Corey Barton backed out of pricey farmland deal. His competition just got a bargain
The nation’s largest luxury home builder walked away empty-handed last summer after Meridian builder Corey Barton bid $35.2 million for 282 acres of state-owned farmland near Caldwell.
Toll Brothers got the last laugh, however.
Last week, the Pennsylvania home builder saved $12 million by bidding for the same land after Barton, owner of CBH Homes, Idaho’s largest home builder, backed out of the deal, leading the Idaho Department of Lands to auction the parcels a second time.
Toll Brothers bid $23.3 million at Wednesday’s auction at the Courtyard by Marriott in Meridian. Five companies registered but only one took part in the bidding against Toll Brothers.
The winning bid works out to $82,624 per acre, compared with $129,816 per acre for Barton’s bid. The state’s appraisal valued the land at $21,277 per acre.
But even the appraisal price reflected the elevated price of land in the Treasure Valley as the Boise area’s population and house prices grow: The average value of irrigated cropland in Idaho in 2020 was $6,210 per acre, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
The total sale price was $24.2 million, after a 4% buyer’s auctioneer’s fee, which amounted to $930,000, was added.
Although the auction brought in less money than the first time, the winning bid was nearly four times the $6 million appraised value of the two parcels of farmland that previously served a University of Idaho agricultural research center that had operated since the 1940s.
At statehood, Idaho was provided endowment lands for the sole purpose of providing financial support for specific institutions, including the University of Idaho.
The land was auctioned after the university sold the research center, located next to the parcels, and invested in land in Rupert for a research dairy and in Jerome County for an outreach and education center.
The parcels are located between Vallivue High School and Vallivue Middle School. They are between Caldwell and Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge and lie south of West Homedale Road and west of South Montana Avenue.
After Barton backed out of the purchase by his Endurance Holdings subsidiary, he forfeited $500,000 put up as earnest money and an additional $100,000 for extensions that gave him more time to pay.
When Barton withdrew, the state offered Toll Brothers the property but the company declined. That led to the second auction.
A spokesperson for Toll Brothers did not return a call for comment Monday.
When Barton won the initial auction, he said he got a good deal. But after he withdrew from the deal in late September, Barton declined to say why the deal dissolved.
“These are unprecedented times,” the company said in a statement at the time. “We’re in a different market than before and are working to navigate through the high cost of land, current home prices and what’s best for our community.”
This story was originally published November 15, 2021 at 2:18 PM.
