He said the conservancy would have to show insurance that would indemnify the current owners after the oil wells are abandoned, "in the event corners were cut or the site was not fully remediated". Also, the owners want the land appraised at its highest and best use, assuming that they could build all 1,375 homes and other facilities.
Consult the local Environmental Protection Agency and have the land appraised for potential wetlands and other environmentally protected areas before signing any contracts.
If someone calls, land trust officers walk the land, appraise it, decide if it meets any of the criteria, do a hazardous waste assessment and discuss tax incentives for donors.
The land was appraised at $710,000, but Mr. Co said that once the Council changed zoning laws, the land would increase in value 500 percent.
Jennifer Grossman, vice president for land acquisition at the Open Space Institute, based in Manhattan, who is familiar with the negotiations, said that the land was appraised for approximately half a million dollars and that Mr. Feldmann wanted more than twice that amount.
With the rights intact, the land is appraised at approximately $40,000 an acre.
(He should know: his star project is the redevelopment of Union Station in Denver. ) In 2003, he and his wife, Ellen Bruss, decided to participate by donating a plot of land, later appraised at $1.5 million, for the Museum of Contemporary Art's new home.
The land is appraised for what it would be worth on the open market, and then for what it would be worth if it could be used only for farming.
If you have a house sitting on five acres of land, it can be appraised one way, but another way is to say you can knock down the house and build the Empire State Building there".
The agency had appraised the land at only $5 million, far below the minimum $15 million the owners said they would accept.
No specific amount had been set, he said, and the house, its outbuildings and the surrounding acre of land had not been appraised.
