August 6, 2026 — River Bend Ranch, 1,300 acres of riverfront land along the St. Johns River at 1411 Osteen Maytown Rd in Osteen, closed this week in a $20.1 million acquisition by Volusia County under the voter-approved Volusia Forever program. Daryl Carter, Jonathan Clayton, and Robby Doyle of Maury L. Carter & Associates, Inc. represented the seller in the transaction.
The property carries more than two miles of undeveloped frontage on the St. Johns River, plus another 1.3 miles along Deep Creek. It sits directly adjacent to the county-owned Deering Preserve at Deep Creek, a 1,385-acre conservation area, meaning the acquisition creates a contiguous block of nearly 2,685 acres of publicly managed conservation land and permanently protects nearly two miles of undeveloped St. Johns River frontage.
The property sits in one of Central Florida’s fastest-growing corridors, roughly 30 minutes from New Smyrna Beach, Titusville, and Daytona Beach, and within easy reach of I-95 and the region’s other major roadways. Riverfront land of this scale has grown increasingly scarce as Volusia County and Central Florida more broadly continue to see rapid population growth — making the county’s acquisition a significant, permanent addition to its conservation lands along the St. Johns River corridor.
The River Bend Ranch closing follows closely on the heels of another major Volusia County conservation transaction facilitated by Maury L. Carter & Associates: a record-breaking conservation easement on nearly 500 acres in DeLeon Springs, which closed the same week at roughly $17,000 per acre — the highest price per acre ever paid for a conservation easement in Volusia County.
With this week’s closings, Maury L. Carter & Associates, Inc. has now sold more than $215 million and 47,900 acres to government and conservation agencies since 1989, including more than $68 million and 6,700 acres in Volusia County alone.
