Purchasing 740 acres of land is not a transaction that can be done over night. Ronnie Gilley and his team will be working hard these next couple of days in order to close next Friday.

"We are anxiously anticipating closing on county crossing next week..." says Gilley, Developer of Country Crossing

Friday, September 12th is set to be a big day for Gilley. It is the day that the land for his Country Crossing project is scheduled to close.

The 740 acre chunk of land is located off of Smithville road going down Highway 231 South, near Highway 109.

Several land studies have been done this summer- one of them finding large patches of wetland on the property.

"We have all the wetland issues resolved, we've done our delineation study and we're in high cotton on the wetland issue, we're in good shape." Says Gilley

Currently, the Alabama historical society plans on having an archeological study done on a portion of the land where arrow heads and pottery were found.

The Houston County Commission has been waiting patiently to see how the plans pan out.

"From the county's perspective, we've done all we can do, from the regulations, we're moving forward, we're providing support, and whether it happens next week or 2 months from now, we are excited about it and we are looking forward to the economic impact." says Commission Chairman, Mark Culver

It is taking some time, but Gilley plans to have Country Crossing draw some national attention just like Bama Jam did with its country music stars. And if all goes well, he says he'll have heavy machinery in place next Friday to begin moving dirt.

Gilley did not want to give away the price tag on the land just yet, but he did say that phase one of country crossing will cost an estimated 170 million dollars.

After the land deal is closed, Gilley and his team will plan groundbreaking with the Houston County Commission.