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PREPARED FOR QUALIFIED LANDOWNERS AND THEIR ADVISORS
This document was prepared for serious landowners and the attorneys, financial advisors, and family office representatives who evaluate opportunities on their behalf. What follows is the complete investment case for Spring Creek Plantation Legacy Sporting Estate™ — including third-party assessments, documented comparable transaction data, income analysis, and five distinct ownership visions each with its own financial thesis.
All supporting data — per-category valuations, income documentation, comparable sales records, and the full $2B transaction database maintained by Jon Kohler & Associates — is available directly from Jon upon request. Jon handles every inquiry personally.
Jon Kohler · 850.508.2999 · jonkohler.com
There are properties, and then there are places that define a region’s legacy. Spring Creek Plantation is the latter — 5,519± acres of southwest Georgia’s finest ground, assembled with the rare combination of attributes that serious sporting landowners spend careers looking for and rarely find in one place. World-class trophy whitetail genetics. Nearly 2,000 acres already under intensive wild quail management with a Tall Timbers translocation program gaining documented momentum. A 200-acre private spring-fed lake so exceptional it hasn’t dropped an inch during the worst drought in a century. A new $3M lakefront lodge that will permanently change what you expect from a plantation. And $500,000± in annual income from farmland and mining royalties that makes this one of the highest-yielding recreational properties in the South. At $44,000,000 — with a $3M lodge, a 200-acre spring-fed lake, and $500,000 in annual income included — the base land and timber components averaged together are priced at only $6,518 per acre. Three comparable sales in 2026 have already closed near $10,000 per acre for land and timber alone. The gap between those numbers is where the opportunity lives.
What separates Spring Creek from everything else available today isn’t any single feature. It’s the combination — and the timing. The trophy deer program is crossing its inflection point this season. Covey counts on the quail program are up 180% in two years. The spring-fed lake hasn’t dropped an inch in the worst drought in a century. The irrigated farmland is actively producing income with the option of converting it to wildlife habitat and increasing the land’s value. And in an uncertain world, a property with this level of self-sufficiency, privacy, and income production doesn’t just hold value — it becomes more valuable precisely when everything else doesn’t. Five visions. One extraordinary piece of ground. One exceptional investment. The right landowner is reading this right now.
We’ve identified five distinct ownership visions for Spring Creek — each with a compelling financial case, each shaped around a different vision. Read them all before you decide which one you are. The one that surprises you might be the most important.
“The worst thing about this career is watching people pass up great opportunities waiting for the perfect place — and hearing later about the regret. By the time one can afford one of these places, the owner usually has about 10 really good healthy years to enjoy it fully. Each year waiting loses 10% of that enjoyment — and in this market, another 10%+ in appreciation. That’s a 20% annual swing.”
— Jon Kohler, Jon Kohler & Associates
“It’s been a long time, a very long time since I’ve seen an opportunity at this scale for someone to come in and essentially make a few strategic changes, let the habitat mature a little, and create enormous wealth. The biggest problem is finding a place large enough to make it worthwhile. This one is.”
— Jon Kohler
PATH ONE
A Trophy Whitetail Property
For the sportsman who is serious about growing B&C deer — and knows how to get the most out of the last 10%.
You know the legendary properties. The few places in the South that consistently produce free-range B&C whitetails. There aren’t many — and the serious sportsmen in this market know exactly which ones they are. The best rarely reach the open market. When they do, land and timber values have already moved to $10,000 per acre with no slowdown. The question every serious sportsman in this space is asking right now isn’t whether to own one of these places. It’s whether you’re going to be priced out of the market — and whether this is the ground to make your stand.
The public is just now beginning to recognize the trophy deer market. Places where true monsters are grown. We closed River’s Edge three times, each time at a new record high. Not once was it on the open market. Every time to landowners in our network who had missed other places and learned when a trophy place comes available to take it seriously. The landowners who acted at those moments were confident they had what few properties could accomplish: the opportunity to consistently be in the chase for B&C deer.
The serious sportsman chasing B&C deer is never just a hunter. They’re investors who also happen to love hunting. Developing a trophy deer hunting property may be one of the best ways to create wealth in real estate today. Few, very few properties have the combination of genetics, scale, and infrastructure where that wealth creation is not just possible but probable. This one does. While each property may have a different amount of acres to work with, each landowner has one thing fixed — his time. Make it count.
“I’ve learned to look at it like this. Uncertainty is the number one killer of value. When folks buy a deer hunting property there is a lot of uncertainty about whether it will consistently raise and harvest B&C deer. A lot. All it takes is one missing element — no matter how small — to lead to a lifetime of disappointment. Smart investors don’t look at the comps with uncertainty but only at the ones most reflective of what they are trying to achieve. That is why you see some landowners who seem to own several great properties. They recognized the certainty in what they were buying and gave it a value — which made all the difference.”
— Jon Kohler
The biggest concern when buying a trophy whitetail property is the fear of not consistently harvesting mature bucks. Here, the genetics are proven. The nutrients are exceptional. Age is no longer an issue. The size, neighborhood, and shape of this property lend themselves well to mature buck production. In addition, a once-public road traversing the property is now permanently closed — eliminating the number one weakness this property once had.
We asked Chip Byrd — wildlife consultant with Private Land Management and one of the most respected deer management professionals in the Southeast — to assess Spring Creek. His conclusion:
“As a wildlife consultant, there is no doubt that Spring Creek has what it takes to grow B&C whitetails. It has the potential to grow some of the largest whitetail in the Southeast.”
