My background is in accounting as well. FB68 all your points are valid.
Bill, If we look at the property as other than $$ then there are several reasons to keep the land and I agree with them. Hunting, nature conservancy, you name it.
That unrealized appreciation may never be realized if you don’t sell it. When you do sell it, that amount of unrealized appreciation may be no where you thought it was. It is hard to compare tracts of land that size in comparable past sales to gauge a value or price. Strictly for financial reasons (even if the price was a bit low) I think it is a good deal. It gives them so much more flexibility. For the other reasons mentioned it is not.
If the state of NC tried to buy it they would have low balled the price even more. They would be playing both sides of the fence. On one side they have the taxpayers of ALL of NC to appease to pay as little for it as possible. On the flip side the money from the sale goes to a state funded school. There is no winner in that battle. Like someone mentioned above the Dix property and the difficulties they have had trying to price and value that property. There is nothing like that in the Raleigh area. What is the real value? Commercial, residential, or nature/parks? All three would pose a different value based on the potential buyer.
