UGA Plant Sciences Farm could Sell for $11.4 million

 The University of Georgia’s 522-acre farm in Oconee County may soon be sold.

 The higher bid for the Plant Sciences Farm, operated for years by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, isn’t as high as the 2007 property appraisal.

But it is higher than recent appraisals, said James Dorsey, who manages real estate and space management for UGA.

So now, President Michael Adams and Scott Angle, dean of the agriculture college, will decide by July 31 whether to accept the $11.4 million offer from Townley Family Farms.

“We have to have our decision to the (Board of Regents) by August 1 for the matter to make in on to the September agenda,” said Dorsey. “We have to ask for their approval. But we may not sell it at all.”

There were only two bids for the property, which lies along Ga. Hwy. 53 near North Oconee High School. The lower bid of $522,000 came from Richard Garrett, Dorsey said.

Tony Townley, of Townley Family Partnership, is one of the founders of the Zaxby's fried chicken restaurant chain and the contact on the submitted big materials.

The buyer will be leasing the land back to UGA for three years. Researchers need that time to finish their projects, officials have said.