— Chip Byrd, Wildlife Consultant, Private Land Management
There are 1,060 acres of irrigated farmland that if converted into wildlife habitat would both immediately make the land worth more and provide habitat insurance. By having a source of irrigation in times of drought — during the spring when water is needed most — one eliminates the number one problem in growing wildlife in SWGA.
“The best example of how pivots can benefit a trophy deer program can be seen at Senah Plantation. It incorporates pivots into their wildlife program as well as anyone in the country and reaped the benefits. Being able to plant alfalfa and perennial peanut and reduce dependence on fed protein is a game changer. Top recreational land is trading at about 40% more than irrigated farmland — so there is immediate equity created when it is converted. You make money doing it.”
— Jon Kohler
To state that plainly: converting irrigated farmland to wildlife habitat at Spring Creek doesn’t just improve the deer program. It immediately increases the value of the land it sits on.
Spring Creek is not in the center of the Worth County sweet spot… but it’s damn close. The Babcock Wisconsin genetics released across multiple southwest Georgia counties during the era of deer translocation dispersed across the region, making this area today the most prolific producer of B&C whitetails in the South. This is a southwest Georgia story — and Spring Creek sits squarely inside it.
“I published an article in Woods N Water on exactly how SWGA became the number one trophy deer location in the South. Essentially, they went to Babcock, Wisconsin and for $35 a head brought deer back. It just so turns out that today the number one B&C county in the United States is one county west of Babcock. They literally couldn’t have brought in a better genetic than what they did.”
— Jon Kohler
See the full Woods N Water article — link available in the registered landowner package.
Five years is the inflection point in a trophy deer program. It’s when the first generation of bucks protected from day one reaches full maturity. It’s when a management program stops being a plan and starts producing documented results. Spring Creek is crossing that threshold. The next owner doesn’t inherit a program in its early stages — he inherits a program at the moment it begins to deliver. The recent closure of Fairfield Road to all public access permanently eliminated the last hurdle and left the equivalent of 8 square miles of private habitat, with another 11 square miles on the north line at Kolomoki Farms. Bucks can reach maturity. The food is there. The genetics are proven. The foundation is laid.
“The bobwhite quail may be the ‘prince of game birds’ but in 2026 it’s the trophy whitetail buck that’s king.”
— Jon Kohler
“I raise B&C caliber whitetails at my own farm where I study genetics. If I had the genetics Spring Creek has I wouldn’t have had to bring in quality deer and high fence my farm. Here, it’s already done.”
— Jon Kohler
Seven miles from Spring Creek — this is what the genetics in this neighborhood produce. Video taken from a property we represented that’s only 7 miles away. Available in the registered landowner package.
The path from here to a documented B&C operation is straightforward: incorporate perennial peanut into the existing farming rotation, add protein feeders, let the existing management program mature, and convert the irrigated farmland to wildlife — capturing the immediate 40% land value premium in the process. The genetics are already here. The habitat is already here. The work is already done. What’s missing is time — and the next owner buys that time at today’s price.
The manager now operating Spring Creek — formerly at Southlands, now Paul Reserve — has the experience to execute every step of this plan. He’s already here. The program is already running.
The Appreciation Data Speaks for Itself
Here’s the model we’ve developed over 35 years. Start with the land — just the land. Remove the water, the mine, the improvements, the income. What are you paying for the dirt itself? 5,233± acres of southwest Georgia sporting ground — quail habitat, mixed timber, irrigated farmland — at approximately $6,400 per acre.
Jon Kohler & Associates closed 17,000 acres last year at an overall average of $6,900 per acre across all property types including improvements. That’s a gross number — it includes houses, barns, and infrastructure in every transaction. The land here at $6,400 per acre is below that overall market average. For a property of this quality, in this neighborhood, at this moment in the market — that’s where the conversation starts.
Now address the scale question directly, because some landowners will raise it: does more acreage mean a bigger discount? With plantations in the South, the answer has never been yes. But if you believe it might — run the division scenario.
Divide Spring Creek into four 1,380-acre tracts under common management. Three comparable sales have already closed in 2026 at approximately $10,000 per acre for land and timber alone — River’s Edge at $9,850, Live Oaks Lakes at $10,360, Fox Creek approaching that same threshold. Those are the comps for 1,400 to 2,220-acre tracts. Four tracts at $10,000 per acre is $55,000,000 in land value alone — against a $44,000,000 ask for the whole estate including everything built on it. The scale discount argument doesn’t survive contact with the division math. You’re getting a mega-place for what the market charges for a quarter to half the size — and the division option proves it with documented 2026 sales.
The land is at market. Everything else is on top of it — priced at cost minus deferred maintenance.
The 200-acre spring-fed lake: not in the land number. The $500,000 in annual income: not in the land number. The mineral estate sitting on 265 million tons of limestone: not in the land number.
And then there are the improvements — and this is where Spring Creek separates from every comparable sale in this market.
Two homes are brand new. Three are newly remodeled. The main lodge and carriage house are professionally decorated and have never been slept in. The lake house, the Gibbs guest house, the Arlington cottage — remodeled and ready. The equipment barn is stocked with approximately $1M in equipment. Two full-time employees are in place, the management program is running, and Tall Timbers is already on the property.
This is a walk-in-ready operation.
