Billionaire Bill Koch Lists Vacant Land in Cape Cod

What’s about a dozen acres of empty land worth to a billionaire? In the eyes of Bill Koch, it’s worth $16 million.

The Oxbow Carbon founder and son of Koch Industries founder listed 11 acres of vacant land in Cape Cod, the Wall Street Journal reported. While the five lots could be had for $16 million combined, buyers are also able to snap the parcels up individually for between $3 million and $3.5 million each.

Koch owns at least 40 acres in the area, including a compound in Osterville on the water with five houses. While Koch’s Oyster Harbors estate is on the waterfront, the five lots — ranging from 2 acres to 2.5 acres — are not.

Koch purchased his first home in Oyster Harbors in the 1980s. He also bought Osterville’s marina so he would have a place to store his various boats.

His estate has been growing in size over the last 10 years, though. In 2012, he bought a home for $7 million. One year later, he purchased more than 30 adjacent acres from the late philanthropist Bunny Mellon for $19.5 million. A year after that, he bought 10 acres from the du Pont family for an undisclosed price.

Koch, who sold his interest in Koch Industries in the 1980s before founding Oxbow, has the luxury of not needing the vacant land and is looking to capitalize on their appreciating value. The 83-year-old still harbors plans to build another house on his land so that each of his children can have one.

Zenas Crocker of LandVest, a Christie’s International Real Estate affiliate, holds the listing.

The average sale price of a non-waterfront home in Oyster Harbor ranges from $3 million to $6 million, Crocker told the publication. Even an individual who wants to buy part of Koch’s land will need to have the upper end of that range to build a home after purchasing the land.

Koch also owns a home in Palm Beach and a pair of homes in Colorado, including one in Aspen and one in Paonia.

— Holden Walter-Warner