An 1,100-acre property just east of Bithlo is now on the market as Orange County’s next big development opportunity, offering lakefront lots in an area that has long been left out of the region’s breakneck growth.
The Honey Bee Ranch property, once a working cattle ranch, is generating extraordinary interest from developers keenly aware how little developable land remains in Orange County, listing agent Daryl Carter of Maury L. Carter & Associates told GrowthSpotter.
“It’s well-located, not too far from UCF, Seminole State College, and the Central Florida Research Park, and midway between Orlando and the coast,” Carter said. “If you get up about 10,000 feet and get in your imaginary helicopter, and you look down, you can look at the growth patterns around there. I think it’s the next big deal and our next frontier for development, at least on the east side.”
Carter’s team refers to Honey Bee Ranch as the largest waterfront development property available in Central Florida, with over five miles of water frontage on a series of man-made deepwater lakes. The site at 19543 E. Colonial Dr., which also has a mile of frontage along State Road 50, has a future land use of residential and a zoning designation of PD and agricultural.
But it remains uncertain how many homes can be built there. The property currently has entitlements for a mobile home park with 450 units on a small section, but the remaining agricultural land could hold only one house per 10 acres unless the zoning is changed.
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Honey Bee Ranch consists of a series of man-made lakes. (Photo courtesy of Maury L. Carter & Associates)
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Honey Bee Ranch consists of a series of man-made lakes. (Photo courtesy of Maury L. Carter & Associates)
“It’s had permits to excavate fill material, and that’s how you wind up with the waterfront development opportunity that exists today. There were some beautiful lakes that have been built on this property that probably at some point will be connected by canals. For whatever gets developed ultimately on the property, not every lot, but many of them will be waterfront and have a water view with a highly amenitized location,” Carter said.
That would be a sharp contrast to nearby Bithlo, a small rural enclave that is one of Orange County’s more impoverished areas, where clean drinking water and internet access have been slow to arrive.
Honey Bee Ranch is located down the road from The Grow, a 1,185-acre agrihood project between Lake Pickett Road and State Road 50 west of Bithlo. The mixed-use development is approved for 2,078 residential lots, 165,000 square feet of commercial space, and a nine-acre working farm. Pulte broke ground on the 504-lot first phase last year after buying into the project in 2023.
The former ranchland also isn’t far from Hi-Oaks Ranch, another one of Carter’s listings. The 672-acre property, located just north of the county line in Seminole County, is being marketed to the county for conservation.
Large parcels aren’t as common in Seminole and Orange Counties as they are in Lake, Osceola, and Polk due to geographic constraints. Last year, Carter helped broker the sale of nearly 2,500 acres in Wellness Way to GT USA in what was the most lucrative land deal in Lake County’s history. GT USA has already approached Lake County with plans for 2,805 single-family homes, 360 apartments, and about 73 acres of commercial development on the site.
Honey Bee Ranch is less than half the size of that record-setting Wellness Way deal, but its location and waterfront lots make it special.
“If you draw a big circle around Central Florida, tell me where you can find 1,100 acres of waterfront development land in that big circle. There are not very many of these kinds of opportunities anymore,” he said.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was updated on 05/01/2025 to clarify that there are entitlements for 450 mobile homes at the front of the property. The rest of the land is zoned agricultural.
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at (407)607-8160 or TyWilliams@GrowthSpotter.com. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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