The $100 million sale of a 1,745-acre property in Cape Coral, Florida, was a record for Southwest Florida’s Lee County, with the land slated to become a master-planned development called Hudson Creek.
The sale was the county's highest recorded price for undeveloped land. Key to securing the deal was the nearly eight-year entitlement process to allow 3,500 residential units, 500,000 square feet of commercial space, hotels, assisted living facilities and a university to be built on the land. The density and mix of uses permitted at the site are a stark contrast to other parts of Cape Coral that are mostly zoned for single-family homes.
The buyer, Forestar (USA) Real Estate Group, a subsidiary of D.R. Horton, is a national homebuilder with a portfolio that includes 106,000 lots across 62 markets and 24 states, according to its first-quarter 2025 earnings report.
The deal has been selected as the winner of the 2025 CoStar Impact Award for sale of the year for Southwest Florida, as judged by a local team of real estate professionals familiar with the market.
About the deal: Delaware entity Pinnacle Development Group sold a 1,745-acre property to Forestar (USA) Real Estate Group for $100 million.
What the judges said: Tiffany Luongo with SVN Commercial Partners said the deal is expected to change “the landscape of northwest Cape Coral for years to come.” Claire Searls, director of research at Lee & Associates, added that the deal "will bring future growth and development to the northwest Cape, a trade area that has been seeking utility expansion for years.”
They made it happen: Justin Thibaut and William Rollins of LSI Cos. represented the seller.