Board Authorizes PCC to Negotiate for Land in Northeast Polk County

Maps & Plans

03/26/2008: Polk Community College has set its sights on 30-acres of property, just east of U.S. 27 and 3.5 miles south of I-4, as the site of a future northeast center. The Board of Trustees on Monday authorized President Eileen Holden and Board Attorney Don Wilson to negotiate with Cassidy Homes, the housing developer that owns the land. The property is in close proximity to Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center.

The land, located along Florida Development Road, is now a citrus grove. It is located in unincorporated Polk County, 1,250 feet east of U.S. 27. A north-south roadway, the extension to Holly Hill Road, is planned to be built just east of the primary site.

PCC is hoping to buy at least 30-acres of the Cassidy property, with the possibility of an option for smaller parcels on the east and west of the site. PCC has $2.2 million in state funds set aside for the land purchase. “We can’t spend this money somewhere else,” Dr. Holden said. “It is earmarked to purchase land in northeast Polk County.”

The board watched a multimedia presentation by Straughn Trout Architects, which analyzed the Cassidy parcel and a 50-acre site on the west of U.S. 27 owned by Civix Development. The Civix site, which is within the city limits of Haines City, only has 13-acres of developable land. The bulk of the property is environmental restricted wetlands.

Dr. Holden and the architects recommended the Cassidy site over the Civix property because of the lack of environmental concerns, among other factors. The Cassidy site has a higher elevation, which would provide good visibility from U.S. 27. Another factor that made the Cassidy site more favorable is the possibility that PCC can purchase one or two segments of Cassidy land adjacent to the 30-acres. That would bring the total to 50-acres.

Board Trustee Greg Littleton, who recently inspected the two sites along with Dr. Holden, agreed with the recommendation. “The Cassidy property is by far the best site,” he said.

Establishing a center in Polk near Lake, Osceola and Orange counties has been among PCC’s goals. Population has increased tremendously in northeast Polk County. The growth rate there has been around 60 percent – compared with 20 percent in the rest of the county. Planners predict an additional 200,000 people in the Four Corners Area in the next 20 years.

The recent downturn in the housing market has made this an opportune time for PCC to acquire the property it has long sought to serve the higher educational needs of the northeast area. “That area of the county is exploding,” Dr. Holden told the DBOT.

The architects’ project that the campus design will have three five-story buildings and three multi-story parking garages that will be built in three phases on the Cassidy property. Each building will have 65,000 square feet per floor for a total of 325,000 square feet per building. In comparison, Dr. Holden told the Board that PCC’s largest structure, the two-story LTB building, is 125,000 square feet. “We plan to have a lot smaller footprint on this site by building up,” President Holden said.

Since last summer, PCC has been offering courses at Ridge Community High School, Davenport. Classes are offered both in the afternoons to attract dual enrolled high school students and in the evening aimed at traditional students.