~by Janice Harbaugh for GreeneCountyNewsOnline
River Farm Recreation west of Jefferson, the scene of large gatherings that have drawn intense scrutiny in recent years due to underage drinking, sold at auction Thursday for $1.35 million. Seller Craig Flack called it a “win” and said he felt “vindicated” after the dust of the down-to-the-wire auction settled.
A bidding war in the last minutes of the Peoples Company online real estate auction sale resulted in the extension of the sale 15 minutes beyond the set closing time. GCNO stayed online and watched the action unfold.
Rules of Peoples Company, located in Clive, require that bids posted in the final three minutes of the auction reset the clock back to three minutes.
There were 15 extensions during the final seven minutes of the auction.
The River Farm was divided into two tracts for the sale. The first was listed as 91.33 acres of partial woodland and the second was listed as 145.73 acres with a pond.
The first tract sold for $4,275 an acre with 29 bids. The second tract sold for $6,625 with 73 bids. Almost 40 of those bids came within the last 20 minutes before the auction finally closed.
The total of the two sales amounts to $1,355,897.
In a telephone interview with Matt Adams of Peoples Company, GCNO learned both tracts had been won by “Greene County residents with Jefferson addresses.” Adams declined to identify the winning bidders, though he did say the tracts had sold to separate bidders.
Though Adams declined to give names, he said, “The tract on the north will probably be used for recreation and the south tract for building a house.”
Adams was complimentary of cooperation from Craig Flack, the owner of the tracts, and of the survey work done by Bob Bills of Central Iowa Surveying in Jefferson in preparing the land descriptions. Adams noted Hoyt Law Firm of Jefferson provided helpful legal assistance “during a very stressful time for Craig.”
Adams said 55-60 bidders had registered for the auction from five states.
GCNO reached Craig Flack by telephone three hours after the auction closed. Flack was still energized from the intensity of the bidding.
“I won!” Flack said. “I’m feeling good! I feel vindicated.”
Flack said he was very happy with the price he received, though he feels the loss of the land he has been close to since childhood.
Flack recounted stressful experiences involving his recreational business at Flack’s River Farm Recreation and the county, state, zoning, DNR, and media. Large group events at the River Farm over the years had been criticized for the demand they made on county resources such as law enforcement and medical assistance.
Still, Flack is looking toward the future now that the auction is over and he can resolve debts. He said, “At one point, I just wanted to walk away, but now I can do it the right way.”
“I kept back some of the land for my own use and for Clint (his son), Flack said. “It’s in the center.”
Flack spoke of another acreage where he has a home that he can now feel secure in paying for.
“Why did this happen?” Flack asked, referring to the stress and his desire to own the land by the Raccoon River. “I don’t know. But the future will be better now.”
The Iowa State University Land Value Survey 2019 values farmland in Iowa at $7432 an acre and farmland in Greene County at $8008 per acre. It reports the national average for farmland at $3160 per acre.
