Meissner Farm May Not Become Commercial Space After All

Meissner Farm was slated for commercial development but may remain a farm after the Meissner family bought back the 400-acre farm, reported The Sussex Sun.

Hickory Hills Farm Inc. purchased 370 acres of land from Johnson Bank, which took over the property from Bielinski Brothers who had originally purchased it for residential development from the Meissner family in 2002.

NAI/MLG Development company was in discussions with the Village of Sussex about a multimillion dollar commercial park on 120 acres of the land. The developers were seeking a tax increment financing (TIF) district for the financing from the village. 

Developers later learned the project was going to cost more than they thought and scrapped it.

A new plan was going to be submitted to the village, but village officials said they wouldn't look at it will they got done with the Meijer and Mammoth Springs Cannery projects. 

The Meissner family closed the sale transaction with Johnson Bank on the property on Jan. 25.

Peter Meissner of Hickory Farms said they wanted to repurchase the farmland because it complimented a dairy cattle operation the company maintains in Iowa, The Sussex Sun reported.