Last of IP sold

Published 4:54 pm Friday, October 8, 2010

The remaining tracts of International Paper’s Southland, consisting of 5,974.4 acres, have been sold to Figure 8 (Southland) LLC of Jacksonville, Fla., for $11,541,996, according to information from the Decatur County Clerk of Court office.

The land identified as the Headquarters and Adams tracts transferred ownership on Sept. 24.

Figure 8 Partners LP is an affiliate of Rock Creek Capital, an alternative asset management firm that buys and sells unique, resource-rich land.

Email newsletter signup

They purport to acquire unique, resource-rich land and increase its value through active management, property repositioning and resource enhancement as responsible environmental stewards.

The Jacksonville Business Journal on Oct. 4 published that Rock Creek Capital had purchased 163,000 acres of real estate properties, including more than 200 separate tracts of mostly pine plantation for a total price of $199 million. They further state that Figure 8 Partners, LP, an affiliate of Rock Creek, paid $160 million in cash to International Paper, and at the close of the transaction, International Paper received a 20 percent profits interest in Figure 8 Partners.

Figure 8 Partners then sold approximately 124,521 acres of the land to a client of Molpus Woodlands Group LLC, a timberland investment management organization based in Jackson, Miss., according to a release.

International Paper has been a fixture in Decatur County since 1958, and the company used its several tracts in the county to conduct research and entertain its clients and corporate leaders with prime hunting and fishing.

The tracts the paper company had owned were some of the most premier in the state, which included the Silver Lake tract that was later sold to the state in 2008.

The headquarters tract, which its name states was the company’s headquarters and includes several buildings, is located along Faceville Highway and runs along the Flint River.

The Adams tract is on the other side of the river, running along Ten Mile Still Road and borders the River Oaks Subdivision.