Here is what building a comparable lodge actually costs: eighteen to twenty-four months. A general contractor relationship you didn’t plan on. Supply chain delays you can’t control. Cost overruns that will test your budget — and your patience. And at the end of it, if everything goes right, you have what’s already sitting over that lake waiting for you right now.
Walk in. Light a fire. The program is already running.
Compare that to the 2026 comps. River’s Edge: no lodge, no lake, no income. $9,850 per acre. Live Oaks Lakes: half under conservation easement, no improvements worth noting, no income. $10,360 per acre. Fox Creek: no lodge, no lake, no income. Approaching $10,000 per acre.
Apples to apples on land — Spring Creek is at or below market. The lake is a separate asset. The income is a separate asset. Two brand new homes, three newly remodeled homes, a fully equipped operation with staff and management already in place — all included at cost minus deferred maintenance. The scale that no comp can match — proven by the division math. And an income stream that no comp has ever offered.
This is not a complicated story. Land at market. Everything else walk-in ready at cost.
REGISTERED LANDOWNERS · The full investment analysis — per-acre valuation by use category, side-by-side comp breakdown, and subdivision math — is available upon registration. Jon reviews every request personally and provides access within 24 hours of a qualifying conversation.
At 5,519 acres, Spring Creek also lends itself to the Shared Lakefront Legacy Sporting Estates™ concept — four independently owned estates sharing the lake and management infrastructure. See Path Five.
“In 2025, we quickly sold 5,700-acre Southlands, now Paul Reserve, for $39M. A quick look at the Paul Reserve YouTube channel will show you everything that’s now been built. Jake Paul has said he wants to turn it into a $100M place. The folks buying these places, the ideas they have aren’t the ideas of the past. He may very well do it.”
— Jon Kohler
“By the time later in life when one can afford one of these places, the owner usually has about 10 really good healthy years to enjoy it fully. Each year waiting loses 10% of that enjoyment — and in this market, another 10%+ in appreciation. That’s a 20% annual swing.”
— Jon Kohler, Jon Kohler & Associates
And for the trophy deer sportsman specifically — the management program doesn’t pause while the decision is made. Every season that passes is a season of antler data and documented B&C production that belongs to someone else’s story. Five years is the inflection point. The next owner either steps in at the moment of delivery or watches it from the outside.
Ready to walk this ground? Call Jon directly · 850.508.2999
PATH TWO
A Premier Wild Quail Plantation
For the landowner who knows exactly what an “A”-ranked wild quail plantation requires — and recognizes this ground the moment he sees it.
You know land. You understand the market. You know the difference between a plantation that has arrived and one that is still becoming. When it comes to quail, Spring Creek is still becoming — and that is precisely why this is the moment.
Your name. On the list next to Cousins, McKenzie, and Virgil Williams. The man who built the next great wild bird plantation.
The landowners who built the plantations legends are made of — Tom Cousins at Nonami, Thorpe McKenzie at Sunny Hill, Virgil Williams at Southern Heritage and Magnolia Hall — didn’t buy finished properties. They bought ground with the right soil, the right water, and the right infrastructure at the moment before the story was complete. That is the strategy. They created habitat and created wealth. Enormous amounts of both. And this opportunity is available here, right now, at 5,519± acres in the heart of southwest Georgia.
“The greatest businessmen build great companies. The rarest build something that outlasts all of them — a piece of ground that carries their name forward for generations. Tom Cousins created Nonami. Turner owns it, but decades later Cousins still gets the credit. Virgil Williams built his legacy. Thorpe McKenzie built his. These men made a statement about stewardship that money alone could never make. There aren’t many chances in this world to join that list. Spring Creek is one of them.”
— Jon Kohler
“I sold Southern Heritage for Virgil Williams with one call for $29M and sold Magnolia Hall for him. I know that guys like this understand how to turn these last great places into truly record-setting world-class properties for exactly what is offered here.”
— Jon Kohler
You know how rarely a property of this caliber becomes available. You know what a finished plantation commands. And you know how quickly the right ones disappear when they do.
The landowners who have built the great plantations of the South understood one thing the others didn’t — that the time to act is before the story is finished, not after. Before it’s finished, you still get to shape it. Your kennel. Your stables. Your management philosophy. Your name on the result.
Spring Creek is a quail property you build into your legacy. The heavy lifting on 1,800 acres of habitat restoration is already done. The Tall Timbers translocation program is enrolled, costs paid forward, and covey counts are up 180% over two years. To be candid — this is a property you are building, not one you are hunting at full capacity today. The translocation protocol requires patience. What you are buying is the window — the new ground effect, the infrastructure, the program — at a price that reflects where the property is today, not where it will be in three years. That gap is where the value is created. You are growing wealth here as much as wild quail.
SURVEY DATA · TALL TIMBERS TRANSLOCATION PROGRAM
Survey data reflects males and coveys per 100 acres. The 180% increase in male counts from 2024 to 2025 — the highest in the survey period — confirms accelerating translocation momentum. Male count is the leading indicator of fall covey populations. Covey survey data for 2025 pending seasonal count.
“This question is almost a religious one. Do you have faith in the plan that Tall Timbers has to grow wild quail here in abundance? Today, I don’t think there is any question — but talk to them yourself. I have represented two other translocation projects and what I saw was unbelievable. They broke the code on producing quail.”
— Jon Kohler
Tall Timbers Research Station can be reached directly. Jon can facilitate that introduction for any serious landowner.
