Compass Real Estate
A local conservation group has partnered with NOVA Parks to make an offer on River Farm.
Monday was the American Horticultural Society’s deadline to make offers to purchase River Farm. Northern Virginia Conservation Trust (NVCT) partnered with NOVA Parks to jointly submit what they called "a fair and market rate value for the property."
"Accepting this offer would allow AHS to move on from River Farm by April 1 and no longer be responsible for the expenses associated with managing the site," said Alan Rowsome, executive director of NVCT and chair of Save River Farm.
"As the AHS board moves forward to assess the offers they have received, it is imperative that they put the future of River Farm first and ensure that it is protected and open to the public for all time," he said.
In an email to Alexandria Living, Rowsome noted that while the groups "won’t talk details of that offer now, given that it’s a real estate negotiation...it’s a good, fair offer that gives everyone what they want," he noted, including NVCT and NOVA Parks formally safeguarding the property from future development.
"And the public gets to enjoy this incredible place for all time," he noted.
The American Horticultural Society is selling River Farm to pay expenses and create an endowment for their long-term survival, they have noted. "Like many small nonprofits, AHS has struggled financially in recent years and the pandemic has all but stopped essential revenue streams needed to maintain our day-to-day operations and our mission-focused programming while also shouldering the tremendous maintenance costs for the early 20th Century homestead at River Farm and its 27 acres of land. These serious financial challenges, among others, led to our board’s decision this fall to sell River Farm. The funds raised will allow our nonprofit to create an endowment that will ensure our organization and our programs can continue indefinitely."
AHS has had "ongoing bi-weekly conversations with Mount Vernon District Supervisor Daniel G. Storck and Paul Gilbert of NOVA Parks, among others, who have been working to put together a purchase offer that could meet both AHS’s objectives and those of the community," the group's board chair, Terry Hayes, noted in a statement.
NOVA Parks has parks in three counties and three cities. In addition to Alexandria, it also represents Arlington County, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, the City of Falls Church and the City of Fairfax.
NOVA Parks staff, volunteer board members appointed from each jurisdiction and many friends of the regional parks working together have preserved more than 12,000 acres of the rolling and wooded Virginia countryside for residents and created a legacy for future generations.
NOVA Parks provides almost two million citizens with recreational facilities. By pooling their funds, the local governments find that each dollar they contribute to NOVA Parks is multiplied by contributions from other member jurisdictions and sometimes augmented even more by state and federal grants and private donations.
If River Farm does become part of NOVA Parks, it will join, locally, Carlyle House Historic Park and Cameron Run Regional Park, among many other parks in the region.
