University students have bought acclaimed performing artist Dave Matthews' music for years - now Matthews decided to buy from the University.
Yesterday Matthews purchased five farms of the University's Kluge property totaling 1,261 acres for $5.3 million.
"Matthews plans to preserve agriculture and forest land on the farms with an emphasis on organic farming," a written statement on the sale said.
Businessman and billionaire John W. Kluge donated 7,378 acres in Albemarle County to the University last May. The gift included ten working farms and was valued at $45 million.
The Kluge estate always has been a source of interest for real estate buyers.
"Even before his gift was made to us, a lot of people expressed interest in these five farms," said Tim Rose, chief executive officer for the University of Virginia Foundation, which manages the University's real estate holdings and provides financial management for other University foundations.
Matthews' further plans for the land have not been released.
"He definitely feels close to the Charlottesville community," Dave Matthews' publicist Jim Merlis said.
Charlottesville is Matthews' hometown and the place where he formed the Dave Matthews Band in 1991.
Kluge still lives on the 750 acre Morven Farms, and retains use of another 490 acres of the property for the rest of his life. The University plans to sell most of the Kluge property other than the core property on Morven Farms.
Kluge's "intention was that we sell a majority of the farms to support the core property," Rose said.
"The core property will definitely be used for educational purposes," said E. Clorisa Phillips, special projects director in the provost's office.
Aside from the five farms sold to Matthews, a sixth farm, the 1,392-acre Lone Oak property, currently is on the market for $3.35 million.
Rose said after Lone Oak is sold the University has no immediate plans to sell the rest of the land.
University Provost Gene Block is leading a committee consisting of faculty, staff and a student representative to generate ideas for the eventual use of the core Morven Farms property.
"We are just at the beginning of the planning process, so we have not determined any specific long-term uses of the core property yet," Phillips said.
The University will consider the Virginia 2020 goals, the needs of the University's various schools and a proposal given to Kluge in 1998 when determining the use of the Kluge property, Phillips added.
The proposal given to Kluge "outlined leadership development, the creative and performing arts and landscape and environmental studies, all consistent with the 2020 initiatives," she said.
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