The Paradigm Shift No Other Plantation Can Offer
For someone wanting that super-rare place with enough ground to hunt 16+ horseback courses — this could be it. The size rivals the best of them. There could easily be over 4,000 net acres of land under intensive wild quail management; 1,858+ are already 100% complete.
Here is what could separate Spring Creek from almost every other quail plantation in the South — including the great ones. Spring rainfall at the right time is the single most important factor controlling fall bird counts, particularly in the Albany Area Plantation Belt. It determines whether a managed property produces exceptional seasons or disappointing ones, and no amount of money, habitat work, or management skill has ever been able to control it. Until now.
The 1,060± acres of irrigated farmland, converted to native warm-season grasses, protective shrubs, and brood cover under the pivots, function as habitat insurance — the envy of every plantation manager in the South. When spring rainfall fails, as it does across the entire region in drought years, Spring Creek doesn’t fail with it. The pivot provides moisture on demand, protecting brood cover and insect populations at exactly the moment the birds need them most. A few plantations have converted irrigated farmland and more are doing it now, but nothing at this scale. The current drought is the worst on record. We are entering a period of significant climate change. Drought is an unavoidable risk that is now part of a dynamic all of us are subject to… except this one.
The secondary effect is equally significant. The ground under the pivots has the lowest predator density of any managed quail habitat. With no trees for raptors to perch, no shrub cover for mesomamalian predators to rest, and no oaks for oak snakes to occupy, the converted pivot acres function as a protected sanctuary — a population reservoir. Imagine the value of being able to have a level of certainty that this fall’s bird counts will remain strong.
Combined, these two factors — rainfall insurance and predator suppression — create conditions for quail density that have never been tested at scale. Sunny Hill briefly reached 6 birds per acre during its new ground effect without this insurance in place. What the ceiling looks like here, with 4,000± net managed acres and the pivot system operating, is genuinely unknown. That unknown is not a risk. It is the opportunity.
There is one more benefit that gets overlooked in the excitement of the wildlife argument. Converting irrigated farmland to quail habitat doesn’t just improve the hunting. It immediately increases the value of the land. Recreational ground at this quality in SWGA is trading at 40% above irrigated farmland values. The conversion pays for itself before a single bird is counted.
The kennel and stables — the most personal investments in any quail or deer operation — are yet to be built. That’s not a deficiency. That’s an invitation to build exactly what you want, where you want it, the way you want it.
The path from here to a world-class quail operation is straightforward: continue as is with the 1,800+ acres already intensively managed, convert the 1,060 acres of pivots to habitat, convert premature pine and deer habitat to quail, build a kennel and stables to the new owner’s personal specifications, follow the Tall Timbers protocol to completion, feed, burn, and manage predators. The manager formerly at Southlands is now here. The ability to execute it is proven.
Combined with bordering Kolomoki Farms means 11,000± contiguous acres of intensively managed quail ground — exceeding the 1,500-acre threshold for self-sustaining wild quail populations by more than seven times over. The official translocation baseline goal is a conservative one bird per acre. The new ground effect? The pivot insurance? No one has yet looked into what the population may hold. Spring Creek has the soil, the scale, and the insurance to write a new chapter in modern quail management.
“I’ve represented two large plantations where translocation was ongoing and Tall Timbers recommendations were followed to the letter. Neither had the habitat this one has — and both easily reached an average of one bird per acre before completion. Here, covey counts are up 180% in two years. The question is how high the new owner will take them.”
— Jon Kohler
“Quail are a disturbance species designed to grow populations quickly. New ground properties have a distinct advantage over established properties that I have seen time and time again. The highest wild quail density ever recorded was on a new ground plantation — and those conditions exist here right now.”
— Jon Kohler
The great plantations weren’t built by people who waited until the timing was perfect. They were built by people who understood that the timing never is — and acted anyway. The new ground effect doesn’t wait. The window that exists at Spring Creek right now — the translocation momentum, the habitat infrastructure, the pivot insurance all coming together simultaneously — will not exist in five years. What exists then will be a finished plantation. It will be priced like one too.
Ready to walk this ground? Call Jon directly · 850.508.2999
PATH THREE
A Family Recreational Legacy
For the landowner who wants his family to have a year-round place they’ll never want to leave — and a property that largely pays for taking care of itself.
You’re not looking for a project. You’ve seen what projects become — years of construction decisions, supply chain issues, and cost overruns before the first family dinner. You value your time and your certainty. You want something extraordinary that’s finished, performing, and ready to enjoy the day you arrive.
The family patriarch whose grandchildren will argue over who gets it. The man who gave his family a place they’ll never want to leave — and the wisdom to buy it before it was gone.
The rarest find in recreational land is a property that’s already operating at the level most landowners spend years trying to build. The current owners spent years converting farmland to wildlife habitat, building the lodge, and establishing the management program. That work is done. A new owner inherits the result, not the process. The families who have done this — who stepped into finished, performing estates rather than projects — share one observation without exception: they wish they had done it sooner.
“What’s more important than great recreation is getting the kids and grandkids to visit. Encouraging them, making the in-laws feel comfortable, letting folks spread out and have space is the key. The way these homes are built and situated does that perfectly.”
— Jon Kohler
The homes here are exceptional. They are furnished. They are ready to walk in. The new lodge and carriage house, the lake house, the Gibbs guest house, the Arlington cottage — each structure is positioned to give every guest their own space while keeping the family together. But the centerpiece is the lakefront lodge itself.
