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Winter Haven approves land deal, developer amendments to advance Logistics Parkway extension
Summary
The City Commission authorized a $424,200 land purchase and related agreements with the parcel’s prior owner to move forward with a redesigned Logistics Parkway extension that reduces estimated construction costs and aligns state grant deadlines.
The Winter Haven City Commission on April 14 approved a set of land and agreement actions to advance the Logistics Parkway extension, including a purchase of about 4.04 gross acres for $424,200 and amendments to an existing developer's agreement.
The action authorizes the city manager to execute a purchase-and-sale agreement, a first amendment to a developer's agreement, a right-of-first-refusal agreement and an option agreement related to property in the Intermodal Logistics Center (ILC). City Manager (unnamed in the record) described the package as necessary to change the road alignment, reduce costs and allow the city to proceed with bidding and construction.
The change in alignment lowers the engineer’s estimate for the remaining roadway segment from roughly $21.4 million to about $10.5 million — a savings of approximately $11 million, according to the city manager. The council approved the agreements by voice vote; all present commissioners voted aye.
Why it matters: the city previously secured $9,411,612 in state funding (two grants from Florida Commerce and the Florida Department of Transportation) for the Logistics Parkway project. The city received the bulk of those grant dollars after completing the first project phase in June 2024. The redesign and the land acquisition are intended to shorten construction time, reduce utility relocations and keep the project within grant requirements.
Details from the meeting: the purchase price of $105,000 per gross acre (total $424,200) was established during earlier negotiations with Florida Can Manufacturing (FCM); Ball Corporation subsequently acquired FCM’s assets and the city continued negotiations with Ball. The city anticipates closing the land purchase before May 30, 2025. If Ball/FCM exercises purchase rights under the right-of-first-refusal or option agreements within the five-year windows described by the documents, the city would receive up to $5,701,500 in revenue tied to future acreage transactions.
The city manager said the project’s construction costs specific to the roadway were included in the Series 2023 bond issuance and budgeted in the transportation fund, with direct land-transaction costs to be paid from the project account. The manager also said the Florida Department of Transportation extended the project completion date to match the Florida Commerce grant schedule, moving the deadline to Jan. 6, 2027.
Commission discussion was brief. A commissioner moved to approve the package “as presented,” and the motion passed with unanimous approval. The city intends to close on the property purchase, then proceed to procure the construction contract via a public bid process; staff estimated roughly 180 days from procurement to construction completion once right-of-entry and contracting steps are complete.
The city identified the Public Works/Transportation division as the implementing department and said staff will return with procurement documents and closing steps as required.
