IMG Academy adds another 89.5 acres as expansion continues

IMG Academy, which has been aggressively expanding since the Great Recession, recently bought 89.5 acres adjacent to its campus at 5650 Bollettieri Blvd. from developer Whiting Preston for $7,615,500.

The seller was Preston's Lake Flores I, LLC, according to the Manatee County Clerk of Circuit Court.

The Lake Flores name refers to Preston's proposed 1,300-acre mixed-use walkable community, which is expected to transform the West Bradenton area.

Preston has yet to submit a request to develop the first phase of Lake Flores, even though the Manatee County Commission unanimously approved the concept in 2015.

"It will be a little while. We still have engineering to do. Mixed use is one of the most complex types of development to do," Preston said Wednesday.

IMG's recent land purchase is adjacent to the campus and within the Lake Flores entitlement area.

"It's fortunate for the community they have been able to develop their business model and to move forward," Preston said.

The sale of the property to IMG Academy on June 14 was reported by the Manatee County Clerk of Circuit Court's Office this week.

IMG Academy did not immediately return a call seeking comment on its plans for its new property acquisition.

In recent years IMG Academy, a preparatory boarding school and sport training destination, added a 40,300-square-foot campus center building, completed a new $5.4 million field house, a new 105,000-square-foot residence hall, a new academic building and a sports performance center.

IMG Academy broke ground in October 2017 for The Legacy Hotel, a five-story 150-room hotel expected to open this fall.

Famed tennis coach Nick Bollettieri is the founder of IMG Academy.

The Lake Flores project, which has an estimated 20-year buildout, is planned for farmland south of Cortez Road, east of 86th Street West, north of El Conquistador Parkway and west of IMG Academy.

For more information about IMG Academy, visit https://www.imgacademy.com/

This story was originally published June 27, 2018 at 12:07 PM.