584 acres sold in Polk County auction

More than 580 acres sold last week in Polk County as the result of a three-day auction that saw a total of 290 bids for 27 parcels.

The 584 acres of property belonged to the Etter Family Portfolio and were made up of citrus groves, agricultural land and lakefront parcels. The properties sold for a combined $8.93 million.

There were multiple buyers, according a spokesperson for Saunders Real Estate, the Lakeland land and commercial real estate firm that held the sale. It did not disclose the names or total number of buyers.

The firm says the land that was zoned agriculture/rural residential.

Saunders says about 469 acres were agricultural land and located just south of Crooked Lake and Babson Park. It is made up of orange groves, irrigation wells and rolling elevations. The remaining 115 acres are made up of 5 waterfront parcels, each about 5 acres, along Reedy Lake with a combined 1,484 feet of lake frontage.

The auction was held Oct. 20 through Oct. 22.

Potential buyers were able to bid on individual tracts, a combination of parcels or the entire portfolio. The firm says this set up them “to pursue opportunities ranging from continued agricultural operations to long-term land investment and potential future development.”

The auction was managed by Saunders Auctions, a division of Saunders Real Estate.

The firm’s Dean Saunders, Richard Dempsey, Spencer Smith and Nick Dabbelt represented the property. Smith was the auctioneer.