Nearly 600 acres of Polk County citrus groves, farmland and lakefront property sold for $8.93 million during a three-day auction that drew 290 bids, with all 27 parcels along Central Florida’s Lake Wales Ridge changing hands by Oct. 22.
Saunders Real Estate, the Lakeland-based brokerage that handled the sale of the Etter Family Portfolio, allowed buyers to bid on individual parcels, combinations of tracts or the entire property during the Oct. 20-22 auction. Located between the Tampa and Orlando metropolitan areas, the portfolio included approximately 469 acres of agricultural land planted with Valencia and Hamlin orange groves and equipped with irrigation wells. The remaining 115 acres included five waterfront parcels of approximately five acres each along Reedy Lake, offering a combined 1,484 feet of lake frontage.
The auction gave prospective buyers the option to acquire working agricultural land for continued citrus production, pursue long-term investments or consider potential future development, with bidders competing for properties of varying sizes.
“Buyers often see different opportunities in the same piece of land, and an auction lets them compete based on that vision,” said Spencer Smith, managing director of land and auctions at Saunders Real Estate, who also served as auctioneer.
The sale was handled by Saunders Auctions, the firm’s auction division, with Dean Saunders, Richard Dempsey, Smith and Nick Dabbelt serving as real estate advisors for the 27-parcel property.