Oviedo-based developer Sun Terra Communities has rescinded its initial $62 million offer to purchase the massive 1,400-plus acre Whispering Hills development property in Leesburg, instead opting to file a $45 million stalking horse bid and attempt the purchase through auction.
According to a bidding procedure order from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Middle District of Florida filed earlier this month, Pompano Beach-based Fisher Auction Co. will operate as broker and auctioneer for the 1,432-acre property. Colliers International will operate as co-broker.
Located on the site of the former Journey M Circle Ranch in Leesburg — just east of U.S. Highway 27 and north of Dewey Robbins Road — developer Jean Marsan of Orlando-based Marsan Real Estate Group initially proposed turning the property into a 1,088-acre mixed-use development titled Whispering Hills. The proposed project received zoning approvals for a golf and equestrian community of nearly 3,000 residential units and up to 451,000 square feet of commercial hotel, medical and office uses.
Marsan, operating as Bellaviva at Whispering Hills LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year.
Whispering Hills got the green light from Leesburg City Council in 2022 after vehement objections from area residents and concerns from Lake County officials over the project’s proposed size.
Marsan purchased the property that year for $21 million and later filed construction plans calling for 2,309 residential units — 1,525 single-family units and 784 multifamily units — across nine villages. He applied for mass grading permits for Phase 1A of Whispering Hills from the St. Johns River Water Management District last June.
After those plans fell through, Marsan filed for bankruptcy in October and filed a liquidation plan for the property in January earlier this year.
“It’s not easy getting an entitled property this large in this market at a reasonable location,” Sun Terra Principal Richard Jerman told GrowthSpotter in January. “This is a good location for the Orlando metropolitan market… we think it’s solid for us.”
With Sun Terra placing a $45 million stalking horse bid, open bidding for the property will start at $45.7 million and qualified bidders must place their bid by June 29.
According to the procedure order, if there are one or more qualified bidders in addition to the stalking horse bid, Fisher will conduct the auction via Zoom at 11 a.m. on July 1 with participation instructions provided to all qualified bidders — including the stalking horse — in advance. If there are no other qualified bidders for the property, the auction will not take place, and Marsan will seek bankruptcy court approval of the stalking horse bid.
Once the bid process is complete, a sale hearing will be conducted by the bankruptcy court at 1:30 p.m. on July 7. At closing, the successful bidder will also pay a ‘buyer’s premium’ equal to 3% of its successful bid, representing the total purchase price for the property.
Sun Terra has a long track record in Central Florida of developing larger, master-planned communities, including Hills of Minneola, Harmony and Horizon West.
Adjacent to the Whispering Hills property, Risewell Homes is currently selling within the 147-acre Hodges Reserve development. The community is planned for 449 single-family residential units near the north side of Dewey Robbins and east of U.S. 27.
Homes within Hodges Reserve will range from three to six bedrooms, two and a half to three and a half bathrooms, and 1,773 to 2,560 square feet, according to Risewell.
Just north of Whispering Hills — near No. 2 Road and Busby Road, east of the Windsong neighborhood — Richland Communities is planning development of its 337-acre Silver Springs community.
Concerns from nearby residents about traffic generated by the proposed 825 detached single-family homes on No. 2 Road early last year prompted Richland to move the proposed neighborhood’s access point off that road to an access point through Whispering Hills.
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at jwilkins@orlandosentinel.com or 407-754-4980. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.
