Pinellas, Dunedin officials meet with developer for Gladys Douglas’ 44 acres

The top administrators for Pinellas County and the City of Dunedin met on Monday with representatives of the estate that owns 44 acres on Keene Road and the developer under contract to buy the land to build housing.

But Pinellas County administrator Barry Burton said he could not confirm whether Pulte Homes is willing to back away from a potential purchase in order for the local government to buy the land for preservation.

“It was basically, we’ve got a contract on a piece of property and they are going through their due diligence,” Burton said of the one-hour meeting in county offices. “They said ‘we’ve read in the paper the public is interested in this property,' so we did confirm that.”

Pulte Homes corporate communications manager Macey Kessler on Monday declined to comment on the meeting.

Dunedin city manager Jennifer Bramley and estate attorney Nathan Hightower, who also attended the meeting, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

More than a decade ago, philanthropist Gladys Douglas began an effort to line up the sale of her property to the county so the proceeds could be donated to local charities and the land could be preserved as a park. After her death in July 2019, attorney Nathan Hightower, a co-trustee of the estate, said he attempted to negotiate with the county but no offer was ever made.

After the Tampa Bay Times reported last month that the property was now under contract, residents have flooded local officials with calls and emails imploring them to save the land. Earlier this month, the Suncoast Sierra Club spent most of their meeting discussing strategy for how they could intervene.

While Douglas’ desire was well known, a preservation requirement was not written into her will or trust, Hightower said.

The written directive was to distribute the proceeds of the sale of the land to her daughter and four of her most valued nonprofits. After more than a year of waiting on local government, Hightower said he had an obligation to sell the property to a willing buyer and disburse the proceeds.

The Rev. David K. Shelor said the governing board of his First Presbyterian Church of Dunedin, one of the beneficiaries of the Douglas Trust, supports local government buying the property over the developer “even if there is a reduction in the proceeds from the sale.”

“While we are grateful for her generous bequest, we also want to honor her wishes, whether expressed in writing or verbally, and preserve a vital natural resource for the benefit of the whole community and the protection (of) God’s good Creation,” Shelor said in a statement.

The Dunedin City Commission directed staff on Sept. 1 to work with county staff on a proposal that could be submitted to the estate in the event the developer chooses to walk away when the due diligence period ends on Oct. 18.

Spend your days with Hayes

Subscribe to our free Stephinitely newsletter

Columnist Stephanie Hayes will share thoughts, feelings and funny business with you every Monday.

Loading...

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

But Burton said the logistics of how the local government would buy the property are unclear. He said he now plans to meet with Dunedin officials to discuss how much funding the city can contribute.

Pinellas County has set aside $15 million to acquire land for preservation over the next decade, and has a list of 60 potential acquisitions.

An appraisal conducted in 2018 valued the 44 acres at $11.7 million. An April 2020 appraisal of 33 of the acres, excluding the portion with a home and tennis court, came back at $5.2 million, still above what the county was willing to pay.

“I’m not going to negotiate in the newspaper,” Burton said. “The representatives are meeting, and they are talking, and that’s a positive sign.”