Piedmont Greenway Master Plan - Town of Kernersville

its value. It should be noted that if the acquisition of uplands is required for the greenway, acquisition costs
would be substantially increased.
The acquisition cost per acre is based on recent sales of property in the corridor. Recent sales in the
corridor (a general fee simple cost for Guilford and Forsyth Counties) are between $6,000 per acre to $5,000
per acre on average. The price per acre establishes a general range for the cost of property in the Piedmont
Greenway corridor. Costs may be higher or lower.
Based on this average cost, the estimated easement acquisition costs for the Greenway corridor is as
follows:
$5,000/acre x 92.00 acres = $460,000
Based on the experience of the Piedmont Land Conservancy in negotiating the acquisition of land in
the region, it is reasonable to also assume that acquisition costs for the Piedmont Greenway could be significantly
reduced by securing the donation of land or conservation easements.
Pre-acquisition Costs
Pre-acquisition costs include the cost of those services necessary to complete the acquisition of the
corridor. These services are appraisals, surveys, title reports and environmental audits. Pre-acquisition
costs vary widely, depending on the contractor used and the standard of service required. In general, preacquisition
costs for greenways are considerably higher than for other types of parkland due to the appraisal
problems posed by linear parcels. At this time, pre-acquisition costs are not available for the Piedmont
Greenway corridor.
It should, however, be noted that pre-acquisition costs to date for the donation of land or conservation
easements for greenways have been very low. If a property owner donating land or a conservation easement
is not interested in the federal income tax benefits available for such a donation, it will not be necessary to
obtain an appraisal. Further, due to the fact that floodplain properties do not generally have a history of any
past use, the presence of hazardous or toxic waste is unlikely. Therefore, the acquisition of such properties
will probably not warrant the expense of an environmental audit.
Accurate boundary surveys and title information will be necessary for the acquisition of any parcel of
land in the Piedmont Greenway corridor.
PIEDMONT GREENWAY
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