Tri-County Produce Property Sells for $9.7 Million
Proprietor John Dixon Adds Investors to Look to the Next Decade
John Dixon, proprietor of Tri-County Produce since 1985, has broadened the ownership of the 1.35 acres the 46-year-old market sits on and added a trio of real-estate investors who paid $9.7 million, he confirmed on Tuesday. In an official statement, Dixon said he’d added partners “to help me figure out what is the next best step,” adding that “I have not sold the Tri-County Produce business.”
The displays of greens at Tri-County Produce have always made you want to eat your vegetables, they look so fresh and enticing — especially housed in an open-air warehouse washed with breezes from the beach a block away. News of the sale had ripple effects across the community as Dixon, and his father, Jim, before him, are well-known for their philanthropy to the Foodbank and other nonprofits with events on Milpas or along the beachfront in Santa Barbara.
At age 61, Dixon said he was considering retirement in the next 10 years from the business he and his father acquired in 1985. As he consulted with financial planners and real estate experts, “An important thing I have learned is that selling our real estate without a plan for Tri-County Produce makes no sense — and neither does selling a business without selling the property.”
