Natural Bridge goes on the block

by Heather B. Hayes
for Virginia Business
June 2007

It’s not often that a natural wonder comes on the market, but for a cool $32.5 million, Natural Bridge is for the tak-ing. The 500-million-year-old limestone arch, along with a collection of considerably newer tourist attractions, a restaurant and a hotel/conference center, was put up for sale in early April. The 1,600-acre property is listed with real estate firms Sperry Van Ness and Summit Commercial Real Estate.

“It’s definitely the most unusual property we’ve ever had to sell,” says Ed Koepenick, managing broker for the Lynchburg office of Sperry Van Ness, the largest commercial real estate firm in the country.

Koepenick says that he already has shown the property several times, but there have been no offers yet. Interested parties have included hotel owners and developers, but he declines to mention names.

Natural Bridge is owned by eight people, including majority owner Angelo Puglisi of Washington, D.C., who bought the property 18 years ago. Koepenick says that three owners are now in their 80s.

The owners would like to sell the property as a whole but are open to selling it in pieces. Koepenick says. The land includes an abandoned golf course, which is being marketed as a possible site for homes or a retirement community. A few developers, Koepenick notes, have expressed interest in purchasing that land and other undeveloped acreage.

The biggest challenge to selling the property, the broker says, has been pulling together detailed information on income and expenses, hotel rooms and the self-contained, on-site sewage treatment plant. The real estate firms selling the property are developing a brochure and standalone Web site to inform potential buyers.

Thomas Jefferson bought Natural Bridge and 157 surrounding acres from the British crown in 1774 for $2.40. Today, the property ranks as one of the oldest tourist destinations in the U.S., drawing 200,000 visitors a year. Natural Bridge gets the bulk of its revenue from entry fees to Natural Bridge and the Natural Bridge Caverns plus a wax museum, toy museum and “haunted monster” museum.