300-Plus Acre Strawberry Farm In California Sells For $17 Million

Posted by Lauren María Alexander|January 7, 2015

Gladstone Land Corporation announced Jan. 6 that it closed on the acquisition of a 331 acre strawberry farm in Salinas, CA, for approximately $17 million. The company won the right to acquire this property at a public auction that took place in December 2014. The property, located in a premier agricultural region in Monterey County, has four wells on site with ample water and has excellent soil.

The property is leased through October 2016 to a national grower and distributor of fresh strawberries. In addition, Gladstone Land announced the issuance of a $10.2 million bond under its $75 million facility with Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (“Farmer Mac”). The bond, which is non-amortizing and has a term of five years, will bear interest at a fixed rate of 3.25% per annum throughout its term. Bonds issued under this facility are secured by mortgage loans on agricultural real estate owned by Gladstone Land and have an effective loan-to-value ratio of 60% of the underlying agricultural real estate.

“We are extremely pleased with our progress since our initial public offering nearly 2 years ago,” said Bill Frisbie, managing director of Gladstone Land. “We have expanded into five different states and 11 different growing regions, and we continue to diversify our tenant base while maintaining 100% occupancy on our properties. We look forward to continuing to build a portfolio of first-rate farms with top-tier tenant operators.”

“We are very excited to acquire this farm in the premier agricultural region of Monterey County,” said David Gladstone, chairman of the company. “Based on independent appraisals and recent sales comparisons, similar properties in this region are being valued between $45,000 and $60,000 per acre. This particular property has plenty of water and great soil, and we believe it will follow the trend of gradual increases in value that California farmland has experienced over the past several years.”

Source: Gladstone Land Corp. news release