History - Westchester Auctions

Building a Land Management and Land Auction Business

For 20 years, the Westchester Group has seen unparalleled growth and accomplishment in the land management and real estate auction business.

Murray Wise founded the Westchester Group in 1986 after acquiring the Champaign division of the Sandage Companies, a traditional farm management and brokerage firm. Soon after, Westchester Group formed a strategic partnership with Cozad Asset Management. What started with small farmland-investor relations in the Midwest soon grew into working with institutional investors on a national scale.

Two years later, Westchester collaborated with Schrader Real Estate & Auction Co., a firm specializing in auction marketing of farm machinery and real estate. This alliance combined auction expertise with unprecedented marketing expertise, perfecting the sophisticated multiparcel auction system that makes Westchester Auctions the land marketing authority.

Today we have offices in seven states and manage approximately $740 million in agricultural assets for our clients. We manage nearly 70,000 acres of crops, including apples, citrus fruits, wine grapes and almonds. To date, we have sold over $1.2 billion in real estate and have received numerous marketing excellence awards, including two NAA “Auction of the Year” awards.

The Future

We plan to continue our history of growth, innovation and commitment to quality in the land marketing and global agricultural arenas, advancing into new property types and working to serve our clients’ needs.