Wild horses may soon roam around a portion of Pine Island's Elk Run project, if its developers are awarded a government contract, an official said on Tuesday.
Developer Tower Investments said it has made a bid to the Bureau of Land Management's National Wild Horse and Burro Program to take care of wild horses on its property, in order to generate some extra income. The bureau offers a bidding process to individuals and companies, allowing them to bid on taking care of wild horses or burros and in turn compensates them for their care.
So far, Tower has invested $25 million into the Elk Run development, which spans 2,325 acres. The project was envisioned to include office space for biotech businesses, housing and other commercial space. Tower is expected to start construction on the first building by Sept. 2. As of early last week, construction on that building had not yet begun.
The horses would be located on parts of the undeveloped property, in an area on the east side of Highway 52, said John Pierce, Tower's senior vice president.
"This is a way of generating some income on an interim basis until you develop the property," Pierce said.
