Projo Biz Blog

By Christine Dunn
Journal staff writer

HOPKINTON,R.I. -- Jeffrey C. Tefft says it might be "a stupid time" to buy land, but on June 30, he and his wife, Judy L. Tefft, did just that.

They bought more than 190 acres of farmland off Kenney Hill Road, in Hopkinton, for $2.5 million from Coventry developer John F. Assalone, who has abandoned plans to build houses on the property.

It is land that Tefft grew up on, land that his father farmed, but never owned.

It is land that Tefft farms himself today, even though he also owns a home heating oil company, J.C. Tefft Fuel. Tefft said he lives about a mile away from the property.

"There's no money in farming," Tefft said. But "it's a nice piece of land, and I liked it. I basically grew up on it."

Assalone bought the land, then part of a larger parcel, a total of 402 acres, in August 1999 for $1.2 million from the daughter of the previous owner, Lester Burdick, after Burdick's death.

The state had been interested in buying the parcel, which borders the Arcadia Management Area, to conserve the land.

Assalone began negotiations with the town and the state to develop part of the land and sell some of it to the state.

Assalone did sell a section of the property to the state, 180.85 acres, in April 2002, for $900,000, according to Lisa Primiano, deputy chief of the state Department of Environmental Management's division of planning and development.

And in 2001, Assalone won preliminary approval from the town for Kenney Hill Farms, a 76-lot residential subdivision.

But there were traffic and open-pace issues the town wanted resolved, including the improvement and expansion of Kenney Hill Road and Grassy Pond Road, the main roads serving the subdivision.

The houses were never built, and then the housing market soured.

On June 30, Assalone said he provided $2.25 million in financing to sell the land to the Teffts. There were no terms listed for the mortgage, and neither Assalone nor the Teffts have disclosed the terms of their agreement.

Tefft said he didn't care to have his intentions for the land announced in a newspaper, but more light may be shed on the situation Sept. 2, when the town's Planning Board is scheduled to meet with the Teffts' lawyer, Vincent J. Naccarato, to discuss the property, according to municipal planner Jim Lamphere.

Tefft did say that in a perfect world, "I'd like to live there myself and have no neighbors, but it's a ton of money...."

Assalone said he thought the land would be conserved under the Teffts' ownership, and when asked whether he would consider an offer to sell development rights to the property, Tefft said he'd be interested in hearing from "anybody who'd like to give me money."

Primiano said the town recently passed a $2-million bond for land preservation, and the state would be interested in helping the town preserve the land for farming.

"We have been very interested in seeing the property preserved," she said. "Hopefully, it will get protected."

 Tags  economy farmland Hopkinton RI real estate

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