Ken Curly 2013 Brookings Register Article

The entire article is worth a read if you are interested in this topic, but here are two key points from this 2013 Ken Curly article. (Or you can stop down at the Brookings Library and find it on microfiche). 

1) The early appraisals from the DOT which go back to around 2001 appraised the front 10 acres of the DOT (now Marketplace) land at $100,000 per acre ($2.29 per SF) and the back land behind it at $15,000 per acre ($0.34 per SF).  So, there was a time when both the City and the State recognized that the frontage land was much easier to develop and therefore much more valuable.  The City themselves once recognized over 20 years ago that this prime frontage was worth $2.29 per SF before they purchased it. 

2) Prior to paying the DOT paying $1,600,000 to purchase the land from the State, the “City of Brookings was so eager to get the DOT to move, the council purchased land to the north of its [DOT] location for $20,000 per acre and then sold it to the state for $10,000 an acre – losing $200,000 in the deal”.