beach County, the Coconut Creek-based homebuilder unveiled plans to build 6,500 houses and a baseball spring training facility on the site.

The plan for Callery-Judge Grove also includes a 150-room hotel, retail, offices and space for aerospace research and development. The site will retain some environmental qualities, however, Minto Vice President John Carter said.

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“Much of the development will be dedicated to lakes, natural preserve areas and miles of natural hiking, biking and walking trails,” Carter said in a statement. He did not specify which baseball teams would train at the facility.

Minto paid a little under $13,700 per acre, or a scant 32 cents per square foot, for land that has been citrus groves for nearly 50 years. Previous attempts to develop the site into a master-planned, mixed-use community failed, but the state has since loosened growth-management controls. [Palm Beach Post]Mark Maurer