Almost 1,000 acres for sale in rural Collier County

The owners of nearly 1,000 rural acres in Collier County have circulated an offering memorandum to sell their property.

Land Solutions is marketing the partially cleared pasture land, known as the HHH Ranch, east of Collier Boulevard and north of the Alligator Alley section of Interstate 75.

The offering memo has set a deadline of July 28 at 5 p.m. for bidders to make their best offer for the HHH Ranch.

Randy Thibaut, one of two brokers marketing the HHH Ranch, told the Naples Daily News that their goal is to put the property under a sale contract by the end of August.

The offering memo lists residential development options for the land, one with 342 houses and two others with more than 500 houses each, plus rental housing. The land also could be used for mining, perhaps in advance of residential development.

The land is owned by Dr. Francis Hussey Jr. and his wife, Mary Pat. In May, they proposed selling the HHH Ranch to Collier County outright. Alternatively, they also proposed transferring the land to the county but retaining limestone-mining rights.

The Florida Wildlife Federation proposed an acquisition of the HHH Ranch by Conservation Collier, a land-buying program funded by county tax revenue.

The Husseys subsequently submitted an acquisition application to Conservation Collier, in which they valued their land at $75 million – far more than the program can afford to pay. [Naples Daily News] – Mike Seemuth