A half-million-dollar land purchase in the Isle of Wight Industrial Park off Benns Church Boulevard is tied to a nationwide automotive auction business’ plans to open its seventh Virginia branch near Smithfield.

Isle of Wight County supervisors voted in October to approve zoning for a “scrap and salvage service” on two parcels totaling 75 acres. Advanced Construction Development LLC had applied for the zoning on behalf of Insurance Auto Auctions, an Internet-based auctioneer of vehicles involved in collisions, floods or repossessions. The company plans to store roughly 3,500 vehicles on consignment from insurers at the proposed site, which would be accessible from Benn’s Church Boulevard via IWIP Road.

January land records show the sale of a five-acre parcel on IWIP Road by H&B Railroad Co. to Portage Property Partners for $500,000. County tax records list an Oklahoma City post office box for the buyer. The mailing address corresponds to an address on record for Advanced Construction Development LLC. Isle of Wight County Economic Development Director Chris Morello confirmed that the purchase was tied to Insurance Auto Auctions’ plans.

H&B Railroad, a Chesapeake-based railroad construction and maintenance company, purchased the five-acre Isle of Wight parcel in 2004 for equipment storage.

The remaining 70 acres that will comprise the Insurance Auto Auctions site, according to a county staff report from October, are located on an adjacent parcel designated on Isle of Wight’s tax map as 42-01-006. The 70 acres, according to county tax records, have been owned by Locust Grove Partners LP since 2007.

Insurance Auto Auctions’ plans for the two parcels include a single-story metal building, concrete parking lot for employees and customers, and an outdoor vehicle storage area paved with asphalt millings.