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There’s a house in Ballwin, 40 acres of woods in Newton County and a nice slice of property at the south end of the Galleria in Richmond Heights. And for the right price, they can be yours.

The Missouri Department of Transportation, in a quest for cash, is selling the properties and hundreds of acres more.

Forty properties across the state were put up for sale recently on the department’s website, www.modot.gov — with prices ranging from $5,000 to $3 million. Some of the parcels are as large as 161 acres, and the list of parcels is growing.

One property that could hit the market soon is 4.6 acres on Eager Road and Brentwood Boulevard. The land is being used for Highway 40 (Interstate 64) maintenance trailers and could fetch a hefty price. Another prime location: 1.5 acres near Olive Boulevard and Highway 141 with a suggested asking price of more than $1 million.

Some of the land could prove tougher to sell, such as three triangular tracts touching Interstate 55 near Geyer Road in St. Louis’ Soulard neighborhood.

Whatever the case, the department wants bargain hunters to be warned. Although MoDOT could use the additional money, it isn’t desperate.

“We understand the economy right now may cause us to hold onto property rather than sell it at a low price,” said Kelly Lucas, right of way manager for the department.

The department acquired the land over the years for multiple reasons — some for road widening projects, some for maintenance. Some of the land became surplus after curves in highways were straightened or sections of roadway moved.

MoDOT officials hope the land will sell by 2012, with the money going to more road work. For the first time, the state is contracting private firms to sell the property. Some land will be sold at auction. Some will go to the highest bidder. Others will be listed with agents.

“We’re trying to branch out and use various options to reach the market,” Lucas said.

Properties along the Highway 40 work zone may not be for sale until after construction ends.

In 2008, the department sold 112 properties for more than $4.4 million, according to a department news release. Lucas said she didn’t have a target sales number to release for the properties listed so far online cash advance.

In the past year, the market has gotten tougher, said Dennis DeSantis, a consultant and real estate broker with Gateway Commercial in Clayton. He and Dick Shephard of Real Estate Strategies are the contractors in the St. Louis area trying to sell about half the land.

“The market’s pretty much stagnant right now,” DeSantis said. “The banks are very limited in what they’re doing. Until the lending loosens up, I don’t know that we’ll see a whole lot of activity.”

Nevertheless, DeSantis is hopeful the properties will sell.

“We’re not going to be in a bad economy forever,” he said.

Two houses will be marketed as fixer-uppers, he said. One property has a firehouse on it, at Lindbergh Boulevard and Lemay Ferry Road. There are vacant lots in Manchester, Olivette and Chesterfield. Each will each be marketed differently.

“They’re each unique,” DeSantis said.

The department bought several of the residential properties when it rebuilt intersections. Some of the lots are corner lots on busy streets with lots of noise — land that’s hard to sell even in the best of times.

“By no means do I think any of them are in high demand,” said Shawn Kelsey of the Kelsey Group Realtors in Chesterfield.

Just as it has in other parts of government, the sour economy has bitten into MoDOT’s revenue. Proceeds from the gasoline tax are expected to drop by more than $20 million this fiscal year over 2008.

The list of projects in the Transportation Department’s five-year plan is getting shorter, but there’s still work to be done. MoDOT officials hope their property sale will help.

“The amount of money we’re talking about here is not going to take care of a huge project.” Lucas said.

“It’s the smaller projects this money would help with.”

ecrouch@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8119

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