Investments

Bank Of America Investment Babcock Ranch was the kind of dream conservation deal becoming an endangered species in Florida. More than 91,000 acres of old-growth forests, flatwoods and swamp, home to threatened panthers, black bear and birds, offers the missing link in a chain of preserved natural landscape from Charlotte Harbor to Lake Okeechobee.

Under the contract signed last week and announced Wednesday, the state will pay $7.1 million to buy 1, a patch of land the size of Hillsdale or Pompton Lakes.

Investment Opportunity But earlier this month, Florida's conservation program encountered the very pressures it was designed to combat continued development that drives up land prices and makes the state less competitive in buying property.

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Banc Of America Investment The state's offer for the land straddling Lee and Charlotte counties was deemed too paltry.

The rest of the investors said they would keep their buy to let portfolios as they are now, while not one stated they were about to relinquish any of their assets. "This was a genuine vote of confidence from those who are directly investing in property and who clearly consider 2008 to be a year of investment opportunity." Among the participants in the debate was David Austin, managing director of independent property consultancy Property For Life, who commented that the sector would "soon return to normal" as the impact of the credit crunch faded.

Banking Investment "It used to be that the state was pretty much the only game in town for buying large tracts of land for cash, and that is no longer the case," said Mark Glisson, staff director for the Florida Acquisition and Restoration Council, which ranks conservation projects the state aims to buy.

Investment Solution Strategic And as with the Babcock deal, time is running out on Florida's multibillion- dollar conservation program.

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Investment Banking Services Florida Forever, the nation's largest effort to protect threatened lands and species, has five years of life left, and a finite amount of money.

Bank Investment Next month, ARC plans to trim billions of dollars in projects from its A-List, a move that could sideline dozens of proposed conservation deals.

Alternative Investment The problem is basic arithmetic. The 1.9 million acres in A-List projects have an appraised value of $3.67 billion and far outstrip the $500 million the Division of State Lands will have to spend by 2010.

Online Investment Services The deal for Babcock Ranch included $320 million in state funds, which would make it the largest purchase in the program's history, officials said.

Accompany Essential Investment Conservation observers say it also was the kind of initiative that may be a thing of the past in contemporary times.

Investment Company Officials say plans to rerank the list are merely an acknowledgement that public land deals are becoming far more difficult to piece together in Florida's super-heated real estate climate.

Investment Management Solution "What we used to say in the beginning of this program was 'No one has cash like we do,' and it's not true anymore," said state Environmental Protection Secretary Colleen Castille, who chairs the acquisition council.

Investment Management Services Corporations, developers, pension funds and even individuals looking for hunting or recreational retreats routinely put up enough cash to outbid Florida for prime lands, officials say. That demand has persuaded once-willing sellers to drive a harder bargain when trying to preserve land.

Guide Investment Stock The Jan. 25 ARC meeting has sparked a flurry of appeals from local stakeholders fearful of getting bumped off the priority list.

Investment Manual Solution Lee County Commissioner Robert Janes plans to take a group that is trying to salvage the Babcock Ranch sale to Tallahassee early next month to meet with Castille and Eva Armstrong, director of the state lands division.

Investment Stock Janes said it was crucial for the project to remain on the A-List.

Essential Investment Solution "We need quick action here," he said. "It would be very embarrassing for us to move forward with this and find out the state won't put in 10 cents."

Citicorp Investment Services SOARING LAND PRICES

Fool Guide Investment Motley In the past 15 years, Florida has been a national model at conservation by setting aside 2 million acres of coastline and greenland at a cost of almost $3.9 billion. More than a quarter of the state's land is protected through local state and federal agencies.

Fidelity Investment Services But conservationists accuse the state of falling behind the development curve in recent years.

Investment Management Open land has gone up from averaging about $2,000 per acre in the 1990s, to commanding double or triple that amount now, observers said.

Francisco Investment San Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and his Cabinet have demanded better deals for state land buys.

Mellon Investment Services Florida Forever added the Pine Island Slough, an upland and wetlands habitat along Osceola and Indian River counties, to its list in September only to watch a developer scoop it up.

Finance Investment "What's happened in Florida in terms of land values is astonishing," said Kevin Mooney, Florida projects director for The Trust for Public Land, which buys urban green space.

Investment Manual Science The speculative nature of real estate makes driving a hard bargain with tax dollars a harder proposition.

Investment Advisory Services "If we just paid what landowners ask, do you think taxpayers would respond well to that? Probably not," Mooney said.

Advice Investment Florida often tries to buy only conservation easements on parcels, which constrains development but often creates offers below the land's appraised value.

Guide Investment Wade Hopping, a Tallahassee attorney representing the Babcock family, said the state has fallen out of step with developer demand for larger properties.

Chase Investment Services "Their method of operation is to do their confidential appraisals and then offer about 80 to 90 percent of that range of appraisals," Hopping said.

Firm Investment "If that's your method of operation, you're going to have problems purchasing high- quality property because the land is appreciating at such a remarkable pace."

Financial Investment Services Eric Draper, policy director for Audubon of Florida, said shrinking the state's A-List could force the state to pass up on the most pristine conservation opportunities.

Investment Securities "Everyone could have their own criteria for what stays on the A-List. For us, that would be the most biologically important projects with birds and wildlife," Draper said.

Property Investment Services "You could also wind up with something that puts big tracts of cheap land on the top of the list because they're easier to acquire."

Calculator Investment Jack Moller, vice chairman of ARC, wants stalled projects along the Everglades in Collier and Miami-Dade counties and Palm Beach County's Pal-Mar marshes moved off the list.

Northwestern Mutual Investment "This may not be very popular, but we're done," said Moller, a retired teacher from Miami who is one of two Bush appointees on the council. "We've done a good job in the Everglades."

Brokerage Investment Hilary Swain, a biologist on the council, said all the projects on the list are there for their ecological or historical significance which will make winnowing it down such a daunting chore.

Domain Name Investment "As the list grows, it's harder to balance their relative value," she said, "particularly when you're choosing among very goods projects that have a great amount of public support."

Investment Putnam By Aaron Deslatte
The News-Press - 12/26/2004

Topic: Sprawl

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