Green Island Ranch

Developing the nearly 6,000-acre Green Island Ranch near St. Cloud should come easy for anyone with $140 million.

A prominent Osceola County ranching family has raised cattle there for more than 100 years but began preparing for the sale more than a decade ago.

The Partin family already has plans approved to build up to 17,000 homes and other mixed-use projects on the untouched tract of upland property, which includes 2.5 acres of frontage on Lake Tohopekaliga.

The Osceola County Commission first approved a development plan (known as a Development of Regional Impact, or DRI) for 13,000 residential units in 2008. Two years later, the Commission updated the county’s Comprehensive Plan to allow for an additional 4,000 units to be built on the ranch as part of the “South Lake Toho Element.”

Green Island is one of four sprawling homesteads carved out for the four sons of noted horse and cattle rancher Henry O. Partin, who died in 1972.

The family patriarch introduced Florida to Brahman cattle — bred to thrive in year-round hot weather — and founded the Florida Cattlemen’s Association. His 60,000-acre ranch was once considered the largest east of the Mississippi River.

The oldest son, Oscar Partin, received about 5,300 acres along Neptune Road between Kissimmee and St. Cloud. Doc, the third eldest, was bestowed about 6,000 acres south of St. Cloud around Canoe Creek Road, while the youngest son, Earl, received about 5,000 acres north of that.

Edward “Geech” Partin, the second son, was given the land on the eastern side of Lake Tohopekaliga near Kissimmee that he dubbed Green Island Ranch.

Osceola County is steeped in the family’s legacy, including the Silver Spurs Rodeo which they began in the 1940s to showcase “quadrille” horse performances. Local schools still observe “Rodeo Day” in February instead of President’s Day, a tradition that once drew all the kids in the county.

But times have changed. And Osceola is now one of the fastest-growing counties in one of the fastest-growing states in America.

And while the family still raises cattle and grows sod and timber on Green Island, they are moving toward the end of an era and will become multimillionaires before it’s all over.

Some Partin descendents are still raising cattle on the family land, but dozens more have sold off their shares of land over the years.

Some still play prominent roles in local government and business, including School Board Member-turned-County Commissioner Ricky Booth, Osceola County Schools Superintendent Debra Pace and the real estate agent for Green Island, Dusty Calderon.

“This property is a historical monument in Osceola County’s history and its development will set the county apart from the rest of Florida,” according to a promotional video from SVN | Saunders Ralston Dantzler Real Estate in Lakeland.