Oster sold the parcel to the city for $150,000 or $60,000 peracre ($1.36 per sf), city officials confirm to GlobeSt.com. TheGlenn Creek Nature Preserve Alliance orchestrated the deal. "It's acritical watershed that includes a forest, a creek and wildlife,"says Neil Horton, who organized the greenspace effort. "The primarygoal of protecting this land is perpetuity has beenaccomplished."

Decatur is five miles east of Downtown Atlanta with an estimatedpermanent population of 20,000. Area brokers tell GlobeSt.com the$150,000 price was "far below the appraised value." The property isat the end of Fairview Road, just off Sycamore between theGlennwood Estates and Decatur Heights neighborhoods.The Glenn CreekNature Preserve Alliance is comprised of "a group of concernedneighbors," Horton says. The group raised $67,046 and donated$60,000 for the land purchase. The Georgia Community GreenspaceFund funded the balance of the acquisition.