81.21-ACRE RECREATIONAL AND CRP TRACT IN OTTAWA, WAUKESHA COUNTY, WISCONSIN SELLS FOR $775,000

WHAT THE LAND OFFERED

This 81.21-acre tract sat along County Road Z in the Town of Ottawa, Waukesha County, with paved road frontage and a topography that ran the full range: level, rolling, sloped, wooded, marshy, and wetland. The property carried a working mix of open ground, low ground with wildlife ponds, and woods, which is the kind of diversity that drives both habitat value and recreational use.

The income side was already built in. The open acreage was enrolled in CRP for habitat restoration with annual payments, while the western lowlands sat under a permanent WRP easement protecting them for private conservation and recreational use. Zoning was Agricultural and Shoreland, with FLC and FLP flood plain overlays on portions of the parcel. The listing included language allowing a land division and partial rezone for a building site, with final acreage and site location to be set by Offer to Purchase and Certified Survey Map.

HOW THE SALE CAME TOGETHER

The tract went on the market on April 10, 2025 at $775,000 and accepted an offer in 21 days, going pending on April 30, 2025. Closing took longer than usual at just over a year out on May 8, 2026, which is consistent with the land division and partial rezone work the seller needed completed before closing. The final sale price came in at full ask, or roughly $9,543 per acre.

Buyers on this one were looking at three things at the same time: existing CRP income, a WRP easement that does the conservation work for them, and the option to carve out a building site without losing the recreational character of the rest of the parcel. That combination is rare in eastern Waukesha County, which is the main reason the property went under contract at the list price.

"You don't often find a tract this close to the Milwaukee metro that already has CRP enrollment, a WRP easement, and a clear path to a building site. The buyer didn't need to invent a use for it. The land was already doing the work," said Al Wisnefske of Land & Legacy Group LLC.

LOCAL MARKET CONTEXT

The Town of Ottawa sits in the southwestern corner of Waukesha County, inside the Kettle Moraine landscape and within an easy drive of both Milwaukee and Madison. Land in this part of the county trades at a meaningful premium over comparable acreage further west, because the buyer pool includes recreational owners, conservation-minded buyers, and people looking for a rural homesite without leaving the metro commute window.

Larger recreational and CRP tracts in Waukesha County have been thin for several years now, and the ones that hit the market with income enrollment and a buildable component already in motion tend to move at or near asking price. The 21-day days-on-market and full-price result on this listing tracked with that pattern.

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If you own rural land, farmland, or acreage property in Wisconsin and are curious what it might be worth in today's market, Land & Legacy Group LLC specializes in exactly this kind of transaction. Visit landandlegacygroup.com to learn more, or reach out directly to discuss your property.