|
The mostly uninhabited, unincorporated town about 225 miles
(362 km) south of Portland originally went up for sale in 2015,
but that did not include the building that used to house the
school, said Garrett Zoller, the owner of Land and Wildlife, the
real estate firm selling the 250-acre (100-hectare) town.
The current deal, at a reduced price, includes six houses and an
apartment, industrial and commercial lots, and a building that
once housed a gas station and general store. Adding the school,
on an adjacent parcel, swing sets and all, would set a buyer
back about $3.85 million.
About 250 people live in the surrounding area. But aside from
the family that owns and is now selling the town, only two
residents remain in Tiller itself, a former teacher who lives
next to the school, and the pastor of the local church. Neither
of their parcels is for sale, Zoller said in a phone interview
on Monday.
The emptying out of the town came as timber harvesting declined
in the region and the town’s mill closed, he said.
“When the federal money started dwindling away for timber,
basically the mill shut down,” Zoller said. “And when the mill
shut down, a lot of the loggers started having to go away.”
The family that owns Tiller now, he said, accumulated the town
lot by lot as other families left.
Daydreamers aside, a complete town could also be an opportunity
for a developer, Zoller said, since part of the town has already
been divided for a 13-acre (5-hectare) subdivision.
He said he had fielded calls from would-be buyers ranging from
Chinese investors to people interested in starting medical
facilities and hemp-growing operations.
(Editing by Patrick Enright and Peter Cooney)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
