CBRE arranged the sale of the former G. Pierce Wood Mental Health Facility near Arcadia in DeSoto County for $2.5 million. The Power Auto Corporation acquired the property from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Division of State Lands. CBRE represented the DEP.
“The goal is to put surplus state properties, such as the former G. Pierce Wood Mental Health Facility, back into the public’s purview to promote growth, jobs and private sector opportunity,” said Lee Ann Korst, First Vice President, CBRE. “This sale directly supports the State’s directive to shrink its real estate footprint in order to reduce costs and bolster efficiency.”
Power Auto Corporation plans to construct a manufacturing facility, driver training center, tactical training and a hotel. The proposed facility will bring between 80 and 120 jobs to the area during the first year and up to 360 within five years. The property is approximately 496 acres of surplus, non-conservation land, which includes 565,000 square feet of building space. The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice took full responsibility of the property and requested the property be designated surplus in July 2012. Power Auto Corporation submitted a qualifying bid to the Florida DEP’s Division of State Lands in November.
CBRE was selected by DEP as the exclusive agent for the sale of 13 surplus properties totaling 1,987 acres located throughout the state of Florida. DEP is in the process of selling many state-owned, surplus, non-conservation lands to increase the budget for future purchases of environmentally sensitive conservation lands.
