Traveling into the heart of parcel 2 provides a continuing display of sights that unfold around every bend in the road. Central to it all are the beautiful natural longleaf pine stands that harken back to a time when this was the dominant landscape of the southeastern coastal plain. As part of the 3,535-acre Natural Bridge Creek Plantation, this property has been groomed by the Hester family for over 50 years, utilizing forward thinking timber and wildlife management practices. The results are self-evident and are distinctly different than prototypical timberland and recreational tracts.Parcel 2 encompasses 1,007+/- acres along the Florida - Alabama state line and the owner would consider subdividing it. It has excellent access with over 4 miles of paved road frontage and is only 50 miles from the white sand beaches of the Emerald Coast. Due to Natural Bridge Plantation's diversity, there are several uses that an investor can take advantage of including recreational, conservation, Ag conversion, and timber.In addition to the beautiful stands of natural timber, the water features on this property are a significant asset. Crowned by a 23-acre lake, there are also four ponds and Natural Bridge Creek flanks its eastern boundary. These qualities play a large part in attracting wildlife including deer, turkey, duck, and quail. As fortune would have it, the season is effectively extended for due to different start and end dates for hunting in Alabama and Florida. Improvements add to the enjoyment, functionality, and value of the property - they consist of a 19th century converted former railroad depot, a rustic World War II vintage board-and-batten home, three farm houses, a residential loft situated above former stables, a maintenance shop, two pole barns, and a RV camp area with hook-ups. In addition, there is farm equipment, a fully equipped maintenance shop, trailers/containers, an ATV, and support vehicles that are all part of the turnkey purchase price. From an ecological standpoint, Natural Bridge Plantation's natural features are of such high quality that the property has been coveted by naturalists and environmental organizations. In fact, the recession and the resulting scarcity of funds are largely responsible for the property not already being acquired for conservation purposes. Some of the possibilities for Natural Bridge Plantation include placing a conservation easement on the property, establishing an ecosystem mitigation bank, or serving as an interim owner while planning a future conservation sale. As of 2015, Natural Bridge Plantation was listed as #21 on Florida Forever's priority list and has been nominated to receive a first appraisal for the State of Alabama's Forever Wild program.While Natural Bridge Plantation is not considered a timberland tract, per se, there is very valuable timber present on the property. Notably, this includes many pines classified in the pole and plywood veneer category that brings premium pricing. Most of the pine is merchantable with natural longleaf and slash accounting for most of the volume. There are 100+/- acres of former farm fields that are were planted in longleaf pine in 2002/2003 that are part of the CRP program. This is a very productive site with a high percentage of usable land and excellent soils that include Dothan, Florala, Fuquay, Malbis, and Troup.
This property is off market, which means it's not currently listed for sale or rent on Zillow. This may be different from what's available on other websites or public sources.
