Maryland Conservation Fund Closes on Fraser Forbes Transaction
6/15/2007
The Fraser Forbes Company, LLC, announces the completion of a $2.5 million land transaction in Upper Marlboro, Prince Georges County, Maryland between its client, Spinksville Partners, and the Maryland Conservation Fund. The land deal is unique and is the first pairing of McLean, Virginia-based Fraser Forbes, the region's most active land brokerage firm and the Conservation Fund, a leading national environmental nonprofit trust that acquires property and preserves it in its natural state.
The Upper Marlboro property, at the northwest corner of the intersection of Route 301 and Rosaryville Road has nearly 50 rolling, forested acres zoned for residential development. While numerous developers were interested in acquiring the property, Spinksville elected to work the Conservation Fund. Richard MacDonough, Fraser Forbes Vice President and Director of Maryland and Washington, DC Operations, represented Spinksville, and indicated that the Conservation Fund offered a solid price and closing terms that ultimately benefited our client, the Fund, the local community and Maryland in general.
MacDonough indicated that the area around the property is ripe for residential development and the property itself would have supported an enclave of luxury homes on large lots, and he is pleased the Conservation Fund acquired the property. "There are numerous development deals in the immediate area that we are working on, and Upper Marlboro remains a strong home sales market. Our clients could have held out for a contract that was richer, but it might have taken a couple years to close. In this situation, we had a well-financed group committed to land preservation that moved far more quickly than developers ever could. It was a nice alternative for our clients, and I hope area land sellers, the counties and the states look toward groups like the Conservation Fund for more such opportunities. Certainly, as an avid outdoorsman and hunter, it is special for me, and I have plenty of landowners willing to work with the Fund and other similar groups."
The Maryland Conservation Fund is the local affiliate of the national group and successfully has preserved over 140,000 acres of farms, wetlands and forest from the Chesapeake Bay through western Maryland.
