FOR SALE: 129 acres near Collin-Hunt County line, County Road 1116, Merit, TX 75458, $516,000, MLS Listing # 10992029

Contact Beth Johnson, REALTOR^®, LEED AP, EcoBroker Certified™, Advocates Realty, 214.415.5089

Green Features:

There is little overtly “green” about this property at this time, but it is rural property that has been productive agricultural land, it has avoided paving, it has a mild diversity of habitat with its mixture of tree lines and cleared land, and it offers a rare opportunity to own land adjoining that rarest of ecosystems--a preserved native Texas blackland prairie. Its “green” attributes lie primarily in the potential it offers a new homeowner or a developer to build upon or manage the land in a “green,” sustainable way.

• Size: This acreage is sufficient for a residential community—one that could offer greenbuilt homes if desired. It could also continue growing crops, as it currently does.
• Location: This property shares two-thirds of its western boundary with a preserved native Texas prairie, The Nature Conservancy’s Paul Mathews Prairie (see below). If desired, prairie restoration might be possible on this for-sale property itself, and plantings/management with bird attraction in mind would likely benefit from the diversity of bird life now drawn to the adjacent preserved native prairie. Water, electric, and phone is already available at the site. The site is accessible by an existing county road, is less than 3 miles off of existing major transportation infrastructure at U.S. Hwy. 380, and offers a 12-min. commute (shorter than average by Metroplex standards) to western Greenville and its thousands of manufacturing jobs.
• Orientation: The shape of this parcel could potentially accommodate a street layout that offers optimum solar, daylighting, and natural ventilation orientation for the homes (long axis of the home running east-west, west [and east] windows and walls minimized, good south-facing windows).
• Low noise pollution, privacy: Approx. 1.5-mile distance from railroad track and highway to the south minimizes noise pollution, and native tree screen surrounding much of the property provides privacy. Additional interior tree lines create enclaves that are quite private, with trees screening all four sides.
• No anti-green deed restrictions: No deed restrictions prohibit the use of solar panels, wind turbines, rainwater catchment, native and adapted landscaping, panelized construction, growing food, raising domestic livestock.

Rare Blackland Prairie Remnants:

According to experts, Hunt County is known for its remnants of that now-rare element of our Texas natural heritage that is the Blackland Prairie. One such remnant (see below) shares two-thirds of the western boundary of this 129-acre parcel.

According to experts, the Blackland Prairie is the Texas version of the Tallgrass Prairie that once encompassed 20 million acres that stretched from near the Texas Coast to Canada. In Texas, the Blackland Prairies are the rarest of all the prairie types, with less than 3,000 acres preserved out of a historical total of 12 million acres. Because of the prairie's rich agricultural soils, more than 99 percent has been eradicated through cultivation, making the Tallgrass the most-endangered large ecosystem in North America, and most remaining native prairies are not permanently protected.

The Blackland Prairie is a special mixture of soil and mineral deposits that distinguishes the blackland ecosystem from other prairie and woodland types and supports its diverse array of plant and animal species. Described as "black velvet" when freshly plowed and moistened from a good rain, true blackland soils are deep, dark, calcareous deposits renowned for their high productivity. Scientists believe the richness of the prairie soils is derived from the abundant invertebrate fauna and fungal flora found in the soils themselves. Dominant native grasses of the original prairie included Big Bluestem, Switch Grass, Little Bluestem, and Indian Grass. The prairie provides habitat for a great number of bird species including northern harriers, eastern bluebirds, and neotropical dicksissels.

• Paul Mathews Prairie Nature Preserve

Adjoins most of the western boundary of this 129 acres for sale. “Mathews Prairie is a 100-acre native prairie meadow that has never been plowed,” according to the Greenville Chamber of Commerce. “Part of the once vast…Texas Blackland Prairie, it's a little piece of wild America. Through an agreement with the Texas Nature Conservancy, it will remain that way.

“The grasses and wildflowers that greeted early settlers still wave in the summer breezes. Native birds still feed on the seed-bearing grasses whose roots are anchored as much as 100 feet deep in the fertile blackland soil. Birders and wildflower enthusiasts will enjoy a visit to the meadow. In fact, the sea of big bluestem and Indian grass waving in the wind is a treat for everyone.”

• Parkhill Prairie, Collin County Open Space Program, Heard Museum.

A 436-acre public preserve located in northeast Collin County, only 11 mi. from the subject property. The park features a 52-acre relic of the Blackland Tallgrass Prairie and provides magnificent views of the countryside, much like those viewed by early settlers a century ago. Restoration work on 30 additional acres was funded by Collin County, Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept., and the Texas Nature Conservancy.

Wildflowers on the prairie include prairie parsley, wild petunia, Indian paintbrush, winecup, prairie clover, meadow pinks, purple coneflower, Mexican hat, gay feather, azure sage, goldenrod and asters.

According to the Preservation Society for Spring Creek Forest, Parkhill is one of the nicest public prairies, where a June visit offered abundant birdlife that included dickcissels, painted buntings, blue grosbeaks, lark sparrows, and scissor-tailed flycatchers.

Facilities include covered pavilions with cook pits, restroom facilities, trail, lake.

• Clymer Meadow Preserve, The Nature Conservancy.

3 miles north of Parkhill Prairie (approx. 14 miles from subject property), The Nature Conservancy’s 1,100-acre jewel “remains one of the largest and most diverse remnants of the Blackland Prairie and one of the most scenic areas in North Central Texas… Two globally imperiled prairie plant communities are represented here: little bluestem-Indiangrass and gamagrass-switchgrass community series types. Other important grasses include big bluestem, meadow dropseed, sideoats grama, and Canada wildrye. Wildflowers such as rough-leaf rosinweed, purple Indian paintbrush, prairie clover and American basketflower are abundant.” For the first time in 150 years, bison can now be seen here as part of a study on short-term grazing of wandering bison as a key element in the vigor of prairie lands.