DeSantis, top Florida officials vote to buy 4 acres for $83M, despite concerns
Florida’s top leaders approved a fast-tracked deal Tuesday to pay a campaign donor more than $83 million for his companies’ four acres of waterfront Destin land, disregarding the mounting concerns from conservationists and some Republican officials over the land’s high price tag.
The purchase passed with a unanimous vote from Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General James Uthmeier, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson and Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia. However, in an unusual move, Ingoglia paused the vote to note that while he supported the other land purchases bundled together in the vote, he wanted to single out his opposition to the Destin purchase, deemed item 4F on the agenda.
“I’d like to be shown as a no on Item 4F,” Ingoglia said. DeSantis, seemingly surprised, replied that it was an all-or-nothing vote for the slate of eight land deals.
“We’ll take that as a yes, and your objection will be noted on that one,” DeSantis said.
The landowners selling the property are Pointe Mezzanine LLC and Pointe Resort LLC, both of which are registered in state corporate filings to Robert Guidry, a Louisiana business owner. Since last summer, Guidry and businesses connected to him have written checks totaling more than $35,000 for local candidates, including county commissioners, who make decisions where his property is located.
https://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/2025/09/30/desantis-florida-destin-land-purchase-donor-ingoglia/
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