Medallion Home buys Manatee, Sarasota rural, golf lands for $12.6 million

Homebuilder Medallion Home has ramped up its land buying in the first half of 2016, purchasing over 300 acres in Manatee and Sarasota counties for future new home communities.

The purchases, all made since February, include the 193-acre former Foxfire Golf Course. Built over portions of two closed Sarasota County landfills, the land has drawn attention in recent years over its development potential and possible soil contaminants.

Headquartered in the Whitfield area of Manatee County, Medallion is owned by Carlos Beruff. Beruff is campaigning to be elected to Sen. Marco Rubio’s seat.

In all, Medallion spent $12.6 million to buy its new set of properties, which includes Foxfire, the former Gulf Gate Golf Course, a 39-acre tree farm on Mendoza Road and 20 acres of farm land just south of the Imperial Lakewoods Golf Course, both in Palmetto.

Peter Logan, the president of Medallion’s land division, said the acreage is now part of a larger land portfolio spread across Manatee, Sarasota, Lake and Sumter counties.

The smallest portion of the company’s recent spending came in Manatee County. The builder paid $225,000 in March for the 20 acres of Palmetto farmland at 5660 77th St. E. In April, it bought the 39-acre tree farm at 5005 37th St. E. from landscaper Darrell Turner.

Homes headed for old landfill

At the old Foxfire Golf Course, Medallion has already posted a sign advertising a “Future Medallion Home Community.” The builder has received approval from Sarasota County to build 205 homes on the property and has started construction.

The subdivision, named “Waverley,” is planned to build homes on two north-south strips of the property. Those strips are separated by large, open sections of the former course totaling about 94 acres, according to county planning documents.

Closed in 2006, the course at 7500 Proctor Road dates back to 1975, according to Sarasota County documents. Since the 1940s, portions of the property had been part of two landfills that were also garbage burning sites. Landfill activities ended in 1972. Homes and neighborhoods have since grown up around the golf course, surrounding it on all sides.

Toxic contamination at the property has been a concern to nearby residents in recent years, generating numerous letters to county officials. A group of Foxfire-area residents maintain a website that voices opposition against construction on the golf course land and calls out for the county to pay damages for chemical exposures area residents may have experiences.

A 2014 report from the Florida Department of Health that detailed soil testing at the old golf course states that while arsenic levels are “slightly” above the state’s threshold for cleanup, they “are not likely to cause illness.” The report said the likely source of the contamination is arsenic-containing chemicals used by the golf course.

The report recommended the soil meet residential soil cleanup target levels before people live on the Foxfire property. It also recommended that the property owner do more soil testing to accurately determine the level of pesticide contamination.

A few miles to the east, Medallion is seeking a rezone of the former Gulf Gate Golf Course, said Sarasota County spokesman Drew Winchester. The company plans to build 109 homes on the acreage, which is bordered on all sides by existing homes and neighborhoods.

Logan did not respond to a request to comment on development plans for its new Manatee County property in time to meet the Herald’s press deadline.

This story was originally published May 25, 2016 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Medallion Home buys Manatee, Sarasota rural, golf lands for $12.6 million."