Land auction marks end of Carolina Nurseries

Carolina Nurseries in Moncks Corner, S.C., now belongs to a North Charleston industrial conglomerate that has no interest in maintaining it as a plant farm, The Post and Courier reported.

ZZ Acquisitions LLC, an affiliate of The InterTech Group Inc., acquired the 686-acre property Friday during a public auction at the Berkeley County Courthouse after no one stepped forward to outbid the debt it was owed by the nearly century-old business.

ZZ Acquisitions loaned the sprawling nursery along U.S. Highway 52 about $12 million in March 2009 to keep the financially struggling business on firm ground, but the sluggish economy proved the nursery's uprooting. The once-thriving business was unable to repay the loan or find other financial backers, so the lender foreclosed on the property.
Berkeley County this week considered buying the site for nearly $17 million, but council members nixed the idea of putting the county in the real estate business.

After the gavel fell Friday, nursery president J. Guy said, "We're closed." He referred other questions to the new owner as he left the courtroom.

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