MONTGOMERY, AL-A local insurance company is bringing 929 acres to market through auction in late September. Though there is no minimum bid on the industrial-zoned acreage, land for industrial use in the state has sold for between $20,000 and $50,000 per acre.
Land owner Alfa Properties Inc. purchased the land south of US 80 and west of US 31 during the 1960s and 1970s for investment purposes. According to David Rickey with Alfa Insurance, the company's decision to diversify geographically and to reposition land assets were the reasons for the sale.
Additionally, "they're primarily an insurance company. They have a property division, but it's not their core business," says Carl Carter with J.P. King. The Gadsen, AL-based J.P King is managing the auction, which is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 27.
Carter tells GlobeSt.com that the land, which is between Montgomery Regional Airport and a new Hyundai Manufacturing plant, will be offered in parcels ranging from just shy of two acres to 146 acres. Anyone who's interested in buying the entire land is welcome to bid on it, but the spokesman points out that dividing the property into parcels will help broaden the market and hopefully entice buyers from outside the local area.
Rickey says the company decided to auction the land after trying to sell it through more traditional methods. Given Alfa's decision to diversify, it was believed the auction process would allow the company to reposition assets faster, he says.
Carter says companies typically use land auctions when they're ready to sell quickly. "When time might be a factor, or when it seems as though something may take forever to get sold, an auction allows the companies to get something sold in a timeframe they can live with," he adds.
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