Gladstone Land Corp., a McLean, Va.-based REIT that acquires agricultural land, has picked up a Hillsborough County strawberry farm for $1.7 million. As part of the deal, Gladstone assumed a lease with a “leading global berry operator” to run the 70-acre Lithia farm through at least 2021, with an option through 2026. The purchase brings the REIT’s total holding to 49 farms comprising more than 23,900 acres in seven states worth approximately $344 million. The land last traded for $337,500 in 1988. “We are excited to add to our farmland holdings east of Tampa, a great growing region with significant development pressure,” says Bill Frisbie, the company’s managing director for the Eastern U.S.
