FARGO — The Metro Flood Diversion Authority is enlisting the help of a commercial real estate company to sell the Horace grain elevator.
During its meeting on Thursday, Oct. 23, the Metro Flood Diversion Board of Authority gave the OK to an agreement with Horizon Real Estate Group to manage the sale of the Horace elevator site.
The decision to hire a commercial realtor came after an auction failed to yield the desired price for the property in the middle of rapidly growing Horace. In a July auction, the high bid for the property was $99,500, far below the minimum reserve price for the property, set at $550,000. In a 2023 appraisal, the property was valued at more than $1 million.
Justin Fisher, director of lands and compliance for the Diversion Authority, acknowledged that there may be a discrepancy between the appraised value of the property and the eventual final sale price.
“Now we’re going to use that information, but really to understand what a true market analysis is,” Fisher said. “In saying that, there is going to be a difference between an appraisal versus what the demand of the property is.”
The land is owned by the Cass County Joint Water Resource District, which handles North Dakota property acquisitions for the $3.2 billion Fargo-Moorhead Area Diversion project. Once completed, the flood control project will divert Red River flooding around the Fargo-Moorhead area and Horace during extreme floods.
The Diversion Authority purchased the Horace elevator land and associated rail spur to avoid having to build a railroad bridge across the future diversion channel.
The Diversion Authority sells pieces of land that are unnecessary to the project, which it deems “excess lands.” Most pieces of land are rural farmland, but the Horace elevator property is an exception.
In August, the Diversion Board voted not to accept the auction bid, instead looking at other options to sell the property.
The agreement approved Thursday gives Horizon Real Estate Group the exclusive right to negotiate the sale of the property. It is a six month contract, according to Fisher.
The agreement did not have an immediate effect on the project’s budget because it includes commission-based compensation, according to the Diversion Board meeting packet. A 6% commission will be split between the buying and selling agent at the time of closing on a sale of the elevator.
The elevator is located in Horace’s downtown neighborhood. At a February open house for the Horace Downtown Neighborhood Plan, Horace residents appeared to favor a downtown that includes the historic elevator.
