Rayonier Inc., a publicly held real estate investment trust, bought 17,808 acres of timberland in northeast Florida for about $24 million.
Alejandro Barbero, director of strategic development and communication at Yulee-based Rayonier, declined to comment on what the company will do with the land.
The seller, Wilson Green LLC, is part of a Connecticut-based real estate investment company called Greenfield Partners.
Rayonier bought 12,416 acres of timberland in southern St. Johns County for $16 million and 5,392 acres in Flagler County for nearly $8 million.
The purchase price for all 17,808 acres equated to $1,347 per acre.
The acquisition on May 30 closed several months after Rayonier got about $40 million for selling approximately 11,000 acres of timberland in southern St. Johns County to a hedge fund based in New York. That sale price equated to $3,622 per acre.
Last year, Rayonier sold 1,311 acres at its Crawford Diamond Industrial Park in Nassau County to Florida Power & Light Co. for $13.1 million, or $10,000 per acre. The utility company hasn’t announced its plans for the land. [Jacksonville Daily Record] – Mike Seemuth