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JAMES THORNERThe owner of 10 1/2 acres near Caliente wants to build 79 lots near the nudist resort.
LAND O'LAKES - Caliente nudist resort is eager to expand its boundaries after nearly selling out 200 condominiums, house lots and town homes within its walled compound east of U.S. 41.
Now comes word a former Caliente enthusiast, who owns 10 1/2 acres next door, plans to establish a nudist-friendly RV park within sight of Caliente's signature Mediterranean-style clubhouse.
Jim Sweasy once plunked deposits on several Caliente homesites, but he withdrew his money in the late 1990s after losing faith the resort would get off the ground.
But in May 1999, he scooped up 10 1/2 acres adjoining what would become Caliente, a year and a half before the resort finally started to rise from its 100-acre lakefront property. Last week, Sweasy asked Pasco County for permission to build 79 RV lots.
Sweasy has never ruled out selling his parcel to Caliente, whose land hunger has grown as buyers, encouraged by low interest rates, scooped up almost all the property inside the resort.
"I'll entertain offers any time," Sweasy said Tuesday. "I haven't put a price on it, and they haven't made an offer."
Caliente vice president Chuck Foster said he regrets not buying the land before Sweasy, saying the property "slipped through our fingers."
Sweasy's view of what the land is worth has been too unrealistic for Caliente. Having paid $160,000 for the land in 1999, Sweasy is aiming for big bucks.
"He wants $4-million for 10 acres," Foster said. "We're not going to pay it."
With the February opening of its two-story clubhouse, Caliente has reached the big leagues of the nudism industry. It's central Pasco's fifth nudist resort and markets itself as the most upscale in North America.
Plaudits have poured in for Caliente's five bars, multiple restaurants and palm-tree-trimmed mammoth swimming pool and artificial waterfall.
Satisfying at least some of the demand for land on which to run around naked, Caliente bought an extra 26 acres outside its walls on U.S. 41 two years ago. It paid $525,000. Development plans for the land are forthcoming.
"After all the success we've had out here, I wish we had 200 more acres," Foster said.