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Buyers Pay $8.045 Million for 899 Acres in DeKalb County, Illinois

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (June 7, 2007)—An auction today of 899 acres of productive farmland from the University of Illinois’ Wright Endowment attracted 62 bidders, eight of whom accumulatively spent $8,045,000.00 for the 12 parcels.
Westchester Auctions, a real estate marketing company based in Champaign,
conducted the auction of Wright Farm in conjunction with the University of Illinois. The auction drew more than 300 to the South Pointe Center in DeKalb.
Westchester Auctions offered the property, located 11 miles west of DeKalb, as individual tracts or any combination of parcels. The tracts ranged in size from 4 to 180 acres and featured premier productive farmland, potential future development sites and three farmettes. The final combination of bids from the eight bidders resulted in the highest total sale price, which was presented to and accepted by the University of Illinois. The average price per tract was over $670,000.00, which translates to $8,949.00 per acre.
The University successfully achieved its goal of unlocking the appreciated value of Wright Farm to accomplish three important initiatives. First and most importantly, the sale proceeds will be used to continue the University’s history of fully funding the Wright agricultural scholarships and fellowships. Second, a portion of the revenue will be reinvested in future agricultural land acquisition to support the expansion of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) South Farms. And
finally, some of the sale proceeds will contribute to funding the relocation of the College of ACES South Farms.
Farmland values have increased dramatically in recent years, allowing the late Senator Wright’s endowment to have an even broader impact on the College of ACES’ students in ways that will complement the current Wright scholarship program. “We believe today’s outcome not only coincides with but exceeds what Senator Wright envisioned when he made provisions in his will for this generous gift to the University,” said Kevin Noland, director of agricultural investments at the University of Illinois. “We are pleased with the outcome and smooth execution of the auction event.”
“It has been a great experience working with the University of Illinois on this auction,” said Fred Hepler, executive vice president of Westchester Auctions, LLC. “We were glad to partner with the University to achieve its goals.”
Westchester Auctions, LLC is a leading real estate and auction marketing firm. They utilize their marketing expertise and multiparcel auction system to allow bidders to compete continuously throughout an auction, helping institutional, corporate and individual landowners achieve the highest price possible for their real estate. For more information on why Westchester Auctions is The Land Marketing Authority, visit www.westchester-auctions.com.
                                                                                                          

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