Conservation Easement for Historic Working Farm

We represented the seller in what is thought to be Connecticut’s first lease-to-own farm sale involving a land trust.  Our client, a regional land conservancy, sold a historic working farm to its long-time tenant after they satisfied the “sweat equity” requirements of the lease, including certain property maintenance, improvements, and other site work over more than 10 years.  The land conservancy retained a bespoke agricultural conservation easement that allows for a range of agricultural and related uses and opportunities as well as requires the protection and restoration of the property, including its early-1900s potato shed and tobacco barn, which is one of the last in the area.