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9,400-Acre Tract Sells for $12M

CHATSWORTH, NJ-But the 14-square-mile piece of land isn't about to be developed because the new owner, the nonprofit NJ Conservation Foundation, is buying it for conservation purposes.

By Eric Peterson | Updated on August 25, 2003

CHATSWORTH, NJ-Cranberry farmer Garfield DeMarco has agreed to sell his family’s 9,400-acre holdings–a total of almost 14 square miles–but local ratables won’t be benefiting from any development on the sprawling tract. The New Jersey Conservation Foundation is paying $12 million to take it out of circulation: The non-profit group plans to preserve it for passive recreational purposes.

The land, which surrounds this small South Jersey community and stretches through Woodland, Tabernacle and Bass River townships, is located in the Pine Barrens, a 1.1 million-acre region that occupies more than 20% of New Jersey’s total land area. The DeMarco tract, officially owned by A.R. DeMarco Enterprises, was accumulated by the family beginning in 1940. The family has been using 800 acres as cranberry bogs and another 300 acres as blueberry fields.

But wetlands disputes with the state and business disputes with the Ocean Spray cranberry cooperative soured DeMarco on the cranberry business, forcing a sale that has been in the works for nearly a year. The sale price of $12 million factors out to less than $1,300 an acre, decidedly a bargain in this development-intensive state.

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