Sold: More than 30,000 acres of timberland worth $94,122,535

In April 2020, the St. Augustine Record reported that a New York investment group had bought more than 35,500 acres of timberland in St. Johns County.

I dug into St. Johns County property records to see if I could identify the exact parcels that the Sequoia Fund purchased. The Record said the fund bought the land under various names, including First Coast Land & Timber LLC and Saint Augustine 206 Interchange LLC. The newspaper wrote the story after the company purchased 4,446 acres on April 8, 2020.

I was only able to identify 33,086 acres that look like they could be tied to the company. That included 16,973 acres in Elkton, 12,637 in St. Augustine and 3,476 in Hastings.

The properties are worth a total of $94,122,535, according to St. Johns County Property Appraiser records.

The largest property I found was worth $11,375,280. First Coast Land and Timber LLC bought that parcel, located along State Road 207 and measuring 2,335.9 acres. The company address was listed as 9 West 57th St., Suite 5000, in care of Richard Feaser and Michael Sloyer Esq.

The Record said the Sequoia Fund bought the land through various subsidiaries. The company isn’t required to disclose the names of its subsidiaries, making it difficult to trace all the purchases. Does anyone know the best way to find out what companies are buying the most property for future development? That might reveal some important clues about where St. Johns County is headed.

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