“To be 100% transparent — the new lodge is one of those places that when a wife sees it, it will forever change her expectations of what a plantation lodge can be. She isn’t going to be able to consider another plantation after this. Nor should she. The builder is one of the most prolific in the South. This was a personal build — thousands of homes in his career, and this one cost $3M.”
— Jon Kohler
And for families — real families with teenagers who need to be pried away from their phones — there is something about true remoteness that works. There’s nothing to do but be here together. That turns out to be exactly what everyone needed.
The Lake
The lake itself is the centerpiece. It takes this beyond simply a plantation and into a year-round recreational property — exactly the type of property we now recognize as a higher asset class: Legacy Sporting Estate™. Not only is this one of the largest 100% private lakes in SWGA, it’s not your typical lake. It’s not fed by runoff. You’re not dependent on someone upstream or a dam. Today’s drought has shown it’s not dependent on rainfall. The lake has not dropped an inch during what is now the worst drought recorded in a century. The lake is spring-fed. Gin clear. When it comes to fishing or boating it couldn’t be designed any better. Extremely deep areas, shallow ledges, natural structure. A slalom course and jet ski water that you won’t find on a private property anywhere in the region.
The top bass lakes in the South are in former limestone mines. The reason: naturally occurring calcium and magnesium levels are what bass — and trophy bucks — need most. Most managed fisheries have to add these minerals. This lake doesn’t.
“If I owned this lake there is no doubt what I would do — convert all or part of the current 60-acre limestone operation and create forage ponds. I would raise prawns, shad, and other baitfish. I would do what Dr. Schwarz at La Perla Ranch pioneered and pull a valve to flush all of the forage into the lake for bass feed. I don’t know that I feel the need to grow a world-record 22-lb bass like he does, but the fishing would be unlike anything else. It wouldn’t take much. The baseline is already extraordinary.”
— Jon Kohler
On Remoteness
Spring Creek is remote. Genuinely, intentionally remote. Surrounded by conservative, agrarian communities where private property is respected and population density is minimal. For the family that wants a true escape — not a watered-down version of privacy — this remoteness is the point. Then again, you might see your neighbor Will Harris on the Joe Rogan Show or other national podcasts more than you will see him in town. Getting anywhere is easy. The Early County airport is ten minutes away. A private jet makes the distance irrelevant and the arrival feel exactly like what it is: arriving somewhere that most people will never see.
Operations and Income
Two full-time employees manage the entire operation with ease, following Tall Timbers prescription with little oversight required. Almost all capital improvements to habitat have been accomplished per the plan. A 25-acre moist-season floodable duck pond is being completed now. The manager — formerly at Southlands, now Paul Reserve — has extensive experience and operates the property with professional precision.
“I knew Todd from Southlands. He is a top manager — the kind of person who can operate a property and follow the landowner’s direction in a professional and businesslike manner. His work is respected by Tall Timbers. I can’t say enough. He gets it and is a pleasure to work with.”
— Jon Kohler
Between the irrigated farmland and mining royalties, the property generates approximately $500,000 in annual income — ranking it among the highest returns we have seen for a recreational property. Both income streams continue at the new owner’s discretion. Timber is well stocked across the property in different age classes. There is currently no conservation easement in place. And geological estimates indicate the property sits above approximately 265 million tons of limestone — the ground that grows the quail and the deer is also, quite literally, built on a foundation of lasting value. The question is do you harvest it by mining it or through a conservation easement?
“I first took note of this property 20 years ago. It was my dream that someone would do what the current owners did — convert the land to producing wildlife and genuine beauty. What I never dreamed was seeing a world-class lodge sitting over that lake. When I first saw it and took it all in I realized this is one of the top lodge settings in SWGA.”
— Jon Kohler
The families who waited for the right property and found it too late didn’t just lose time. They lost memories. Every year that passes is a year the grandchildren get older, and there is no refund on those years.
Ready to walk this ground? Call Jon directly · 850.508.2999
FINANCIAL UPSIDE
$500,000 in annual income against a $44M purchase represents a 1.1% cash-on-cash yield on a hard asset — before appreciation, before the farmland arbitrage, and before any optimization of the income stream. SWGA irrigated ground produces corn yields competitive with Midwest farmland yet trades at roughly one-third the land cost — Midwest farm ground sells for $12,000 to $17,000 per acre. Spring Creek’s 1,060 acres of irrigated farmland with 12 center pivots is priced at $7,000 per net irrigated acre. The farm alone, valued at Midwest rates, would be worth $12.7M to $18M. It’s in this offering at $7.4M. The embedded arbitrage is significant and almost entirely unpriced by the recreational market.
PATH FOUR
A Social Storm® Property
For the landowner who has thought seriously about where his family goes when the world becomes uncertain — and strategic enough to combine recreation and a financial hedge all in one.
You’ve thought about this. Not as a theoretical exercise. When things go sideways — and you’ve watched enough history to know they do — where does your family go?
The patriarch who saw it coming. Whose family never had to worry. Who built a refuge before one was needed — and watched it appreciate while others scrambled.
No one wants to be the family patriarch watching his brokerage account fluctuate while his family has nowhere to go. He could have had a hedge already set up. The landowners who recognized this first didn’t abandon financial markets — they added something markets can’t replicate. Ground. Water. Food. Privacy. Spring Creek has all four in abundance. In portfolio construction terms, this is the definition of an uncorrelated asset — one that performs on its own merits regardless of what financial markets are doing, and performs better than almost anything else precisely when financial markets are doing their worst.
