Community Corner
UGA Close to Sale of Plant Sciences Farm in Oconee
UGA could get $11.4 million from the sale of the 522-acre farm from the Townley Family Partnership of Oconee.
University of Georgia officials are enthusiastic about a $11.4 million offer to purchase the 522-acre Plant Sciences Farm, but the buyer hasn't confirmed whether the sale has concluded, according to an Athens Banner-Herald article.
The University of Georgia put the farm, located across from on Snows Mill Road, up for sale in May to help pay for the cost of improvements to other university owned farms.
In June, the Townley Family Partnership of Oconee County made what officials described as a "generous offer," one UGA official told the Athens paper.
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Tony Townley is listed as the contact person for the partnership, and is one of the founders of the fast-food chicken restaurant chain.
As part of the sale, UGA and the buyer will need to develop a transition plan. Under the bid for the farm, buyers won't be able to assume full ownership of the land until three years after the sale, allowing researchers time to finish or move their projects elsewhere, according to the Athens Banner-Herald.