$500,000 Cash Buys 13,000 Acres in 12 States

CENTRALIA, WA-Locally based Ox Bow, LLC and Railroad Properties LLC have paid $500,000 in cash to publicly traded Heartland Partners LP of Chicago for most of the company’s 13,000 acres of scattered properties as well as the remaining 14 acres of Heartland’s Fife, WA, residential development. Ox Bow and Railroad Properties also assumed some liabilities related to the properties, including a $250,000 local improvement district assessment in Fife and accrued but unpaid real estate taxes.According to Heartland SEC filings, the majority of the land (former railroad rights-of-way) comprises long, narrow strips of land approximately 100 feet in width. Some of the sites, located in small rural communities or outlying mid-cities, are leased to third parties for agricultural use and may be improved with the lessee’s structures. Heartland chief executive Lawrence Adelson says the sale of the properties will reduce the company’s operating costs and the risks associated with the ownership and management of a large portfolio of small sites spread over a dozen states. A total of 18 prospective buyers were offered the properties acquired by the Centralia-based LLCs, with four making proposals and two of them withdrawing during due diligence, according to Heartland. A buyers’ representative could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon. According to the Washington Secretary of State’s office, Ox Bow’s registered agent is Dan Ferris of Olympia and Railroad Properties’ agent is George Heidgerken of Centralia. Heartland says the sales did not include the assumption of liabilities related to known environmental problems on some sites or approximately 100 acres formerly leased to bulk oil station operators, farm supply stores, chemical companies and other users that potentially could have resulted in environmental problems. Heartland Partners is a Chicago-based real estate partnership with properties in 14 states, primarily in the upper Midwest and northern United States. HTI Interests LLC, the sole general partner of Heartland, is owned 99.9% by Heartland Technology Inc., a Delaware corporation formerly known as Milwaukee Land Company.