Fifteen years ago, Jon Kohler & Associates trademarked the term Social Storm® Property to describe a specific category of land — properties with the self-sufficiency, security, privacy, and natural resources to become a true refuge when the world becomes uncertain. COVID confirmed what we and our clients already understood: land with these attributes doesn’t just hold value during bad times. It accelerates — while nearly every other asset class struggles to hold its ground. Spring Creek scores among the highest we have ever recorded on the Social Storm® index.
The Social Storm® Scoring Criteria
The Social Storm® index measures eight dimensions: land quality, security, natural resources, hard assets, location, family-friendly, lodging and operational. Spring Creek scores in the top tier on seven of the eight — and closes the eighth the moment the mine converts to forage ponds. Very few properties we have ever assessed have achieved a perfect score across all eight. Spring Creek is one decision away from it. That decision is based on income or full privacy? Positive choices are a good thing to have.
For an advisor reviewing this on behalf of a principal, Jon’s framing of Spring Creek is worth reading carefully:
“This is exactly the place you take your family when the world becomes uncertain. They’re already comfortable in it. It’s already safe. And it’s performing as an investment whether the world is fine or not — which is the definition of a hedge.”
— Jon Kohler
The surrounding community is conservative, agrarian, and deeply respectful of private property. Population density is minimal. Few people understand this region better than Will Harris — third-generation farmer, founder of White Oak Pastures, and the man who turned a conventional commodity farm in southwest Georgia into one of the most celebrated regenerative operations in the country. He’s been featured in The New York Times, on 60 Minutes, and in documentaries seen by millions. His farm sits just a few miles from Spring Creek. When Will Harris says something about this corner of Georgia, it carries the weight of a man who has staked his life and his family’s livelihood on exactly this ground:
“The crime rate here is something below negligible. We just don’t have trouble. We’re 45 miles from Albany, 45 miles from Dothan, 80 miles from Columbus, 80 miles from Tallahassee. We’re in this huge area where it’s pure rural. If the worst thing happened, we would not be hungry. We would not be unprotected. There’s no doubt in my mind — this is where you want to be.”
— Will Harris, White Oak Pastures
That’s not a marketing claim. That’s a man who has spent his life on this ground telling you exactly what it means to own it.
Will Harris described it as a huge area of pure rural. That’s not a limitation. That’s the architecture of safety. When population centers face pressure, the distance from them is the margin. Spring Creek has that margin in abundance — and the 5,503-foot Early County airport is ten minutes away. A private jet makes the distance functionally irrelevant and allows for almost anonymous travel to and from.
“I have a book that breaks down and scores every county in America in case SHTF. It shows where to be and where not to be. This area is one of the highest scoring in the entire book.”
— Jon Kohler
On the Limestone Mine
There is one element of Spring Creek that requires a decision. An active limestone mine operates on approximately 60 acres near the center of the property. It generates income today and will generate income for the foreseeable future, contributing more than half of the $500,000± in annual rents. It serves the surrounding agricultural community. It is also, by its nature, an active mining operation on a sporting estate — present but contained, income-generating but optional. It shares a driveway with three homes — an arrangement the current owners have managed without issue, and one that terminates entirely the moment the mine closes. The next owner has a choice: continue the income stream, or close the mine and convert those 60 acres to trophy bass forage ponds. That single decision eliminates the one operational element keeping the Social Storm® score from its absolute ceiling. The mine is not an obstacle. It is a decision point.
Most properties require you to bring everything in. Spring Creek operates in the other direction.
It feeds itself. It waters itself. It protects itself.
FINANCIAL UPSIDE
During COVID, recreational land with Social Storm® attributes appreciated while equity markets fell. What the world learned is that in good times these properties continue to appreciate — but those with high Social Storm® attributes appreciated even more, resulting in what is arguably real estate’s most perfect hedge.
“The Bible clearly states that we are to prepare for bad times. It also has a lot to say about what is going to happen. COVID caught a lot of people off guard. Today, I don’t think anyone has doubts — the issue for each of us is what’s next. The time to prepare is now. Not scrambling around. Not when the next thing happens. We all saw how that turned out.”
— Jon Kohler
And for the Social Storm® landowner specifically — the time to build a refuge is before you need one. The landowners who waited until uncertainty arrived found two things: prices had moved, and the best properties were already gone. A property like this in their portfolio would have changed everything about how their family experienced that period. Spring Creek is available right now, in a moment of relative calm. The landowners who move in calm moments are the ones whose families are grateful later.
Ready to walk this ground? Call Jon directly · 850.508.2999
PATH FIVE
Shared Lakefront Legacy Sporting Estates™
Four Independently Owned Estates · One Extraordinary Lake · One World-Class Opportunity
You’ve run the math on enough deals to know when a pricing anomaly exists. This is one of those moments — and you’ve learned to move when you see them.
The landowner who recognized the arbitrage before the market did. The investor who got in at $6,000 per acre on ground that comps at $10,000.
This property is being offered in its entirety. That said, any serious landowner at this level runs a pricing scenario on alternatives. We’ve done the math here so you don’t have to.
