According to Tennessee Lookout, a listing for 70 acres of vacant land near Ford’s new BlueOval City Campus in Brownsville town square is listed on the market for a whopping $14.5 million, which increased in value by more than $10,000 per acre than the initial asking prices years ago.

With several businesses expected to break ground in the area, one farmer shared his excitement for the new development while voicing his concerns about potentially losing part of his land to the state.

Marvin Sanderlin, a longtime farmer with 400 acres, said the state had taken him to court for 10 acres of his property. A portion of his land is located on a pathway connecting the Ford plant to the interstate. Sanderlin said he was offered a deal at $37,500 or $3,750 per acre, which he says is a “ripoff.”

“That’s unheard of,” Sanderlin told the outlet, adding that the offer includes full ownership of two acres and compensation for another eight acres that will no longer be accessible after the deal is finalized.

“You can’t buy no land here for $3,500 an acre. You can’t buy a swamp here for $3,500” Sanderlin said. “I told them this is the biggest ripoff there is. They want your land, but they don’t want you to participate in the wealth.”

Sanderlin and several other Black farmers have joined the fight to conserve their property. Many residents live in predominately rural African American areas and had land obtained by the Tennessee Department of Transportation, which had been in their families for generations.

Black farmers with properties in Tipton, Haywood and Fayette Counties are at risk of losing their land, including Sanderlin’s location in Haywood County. He and other families affected by the new route have called on local NAACP leaders for help.

Nichole Lawrence, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Transportation, said the agency had taken possession of 15 of the 35 tracts to construct a series of road connections from the new Ford plant to Exit 39 off I-40. However, the remaining 20 tracts would be negotiated with the land owners.

The state issued a slew of lawsuits regarding ownership of the Black farmers’ property. According to court documents, Hayward County has several pending lawsuits against Black families with acres of land.

“It’s not the first time we’ve had to fight,” Sanderlin, 72, said. He said his great-great-grandmother, an enslaved woman, fought tirelessly for her children to own a portion of their slave-owning father’s estate.

Sanderlin also opened up about how his parents, then-sharecroppers in New Hope, Tennessee, struggled to maintain ownership of the property after a local white undertaker tried to repossess the land after paying off a loan they borrowed from him.

Since then, the 72-year-old has maintained the 400 acres of land and his timber business. He also spoke out about discrimination against Black farmers when applying for federal farm land programs.

“They’re giving a $6 billion company access, but they aren’t worried about this one little farmer,” he said. “We’re giving up land, but we’re going to get less out of this deal than anybody, and we’re impacted the most.”

Sanderlin also worries about his future since he had plans to use the remaining eight acres of land to invest in timber to secure his retirement fund.