Dixon council OKs cash farm lease of 65-acre property pegged for future commercial retail, housing

DIXON – The Dixon City Council approved a cash farm lease agreement Monday for the 65-acre property on Bloody Gulch Road behind Walmart on South Galena Avenue.

Brad and Angela Shippert Farms have agreed to lease the land for $200 per farmable acre, which comes to a total of $12,754 a month until Dec. 31. Brad Shippert of Dixon will take responsibility for farming the ground and all associated costs, while the city will cover any real estate taxes on all land and improvements, according to the agreement.

Dixon City Attorney Rob LeSage said “there may be some tax obligation ... because we’re leasing it, but ... the tax would be very nominal.”

“We’re excited for this partnership, and to maximize the use of land,” Dixon City Manager Danny Langloss said in an interview with Shaw Local.

The city purchased the 65-acre property for $1.5 million in November with a plan to develop it into additional commercial retail and housing, which officials still are planning to do.

[ Dixon City Council OKs $1.5M purchase of 65-acre property to be developed into commercial retail, housing ]

Langloss said they’ve been “actively meeting with two different housing developers” – one for workforce housing and the other who develops housing for people ages 55 and older.

From the retail side, they’re working with X-Site Real Estate, the same group that developed the Gateway project, the city’s major economic development along South Galena Avenue.

Gateway, which has opened a Chipotle, Jersey Mike’s, a Casey’s gas station and many other businesses within the past two years, is expected to generate more than 600 jobs and $1 million a year in new tax revenue once it’s completed.

As for the 65-acre property, the city is looking into a few different developments, such as housing and retail/entertainment, but “it’s looking like those things won’t begin until 2026,” Langloss said.

“That’s why we went ahead and decided to engage in the lease utilizing the land this way,” Langloss said. “It just seemed like the responsible thing to do ... since we weren’t going to be able to get development started this year.”

The agreement was signed Monday night after the council meeting. Shippert finished getting the soil ready to plant Tuesday afternoon.

“If it wasn’t for the rain, they’d have planted it,” Langloss said. “It had been done by 5 o’clock. Now they’re just waiting for the land to dry out to get it planted.”