April 7. The chimney is about all that’s left of a ranch home on West Catawba Avenue across from the Westmoreland neighborhood. It was a controlled fire set by Cornelius Lemley Volunteer Fire Dept. for training purposes.

The home is in the middle of an exceptional nine-acre parcel assembled by Group Three Holdings in Greenwich CT.

The asking price of $7.895 million would be among the highest prices paid per acre for commercial property in Cornelius.

Group Three is owned by Australian solar power entrepreneur Kenny Habul, a successful race car driver, who at one time planned to build a swank 30,000 square foot office building known as Cornelius One, complete with a rooftop restaurant overlooking West Catawba and the lake.

The property is a favorite among old-timers as well because of the rows of once well-tended grape vines where locals could pick scuppernongs.

Habul, a former member of the Aquesta Bank advisory board, could not be reached for comment, but the asking price of $7.895 million would be among the highest prices paid per acre for commercial property in Cornelius.

The 55-acre Alexander Farm just to the west just sold for a total of $9.45 million, considerably less than the original $18 million asking price.

The pricetag was reduced to $12.5 million before being put under contract by WIN Development of Belleair Beach, Fla.