Developer plans $50M project in Lakewood Ranch

LAKEWOOD RANCH — A Tampa-based developer has purchased 85 acres in Lakewood Ranch in east Manatee County for $3.5 million to construct as much as 700,000 square feet of industrial space.

At least a portion of Harrod Properties Inc.'s planned Lakewood Ranch Corporate Center project will be built on a speculative basis without pre-commitments from tenants, a reflection of the ongoing strength of the warehouse and distribution market along the Gulf Coast.

The bulk industrial space — some of which will feature 30-foot clear ceiling heights for greater distribution flexibility and efficiency — will be the first of its kind in the master-planned Lakewood Ranch, however, a community that has drawn corporate office headquarters such as insurer FCCI and Miles Media, among others.