Due to its vast size, Spring Creek is on pace to set the record for the highest-selling recreational property in Georgia’s history. However, an interesting dynamic deserves to be pointed out. At its current price, the 5,233±-acre land component — excluding water, mine, and improvements — averages approximately $6,400 per acre. The improvements are priced essentially at cost minus deferred maintenance. The lake at its cost. This is the same pricing methodology we’ve developed and refined over 35 years — and the same model that produced a $6,900 gross average per acre — including all improvements — across 17,000 acres closed last year. The land-only component at Spring Creek at $6,400 per acre is below that gross average. Yet already this year, three major sales — 1,400 acres, 2,220 acres, and 2,021 acres — have closed around $10,000 per acre land and timber, and one of them was under a conservation easement.
That raises a genuine question: even though this is the highest-priced recreational property in Georgia’s history, is it actually priced high enough on a per-acre basis? It’s certainly priced below average on a per-acre scale. Is there opportunity and equity here — either from a division standpoint, or simply by breaking it into the tract sizes that today’s market most readily absorbs?
Assume this property were divided into four equal 1,380-acre tracts, all under common management. The number one problem with tracts this size is managing neighbors. This is eliminated. Management costs dramatically reduced. And it’s no longer just a hunting property but a year-round recreational destination with a 200-acre lake private to four owners. This concept — four independently owned estates sharing one extraordinary lake and one professional management operation — doesn’t currently exist anywhere in southwest Georgia. Spring Creek is where it begins.
What Every Estate Shares
Common Lake Access — All four estates share the 200-acre spring-fed lake — fishing, boating, water skiing, and year-round recreation. The mine is shut down and converted into forage ponds to create a trophy bass fishery.
Individual Vision — A common trophy management plan implemented and monitored by Tall Timbers and an outside professional wildlife consultant. Each owner pursues their own path on their own ground but follows the yearly buck hit list and doe harvest.
Shared Management — Management resources, burning, and approximately $1M in equipment divided across four owners — roughly $250,000 each. Individual operating costs and management risk dramatically reduced.
Pivot Conversion — The option, and value lift, of converting pivots into wildlife and habitat — perennial peanut, alfalfa, native warm-season grasses — providing the rainfall insurance and predator suppression that no other plantation can offer at this scale.
Improvement Allocation — The $3M lodge and carriage house on one tract. The lake house on another. The Gibbs guest house on a separate tract. The Arlington cottage — while not contiguous, it conveys with the estate in which it is allocated. No landowner pays for what belongs on someone else’s ground. Improved assets valued at cost minus deferred maintenance.
What Would the Market Reflect?
What would the land and timber value be of each 1,380-acre tract?
Over $6,000 per acre? Undoubtedly. That’s where it’s priced now.
$6,900 per acre — our average last year? That’s 15%. That’s a $5M gain.
$8,000 per acre? That’s 33%. That’s an $11M gain.
$10,000 per acre — matching the three comparable sales already recorded this year — River’s Edge at $9,850, Live Oaks Lakes at $10,360, Fox Creek approaching triple its 2021 price? That’s 67%. That’s a $21M gain.
There is no question that an immediate gain exists at the floor scenario — 15% and $5M before a single operational improvement is made. The only question is how much and how quickly the higher scenarios are achieved. Three comparable sales at those levels have already closed this year.
Individual estate entry is expected in the range of $10–14M depending on configuration, improvements included, and acreage allocation. No prices are fixed. Every detail is a conversation.
QUALIFIED LANDOWNERS · The complete investment analysis — per-tract valuation by use category, improvement allocation, income distribution modeling, and the full comparable sales dataset — is available upon registration. Jon reviews every request personally and provides access within 24 hours of a qualifying conversation.
For the landowner who passes: the floor scenario represents a guaranteed gain before a single improvement is made. The landowners who pass on guaranteed gains at this scale typically have one explanation later — they were waiting for certainty in a market that doesn’t offer it. The certainty here is in the data. Three sales at $10,000 per acre. Already. This year.
The Right Landowner Sees Something Different Here.
Whether your vision is B&C deer, wild quail, family legacy, Social Storm® sanctuary, or the equity creation of the division model — or some combination of all five — the right landowner recognizes Spring Creek for what it is: a property of a size and ambition that rarely becomes available and never stays available long.
Jon Kohler & Associates closes an average of $700,000+ in sporting property transactions every single day of the year. River’s Edge sold three times — each time at a new record. The landowners who moved first set those records. The ones who waited watched them.
Have questions about what this property is worth? Jon Kohler & Associates has closed over $2B in sporting property transactions — including per-category value breakdowns from both buyer and seller perspectives. This is information that exists nowhere else in the public domain. Contact Jon directly for access.
Jon handles every showing on Spring Creek personally. Not an associate. Not a coordinator. Jon. He does this because a property of this complexity deserves a guide who knows every acre — and because the right landowner deserves a real conversation, not a sales pitch.
Whatever vision resonates — quail, deer, family legacy, or Social Storm® — call and talk through it. Share this with a partner or fellow landowner who should be looking at this ground. The ones who wait find out it sold last Tuesday.
The landowner who moves on Spring Creek doesn’t just acquire 5,519 acres of extraordinary ground. He acquires the story — the legacy, the investment, the refuge, the place his family returns to for generations. That story is available right now. It will not be available indefinitely.
KNOW SOMEONE WHO SHOULD SEE THIS?
The people who have built the great sporting estates of the South didn’t do it alone — they had partners, advisors, and family who saw it first. If you have a financial advisor, a family office, or a business partner who thinks in terms of alternative assets and long-term value creation, this is the document to put in front of them. Forward this to someone who belongs in that conversation.
