Major Florida grower plans to build new community after ending citrus operations

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — One of Florida's biggest citrus growers plans to build a 3,000-acre (1,200 hectare) community in southwest Florida, just months after announcing it was abandoning its citrus-growing operations at the end of this year's season.

Alico, Inc. said it has filed a development application for the first of two villages near the intersection of Collier, Lee and Hendry counties. Each village will have about 4,500 homes and will be integrated with 6,000 acres (2,400 hectares) of protected conservation land, the company said.

The Fort Myers-based company owns 53,371 acres (21,600 hectares) across eight counties in Florida and 48,700 acres (19,700 hectares) of oil, gas and mineral rights in the state. In announcing its decision to end citrus operations last January, the company said its production has declined by almost three-quarters in a decade.

Alico's woes are part of the larger struggle faced by Florida's citrus industry.

Hurricanes and a vicious citrus greening disease have contributed to a 90% decline in the state’s orange production over the past two decades. Meanwhile, with huge numbers of people moving into Florida, developers are increasingly building homes where the orange groves once stood.

Citrus groves, which covered more than 832,00 acres (337,000 hectares) in Florida at the turn of the century, populated scarcely 275,000 acres (111,300 hectares) last year, and California has eclipsed Florida as the nation’s leading citrus producer.