Alpharetta Selling Surplus Acres

ALPHARETTA, GA-It doesn’t happen often, but this corporate-oriented suburban city 20 miles north of Downtown Atlanta could be offering some lucky land buyer the deal of the year shortly.

Alpharetta bought 6.6 acres on residential-zoned Mid-Broadwell Road, two miles west of Downtown, for $250,000 in 1994. The city had planned to build a fire station or a public park. But poor access from nearby winding roads made both projects impractical, city planners tell GlobeSt.com.

Now the city plans to hold a public auction later this year to sell off the surplus land it purchased 10 years ago for $37,879 per acre, or 87 cents per sf. Area brokers familiar with problem tracts tell GlobeSt.com the land will probably sell for $15,000 per acre, or about 34 cents per sf.