Orvis/Cushman & Wakefield offers up the best

It is the premiere brokerage of recreational properties in the country, and the mission of Orvis/Cushman & Wakefield is simple: “Connect individuals with the highest-quality, investment-grade recreational properties to fit their needs and vision” and “do so with an emphasis on conservation …”

By: Grant Gannon

This mission is why you’ll only find 16 domestic properties when browsing the Orvis/C&W web site. It is a distinctive group too. Totaling over a quarter of a billion dollars, the properties encompass some of the preeminent recreational lands in the country.

Headlining the group is the historic Bell Ranch in New Mexico. The price tag is $115 million for 250,000 acres. Eligible buyers for the property are few, but currently there is no listing in the country that can match it on a scale of grandeur.

The Bell Ranch may be out of reach for 99.99 percent of the land-buying public, but the other 15 properties listed by Orvis/C&W offer more realistic options for the rest of us.

When John Watson, CEO of Orvis/C&W, decided to branch out from a local brokerage, he approached Orvis to gauge its interest in forming a partnership. He said the company provided one key stipulation.

“They were very interested in it, but it had to have a conservation bend to it. We really stick to who we are. We take properties with a high conservation value. We wouldn’t want the 40,000-square-foot home with the horse arena on 600 acres,” Watson says. “That’s just not who we are. We want strong recreation. These buyers, they don’t want to buy a job, they want to buy fun. They want recreation in many forms, not just hunting and fishing; it could be enjoying nature or enjoying wildlife.”

Some properties listed elsewhere may be larger or more expensive; Orvis/C&W won’t take on the task of listing them.

Still, the brokerage wants its buyers to realize a gain on their investment.

Watson says the company makes sure that each property is “part of the country or the world that other people have validated as having strong investment quality.” Each listing goes through a review process to ensure that it is upholds the Orvis/C&W standard. “We’re not just going to take a 40-acre deal in a subdivision,” says Watson. “We’re pretty true to who we are and what we are.”

Listing premiere properties requires patience, says Watson. With most of their properties ranging from just more than $2 million to $21 million, the potential buyers are highly discerning in their choice. That means sellers must be willing to wait for the perfect buyer.

“We have to be realistic with sellers. We’ve had property sell in four months, but we like to prepare [sellers] for 18 months up to 24 months. You may list a property this time of year in the Rockies where it’s going out of season,” Watson says. “You need a full sales cycle for those properties.”

Orvis/C&W has, however, positioned itself to sell year-round. While temperatures drop in the mountain states, the properties the company lists in Georgia and Tennessee are entering the prime season to be displayed.

“In the Southeast, the market is strong at a different time of year,” Watson says. “You don’t see brisk sales in the heat of summer but in the fall and spring when people like to get out on the land and look at it.”

When people get out and look at an Orvis/Cushman & Wakefield property, what they’ll find is recreational bliss.

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