Bailey Nurseries had been using the parcel for almost 20 years, leasing it from a Cottage Grove family and its estate.
“It was a good piece for us. It fits with the rest of our properties,” John Bailey, the company’s CFO, told Finance & Commerce. Bailey’s used the parcel to plant sudan and sorghum grass, which it used as groundcover and supplement for the potted plants it grows on the adjoining 250 acres of nursery fields. The company doesn’t plan any changes on the site now, but is anticipating that it may become attractive for development in the future.
“Development will come back in that area. We know we won’t be there as a nursery forever,” Bailey said. The company earlier sold some of its land to developers who built a 235-acred residential development - Bailey’s Arbor - near the nursery sites.