Forsyth County weighs $4 million offer for 167-acre Tanglewood property as commissioners debate upset-bid route

County staff on Thursday told the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners that the county has received a $4,000,000 offer from Williams Land Development Incorporated to buy the 167-acre Tanglewood property.

Kirby Robinson, the county’s community economic development director, said the buyer offered the statutorily required 5% deposit and proposed a six-month due-diligence period that would make the purchase contingent on rezoning the site for residential use. "The purchase price was $4,000,000," Robinson said, adding that the proposed contract would include milestones around rezoning and due diligence.

Why it matters: the county has previously spent on site improvements — including a sewer lift station and access road — and staff’s broker opinion of value is roughly $4,000,000; the tax office valuation is about $3,000,000. Commissioners and staff noted that making improvements to attract industrial buyers was costly, with an estimate of about $12,000,000 in site work to ready the property for heavy industrial uses.

Commissioners raised competing considerations. One commissioner urged caution about selling land that remains largely woodland and timbered, saying the county has already invested money to see if it could be sold. Another questioned whether advertising under the upset-bid, price-based procedure could leave potential buyers who were unaware of the sale without time to prepare competitive offers. "If we put it out there to see what else we get, we might get higher offers," one commissioner said, arguing for broader marketing before accepting any single proposal.

Village of Clemons officials, staff told the board, have expressed concerns about traffic and local impacts; county staff said village leaders may decide to participate in the upset-bid process. Robinson said the prospective buyer indicated they would perform a traffic impact analysis during due diligence and had expressed interest in reserving some homes for first-time homebuyers at HUD-determined affordable prices, but staff cautioned that those programmatic commitments are not yet in a purchase contract and are not part of the upset-bid price process.

Board options described by staff: (1) accept the offer and advertise it under the negotiated offer/upset-bid procedure (a price-driven public notice and successive bid period), or (2) direct staff to more broadly solicit offers before advertising. Staff said the upset-bid process would lead to the highest and last offer returning to the board for final consideration; if no upset bids materialize, the board would decide whether to sign a contract.

The discussion closed with no final sale vote recorded at the briefing. The proposal and related resolutions were presented for the board’s consideration; commissioners asked staff to continue outreach and to clarify contract terms, rezoning contingencies and potential community impacts before a final decision.

Ending note: staff indicated that if the board approves advertising the offer, the upset-bid period will proceed and any returned highest offer would come back to the board for final action.