A group of up to 130 Irish farmers in an investment syndicate are pooling their resources to build a $200 million (€157.5 million) apartment development and golf course in Florida, one of the biggest holiday destinations in the US.
In a deal that follows numerous multi-million-euro investments in international property by wealthy Irish business people, the farmers have put forward $10 million to fund the initiative. The remainder of the money will be raised through bank loans.
Far removed from rural Ireland and traditional farm activities such as saving hay and the milking of cows, the Florida project has attracted money from farmers throughout the State.
In preparation for the development, the consortium has already acquired 250 acres of land near Lake City in north central Florida, some of which is already used for the 27-hole Quail Heights golf course.
Subject to planning approval, the golf course will be reduced in scale to an 18-hole of "championship" quality while 550 apartments, a golf lodge and retail units will be built on the remainder of the site. Construction is not likely to begin until next year.
The Malahide-based business consultancy that assembled the consortium, Farrelly & Mitchell, said the farmers involved had put an average of $150,000 into the project.
The investment period will be for seven to 10 years. The consultancy has forecast that the project will generate a return of more than 15 per cent after tax for members of the syndicate.
With Irish property investors going to Britain, Europe, the US and as far afield as China in the search for suitable projects, the Florida project was marketed to farmers as an opportunity to develop "off-farm" interests to add to their income.
"Many progressive farmers are investing off-farm, to capitalise on the value of their land, generate additional cash income and spread their assets for retirement and succession planning," said Malachy Mitchell, a former Irish Farmers' Association official and the director of Farrelly & Mitchell.
"They're in a classic cost-price squeeze. Product prices are dropping and production prices are increasing.
"However, asset values have increased significantly, particularly property values, and that has generated a level of option and opportunity, particularly for off-farm investment."
The money invested by the consortium has already been used to acquire a newly built shopping centre in Jacksonville, Florida, and a smaller development site in Lake City.
According to Mr Mitchell, the biggest investment was $500,000 and the smallest was $50,000.
"Following this success, we are now targeting further investments in commercial property and development land in Ireland and overseas," he said.
"For example, we have identified and structured a range of attractive investment opportunities yielding an annual cash return in Germany."