THREE STEPS FORWARD
01. Call Jon directly · 850.508.2999 · 02. Walk the property with Jon personally. · 03. Choose your path — or help create a new one.
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From murky farm ponds to pristine glacier-cut lakes and everything in between, Knox Daniels’ expertise stems from a lifelong fascination of water and the creatures that live in and around it. He recognizes and helps clients appreciate the value water features bring to a property. “My goal is to help buyers realize and sellers maximize the value different water bodies bring to a property, not only in a recreational sense, but also for social storm reasons.” After extensively traveling the country for collegiate BASS fishing tournaments, Knox graduated and worked for the Southeast’s finest fisheries and wildlife biologist, Greg Grimes. With Grimes’ company, AES, Knox managed many of the southeast’s finest private lake estate/impoundment properties, and learned the intricacies of upscale property management. Learning from Greg and other biologists, Knox honed in on the specific conditions and habitat needed for optimal gamefish growth in private lakes. He has also worked as a property manager on several thousand acres and for a commercial developer, facilitating the dirt work and builds of several apartment complexes, but his true passion has always been in the outdoors. “I’ve always had an insatiable fascination with ponds/lakes and am grateful to be able to help to place clients on the properties of their dreams and make their personal fisheries/wildlife goals reality with JKA.” – Knox Daniels
Jason has been assisting landowners for the last 28 years in Georgia and South Carolina obtain achievements the owners did not realize were possible. His degree in Biology from Georgia Southern stemmed from the desire to know how things in nature work. His plantation roots began at just 16 years old outside of Albany, GA and the last 20 years were spent in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. His entire career has been spent developing a global approach to plantation management. That plan included sales. Sales is in Jason’s blood- his mom had a 45-year career as a real estate broker. After college, he chose to pursue his passion of making properties great. In 2011, Jason sold his first plantation. Since then, he has assisted buyers and sellers with over $20 million in sales while most of that time working as a full-time General Manager of a large Lowcountry plantation. Today, he is committed to using his unique skill set and experience to guide landowners through the many challenges of plantation ownership.
Bruce Ratliff is a retired elected official (Property Appraiser Taylor County). Bruce brings years of experience in ad valorem tax knowledge. His property tax background gives JKA Associates & clients a unique insight into the complicated tax process. Bruce held several positions in the Florida Association of Property Appraisers, including member of the Board of Directors, President, Vice-President and Secretary, and served on the Agricultural & Legislative Committees for the Association. The real estate business has been part of Bruce’s life since childhood. His mother, Shirley Ratliff owned Professional Realty of Perry, Florida and his father, Buster owned Ratliff Land Surveying which Bruce was General Manager of before his political career.
Hailing from a long line of outdoorsmen, Tim learned a great deal from his father and grandfather. He saw first-hand what it means to be a good land steward. He believes land is so much more than a place to hunt, fish, and grow timber or crops. “It’s an identity, a resting place, a safe haven and a way of life, said Tim.” Tim’s family ties to Alabama run deep. During his grandfather’s first term, Governor James was responsible for signing into law Alabama’s first state duck stamp which helped to ensure funding for the procurement, development, and preservation of wetlands for migratory waterfowl habitat. He also established Alabama’s lifetime hunting license, so it is no surprise that Tim is an avid outdoorsman with a keen eye as to how best to improve habitat for the greater good of its wildlife.
With Madison County roots, Lori grew up on her family farm at Pettis Springs along the historic Aucilla River. A love of the land was instilled in Lori very early on by her father who was a local farmer. Lori understands the importance of good land stewardship and has witnessed first-hand how her own father, a former 2-term member of the Florida House of Representatives whose district encompassed many rural counties of the Red Hills Plantation Region, with a little bit of sweat equity, so lovingly worked their own family land. These are core values she carries with her today, and nothing gives her more personal satisfaction than to represent some of the south’s best land stewards.
Cole’s dedication to land management lies in his family roots. As a fourth-generation timber expert, Cole’s earliest memories were spent with his father managing timber investments. With a degree in Food Resource Economics from the University of Florida, Cole is the epitome of an up-and-coming leader. He grew up with a hands-on approach to learning land management and conservation and has spent the last 15 years learning every angle of the real estate and forest industry. Cole is a member of the Florida Forestry Association, Red Hills Quail Forever, Southeastern Wood Producers Association and he uses this platform as an advocate for landowners and their land investments. His family has dedicated the past 60 years to providing landowners in North Florida and South Georgia with professional land management services focused on improving and protecting one’s forestland and wildlife investment. In fact, their family business, M.A. Rigoni, Inc., was one of the first to introduce whole tree chipping to the Red Hills Region.
As a landowner of his own family farm, Lick Skillet, along with family land that has been passed down and enjoyed together at Keaton Beach for 40 years, Jon knows what it means to be a steward of the last best places. As a third-generation land broker with more than 30 years of experience in advising landowners in this niche, Jon is known for his innate ability to harvest a land’s unique intrinsic value. Touting several notable sales under his belt, Jon personally closed Rock Creek/Molpus – 124,000 acres of premium timberland at $142,000,000 – which was known as the largest timberland land sale in the Southeast for eight years running. He is a co-founding member of LandLeader and achieved the real estate industry’s highest honor, “2022 National Broker of the Year – Recreational Land Sales,” by the Realtors® Land Institute.