Billionaire buys Naples tract

A partnership tied to billionaire Palm Beach investor Jeff Greene has acquired a more than 2,500-acre tract in North Naples for $38.5 million, the largest land sale of the past year in that swath of Southwest Florida involving an ongoing agricultural and mining operation.

Greene's 27th/Pico Boulevard Ltd. Partnership acquired the 2,576-acre tract in mid-May from State Road 846 Land Trust Agreement, whose co-trustees are Michael J. Boran and Ronald L. Brown, according to a trustee's deed filed in Collier County.

“This transaction provides the buyer with an opportunity to continue a successful mining and agriculture operation, while determining the future potential of the property,” says Randy Thibaut, the CEO of brokerage firm Land Solutions Inc., who together with senior broker William Rollins of that firm represented the sellers.