Top Menu

Lee County issues call for land

Lee County is issuing a call for land for a new Boston Red Sox spring-training facility. Lee County is issuing a call for land for a new Boston Red Sox spring-training facility. The county wants proposals from developers who control a parcel 80 acres or larger; the county is looking for the developer to donate the land in exchange for development rights around the spring complex. Building a development around a spring-training complex is tricky business: it’s really never been done either in Florida or Arizona, and the Red Sox months ago scrapped their plans to do virtually the same thing. It is interesting Lee County has been forced into this position; we know county officials have privately approached landowners in the southern part of the county (Estero, Bonita Springs) about doing this, but responses must have been disappointing. Meanwhile, we hear the Red Sox are willing to sit down again with Sarasota officials about a proposed new facility in Payne Park; one potential topic of discussion is scaling the $70 million proposal back to meet the $60 million in available funding.