Collier commissioners direct staff to pursue a $7.81 million Wildflowerz Ranch acquisition near Immokalee

Collier County commissioners unanimously directed staff to pursue the seller's $7,813,564.70 proposal for Wildflowerz Ranch near Immokalee, Gulfshore Business reporter Aisling Swift reported.

The proposal would place roughly 625 acres along Oil Well Road into Conservation Collier. About 14 acres would first be separated for Lee County Electric Cooperative, according to the county's September 22 meeting record.

The board's direction is not a completed purchase. The county staff memo for item 11.D says no purchase contract accompanied the agenda item. Staff still needed a Phase II environmental site assessment and other due diligence, and it asked for authority to negotiate a mutual closing extension if the work could not be finished by the seller's requested December 11 deadline.

How the $7.81 million proposal compares with the appraisals

The seller originally asked $12.8 million for approximately 640 acres, the staff memo says. Two updated appraisals completed in December 2025 valued the property at $7.03 million and $7.99 million. The revised $7,813,564.70 proposal covers the land remaining after the proposed utility conveyance and would be paid from the Conservation Collier Trust Fund.

The memo says the property scored 331 out of 400 under the program's environmental review, including 88 percent for ecological value and 100 percent for connectivity. It also says the exact boundary and final acreage of the utility parcel had not been confirmed when staff prepared the item.

Swift reports that the seller's alternative was a plan for 52 ranchettes of 10 acres each. The commission's direction therefore advances public conservation of the tract, but the contract, due diligence and closing remain ahead.

For Immokalee and Collier County residents, the next meaningful milestone is a negotiated purchase agreement that states the final acreage, price, closing terms and treatment of the existing cattle lease.