Your family has owned land for many years. That land is in the path of progress. Cashing in should be a simple process, right?
It’s not always that easy.
Back in 2019, Nick Grisanti of Grisanti Group started working with the Myers family that owned around 42 acres on the northeastern quadrant of I-65 and Clermont Road and 13 acres on the southeastern quadrant of I-65 and Clermont Road. Nick listed the property and began marketing efforts. He quickly identified a buyer that wanted all of the land for a distillery and hospitality project. The entirety of the property went under contract in the fall of 2019.
Unfortunately after more than a year of due diligence and efforts to finance the project, the buyer canceled the distillery project and terminated the contract. The Myers family was disappointed, but stuck with Nick who had guided them skillfully through contract negotiations and multiple extensions and amendments to the first contract. Their cash-in on this long-held family asset would have to wait a little longer.
Grisanti Group took the sites back to market. There was quickly interest in the northern 40 acres for industrial. The speculative logistics building market was booming in 2021 with the Covid ecommerce explosion and global supply chain crunch. Nick and the seller entertained multiple offers and went under contract with a developer for the 40 acres of industrial land.
This development came with its own set of challenges. Bullitt County had recently passed an ordinance specifying this area as a Bourbon Tourism Corridor (the area is home to Jim Beam), which put a greater burden on the developer to meet certain architectural standards. The developer worked to meet all the standards, and they were approved for the project. But other hurdles stood in the way. Wetlands and floodplain impacted the developable acreage of the site. The developer’s building square footage had to get smaller than originally planned and thus their projected profits were lower. Projected profitability was also taking a hit from rising construction costs. By 2022, the Covid logistics boom was softening and the certainty of this developer closing at the contract price became less likely.
Fortunately, another dynamic of Covid was that the federal government had pushed cash grants to local governments all over the country. Nick learned that the Bullitt County Fiscal Court was interested in owning the site itself, which would allow it to control the property and utilize it towards its goal of a creating the aforementioned Bourbon Tourism Corridor. It was a complex process, but Nick ultimately arranged for the industrial developer to walk away from the deal and for Bullitt County to acquire the site from the Myers Family.
Cash-in #1 was complete.
Meanwhile, on the southern 13 acres, Nick had identified a retail buyer who wanted the site for a gas station. That deal was more straight forward than the industrial-turned-tourism site. However, it was not without challenges. Nick helped the Myers family successfully negotiate a permanent easement through the development property giving access to additional land that they were retaining.
Cash-in # 2 was complete.
Four years after listing the properties, both the north and south properties closed in 2023. The Myers siblings were thrilled that the land their parents had acquired nearly 100 years before was able to be turned from an illiquid asset to cash in the bank for their retirements.
If you are a family that wants to take advantage of development coming to your doorstep, Grisanti Group can help ensure that that process goes smoothly. Call us so you don’t leave money on the table.