Alico Conference: CEO Details Exit From Citrus, Land-Leasing Push and Corkscrew Entitlement Timeline

Alico (NASDAQ:ALCO) CEO John Kiernan outlined the company’s ongoing shift away from citrus operations and toward a land-focused strategy centered on leasing, selective land sales, and longer-term real estate development through entitlements, speaking during a company event focused on its transformation.

Why Alico moved away from citrus

Kiernan said the decision was driven by economics, pointing to the impact of citrus greening disease on production and costs. He said the disease reduced yields and fruit quality while increasing caretaking expenses, and that Alico had been losing money for the prior two years.

“It was a very, very difficult decision,” Kiernan said, noting Alico’s long history as a major citrus grower, including supplying a substantial amount of fruit to Tropicana for more than a decade. However, he said the business was no longer economically viable for Alico to meet its own expectations or those of shareholders.

A land-first plan: leasing now, entitlements over time

Kiernan described Alico as a land company that owned more than 50,000 acres in Florida across 31 locations in seven or eight counties at the time the strategy was developed. The company created an “acre-by-acre” plan to determine the “highest and best use” of each parcel, incorporating infrastructure trends and population movement.

Based on that work, Alico determined that roughly 25% of its land could ultimately be used for residential or commercial development, while the remaining acreage would likely stay in agriculture for a long time. Kiernan said development requires rezoning and entitlements that take skill, time, patience, and money.

In the meantime, Alico is keeping its acreage in agricultural use to generate cash flow, including by expanding leasing. Kiernan gave an example of leasing sod-suitable land to established operators rather than building an in-house operating business, describing the approach as creating diversified revenue streams. He said the company expects to provide more detail on the material numbers from leasing activity in the future.

Key development projects and entitlement progress

Kiernan highlighted milestones in the entitlement process, particularly for the Corkscrew Grove Village project in Collier County, Florida (near Naples). He said the project would eventually include about 9,000 homes split between two villages (4,500 in the east and 4,500 in the west), along with commercial space and open space designed to support a “live, work, play” environment.

A major feature is a roughly 1,200-acre wildlife corridor intended to connect preserves and support Florida panther migration. Kiernan said Alico is also restricting additional acreage through a conservation-for-development tradeoff, describing a structure that effectively places about 7,000 acres into conservation against about 3,000 acres planned for development, subject to approvals.

On timeline and approvals, Kiernan said the company completed a fiscal impact study that the county found sufficient and that Collier County staff review was ongoing. He said Alico expected to appear before the Planning Commission at the end of March and before the County Commission by the end of April, adding that approvals at the county level were hoped for in 2026.

At the state level, Kiernan said Alico submitted an application for a Conceptual Environmental Resource Permit with the South Florida Water Management District, and he anticipated that process would conclude in late 2026 or early 2027. At the federal level, he said the Army Corps of Engineers—working with U.S. Fish and Wildlife—must review the project, noting that a public notice step had occurred and that a formal public notice was anticipated by the end of March.

Kiernan also discussed a second project, Bonnet Lake in Highlands County, saying Alico filed a comp plan and conducted community outreach that included meeting with more than 400 residents. He said additional public hearings were expected in the first and second quarters of the year.

Conservation and infrastructure spending

Kiernan emphasized Alico’s conservation history and said the company “put our money where our mouth is” by privately funding more than $5 million to construct a wildlife crossing in 2025, despite not yet having permits for the broader project. He described a tunnel-style crossing designed to allow wildlife to pass beneath a road, and said Alico hoped the cost would eventually be refunded through a Stewardship District structure approved last year by the Florida legislature and executive branch. He also referenced prior land donated by Alico that became a conservation area known as CREW.

Land sales, capital return options, and balance sheet focus

On monetization, Kiernan said Alico sold about $23–$24 million of land last year, focused on agricultural land sold to other agricultural operators. He also referenced the company’s November 10-K, which he said showed about $34 million of assets held for sale, adding that about $7 million had been completed and announced in the current fiscal year. Kiernan declined to give a forecast ahead of upcoming earnings but said investors should expect “more” on leasing utilization and entitlement milestones, alongside continued efforts to reduce general and administrative costs.

Kiernan discussed potential ways to return capital to shareholders, saying the board reviews options quarterly. He said the company maintains a common dividend and has paid dividends since going public in 1960, with two quarters missed in 1974. He indicated the dividend is likely to remain at its current level. He also referenced a previously announced 10b5 program approved by the board in April that allows for potential buybacks up to $50 million through the end of 2028, contingent on discretionary cash flow. If a large development were sold for “hundreds of millions,” he said he would consider a tender offer as a way to return capital.

Kiernan said Alico returned roughly $200 million over the last 10 years through a mix of debt prepayments, tender offers, buybacks, and dividends. He also said the company ended its fiscal year (ending in September) with about $38 million in cash and that net debt reported in November was about $48 million, down from roughly $210–$215 million of debt when he joined 10 years ago. He said Alico’s focus is to manage liquidity, maintain cash flow from leasing, and stay patient while properties move through the entitlement process.

Regarding asset value, Kiernan said the company’s analysis—based on discounting projected monetization timelines and carry costs—produced a present value range of about $650 million to $750 million. He said Alico would need to “tweak that slightly” as land sales are realized but indicated it remains within that ballpark.

About Alico (NASDAQ:ALCO)

Alico, Inc is an agribusiness and land management company headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida. The company owns and manages over 110,000 acres of land in southwestern Florida, with operations focused on citrus groves, sugarcane production, forestry and other row crops. Alico leverages its extensive land holdings to support integrated agricultural and environmental stewardship practices.

In its citrus division, Alico cultivates and markets fresh oranges for both the retail and processing markets, while its sugarcane segment supplies raw cane to domestic sugar mills.