Several real estate property transactions that have occurred recently indicate that the City of Bainbridge is once again on the move, at least as far as commercial development is concerned.

On August 20, River Bend Ford, Inc. closed on the purchase of 21 acres on U.S. 27 South, Tallahassee Highway, just south of Tractor Supply. The auto dealership paid $750,000 for the land purchased from Bank of the Ozarks, which had previously foreclosed on the property. It is located south of Tractor Supply.

Scott Rayburn, local manager of Riverbend Ford confirmed that plans are being formulated to relocate the auto dealership and service area to that location, and that more details would be available soon.

On August 15, Murphy Oil closed on property purchased from WalMart Realty, paying $227,500 for the site where they plan to build a gasoline service station. This is believed to be on the lot in front of the Bainbridge WalMart.

In April another parcel of 3.163 acres, also on Tallahassee Hwy., south of Tractor Supply, was purchased by Bran Hospitality from Bank of the Ozarks. Bran Hospitality owns Hampton Inn franchises in Americus and Vidalia and Holiday Inn Express franchises in Macon and Americus. At the time this project was first announced it identified John Nichols of Legacy Hospitality Management of Perry as the developer of the project and Shrad Amrit as the architect.

A new four-unit retail speculative building is nearly finished behind O’Reilly’s, and next to the car wash, both off Tallahassee Highway. Owner Alan Giles said each of the units is 1045 square foot, and two of the units are already rented. One of the new tenants will be Goin’ Postal, which will move from its present location at Inland Port Center.

Giles anticipates the project will be completed in mid-to late September. Giles is also the owner of two car washes, Bainbridge Portable Buildings and 97 South Security Storage.