Nearly 350 acres on Black Hammock Island in North Jacksonville that was approved for residential development instead will be preserved in perpetuity.
The George Ogilvie Family Trust sold the property to The Trust for Public Land for $8.19 million. The Trust will deed it to the state and the U.S. Parks and Wildlife Service.
Logan Holz with Land Advisors Organization represented the seller and announced the deal Aug. 1. The Trust said part of the money for the sale was from the city of Jacksonville.
According to Duval County court records, The Trust For Public Land, based in California, acquired the property July 21 for $8.19 million.
The property, which was entitled for up to 143 single-family lots, will be added to the surrounding 35,000 acres that are part of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve.
“After many generations of this land being in our family, it was a difficult and bittersweet decision to sell, but one that leaves me with great happiness that the land will be conserved. The beauty of nature will remain around us, which is very important for my family, myself, and the Ogilvie family legacy,” George Ogilvie, principal with the family trust, said in the news release.
“It’s a win for the Ogilvie family and a win for conservation. Thanks to the Trust for Public Land, which helped to make this deal work for all involved, the land and the family’s legacy is being preserved for future generations to appreciate and enjoy,” Holz said in the release.
The property is bifurcated by Sawpit Road, with about 1.6 miles of marsh frontage overlooking Pumpkin Creek, and almost a quarter of a mile of shoreline along Sawpit Creek with views of the Intracoastal Waterway.
The property was part of a small settlement in the mid-1770s called Sawpit Bluff during the American Revolutionary War.
The Ogilvies are descendants of the original settlers.
Founded in 1987, Land Advisors Organization is a national land brokerage firm. The firm works with landowners and purchasers from offices in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Kansas and Washington.