On December 17th, Farmland Renewal, LLC, completed acquisition of the final parcel planned for the Copake Agricultural Center in Copake, New York, and secured conservation in perpetuity of the Center’s approximately 180 total acres. The announcement from Bob Bernstein, Managing Director of NEFA, capped a successful first year for the Copake project, where three farm entities broke ground in early 2014.
Bernstein credited the completion of the conservation easements to a combined effort of NEFA staff, surveyors, Town of Copake officials, the farmers, and Farmland Renewal, LLC, investor members.
To close on the second and final parcel—the former land of Alice Belt adjacent to the 122-acre town center land already under cultivation—NEFA secured bridge loans from Meredith Kane, Esmeralda Stuk and Kathy Stuk.
“We are grateful to these friends of Copake Agricultural Center,” said Bernstein, “and to all who stepped up in our first year to make this impact-investment project possible.”
Both properties now have conservation easements held by the Columbia Land Conservancy. The Scenic Hudson Land Trust, Inc., provided $545,000 for the purchase of development rights and resulting conservation easement.
The next step in Copake, says Bernstein, is already under way, with Farmland Renewal, LLC, which owns the Copake properties, working to raise the funds from new equity investors to repay the bridge loans.
Repayment to the first short-term investors has begun and efforts to replace loans with equity investments are underway.
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