The new owner of Mottley Lake in Prospect has no plans to develop the 147 acres purchased from the Town of Farmville.

“I have no plans to develop the property,” said Russell Harper, the registered agent of Farmville Farms LLC, in an email to The Herald.

In February, the Farmville Town Council voted to sell Mottley Lake to Farmville Farms, LLC for $1.25 million.

“We don’t need the property itself,” said Town Manager Gerald Spates. The town would retain rights to the water.

At the time of the sale, the property included one house, one cabin and 17 mobile home hook-ups, with water, sewer and electricity for each, along with various out buildings and a maintenance shop.

In May, Town Manager Gerald Spates told The Herald that the land’s value had decreased since the town took ownership because rental trailers had been removed and Luck Stone was planning to operate a quarry on adjacent property.

Harper is a managing member of Harper Associates. According to its

website, the firm is a real estate development, investments and management company.

The firm has “over 25 years of experience and the practical knowledge acquiring, developing and operating commercial real estate. Harper Associates has built projects ranging from 150,000-300,000 square feet in commercial and residential mixed-use communities,” stated the website.

The Town of Farmville first purchased the Mottley Lake property for $1.67 million.

Harper Associate’s website stated that the firm places an emphasis on daily shopping needs, which includes “grocery stores, general merchandise stores, discount stores, restaurants and neighborhood service providers.”