JEFFERSON CITY, MO – March 8, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — A state highway property sales blitz has generated more than $675,000 for road and bridge projects that will make Missouri highways smoother and safer.
The Missouri Department of Transportation tried something new last November – an all-out attempt to sell multiple properties across the state in a short period of time. The agency identified 21 highly marketable properties, then advertised them for sale by auction or sealed bid over a five-day period. The realty blitz brought in $676,739 and transferred land the state no longer needed to build, improve and maintain the highway system to interested property buyers.
The parcels, which ranged in size, shape and use, sold for as much as $120,000. Gregory Wood, Realty to Roads Project Director in MoDOT’s Right of Way Division, said buyers are interested in the highway property for various reasons, whether it’s to add to an abutting property they already own or to independently develop it.
“Selling the properties in a concentrated block rather than one at a time helped us to generate interest among property buyers and move idle land out of our inventory,” Wood said. “It has proven to be a useful tool for us.”
Because the effort was so successful, MoDOT will hold a second sales blitz from April 26-30. Thirty-two pieces of property ranging from a quarter of an acre in size to 200 acres will be offered for sale to the public at that time.
“We have made it a priority to get rid of land we’re no longer using and put the proceeds toward better and safer roads and bridges,” Wood said. “It not only makes good business sense, but it ultimately benefits travelers on our highway system.”
Information on state highway property for sale, including the four parcels not sold as part of the recent blitz, can be found at www.modot.org/realtyforsale.
Contact:
Jorma Duran at 573- 751-9257 or Community Relations at 573-751-2840
