Gladstone completes $88m pistachio orchard deal

Gladstone Land has completed the acquisition of a pistachio orchard in California for $88 million.

The 2,635-acre property is planted with 1,776 acres of pistachio trees. The real estate investment trust has entered into a 10-year, triple-net lease agreement with the seller on the farm.

“We are very pleased to add these mature pistachio trees to our portfolio,” said, Gladstone Land managing director Tony Marci. “The trees are planted in soils and a climate that are well-suited to pistachios, which is evident in the excellent yield history of the orchard.”

The firm completed the last of three transactions relating to a nut orchard in October. The first part of the deal was closed in June when Gladstone acquired 639 acres of farmland in Kern County, California, 617 acres of which is planted with almond trees.

The $25.4 million deal also included the option to buy 20,330 acre-feet of stored water (equal to approximately 6.6 billion gallons) located within the Semitropic Water Storage District water bank. Gladstone said at the time that it would immediately exercise its option to purchase the stored water.

Gladstone closed the second leg of the deal in August, when it paid $14.8 million for a further 479 acres of farmland, 460 acres of which were planted in almonds. The transaction also included 5,000 acre-feet of stored water.

The third and final part of the transaction was finalized in a $43 million deal in October with the acquisition of 1,284 acres, the majority of which (1,200 acres) is planted in pistachios and almonds, a portion of which is organic.

The final part of the deal also included 19,670 acre-feet of stored water, bringing total spend on the Kern County property to $83.2 million for 2,402 acres of farmland planted in permanent crops.

“We are happy to announce the closing of the third and final phase of this transaction in Kern County,” said Gladstone Land executive vice-president Bill Reiman.

“We are looking forward to a successful future with this property and new tenant. From the day we closed the first phase of this deal, we realized benefits to our overall business, and we are excited about where this will lead us in the future.”