NORTH KINGSTOWN — When farmer Richard Schartner bought Bald Hill Nurseries last year, he hoped to sell the development rights for a tidy sum.

The deal would have allowed him to grow ornamental plants and trees at the 141-acre nursery – and preserve it from future development.

But the plan didn’t work out. Now Schartner, who paid more than $7 million for the nursery, is relying on a backup venture.

He wants to build stores and office space on about a third of the property, which sits on the North Kingstown and Exeter town line.

Under the proposal, Schartner would develop a 52-acre block at the corner of Routes 2 and 102. About a quarter of the land is in North Kingstown, where Schartner will need a zoning change for the proposed development. The other 38 acres are in Exeter, in an area zoned for general business. Schartner said he will seek a North Kingstown hearing on the zone change in January.

The parcel would be surrounded by the rest of the nursery, which Schartner will continue to operate.

“Our backup plan was always to develop” part of the property, Schartner said this week. “We’ve got to do something” to generate income, he said. In the last 15 months, he has paid more than $600,000 in interest on a bank loan used to buy the property.

“A number of developers and chains have approached us” about the site, said Schartner, who owns Schartner Farms on Route 2. “There’s an interest in the area.”

The site won’t be developed in a vacuum, but instead will “fit in well with the nursery,” said Schartner, whose father and uncles bought farm land in the area in the 1970s.

State and local preservation groups are struggling to find the money to buy agricultural development rights, a trend that could mean more farms will be turned into house lots, Schartner said.

“If someone still wants to preserve 100 percent of the farm, we’re in tune with that,” said Schartner. “This is just something we’ve got to do to survive.”

North Kingstown Planning Director Jon Reiner said the town would try to help broker a deal to save the nursery.

“The protection of that property is a high priority for the Town of North Kingstown, the Town of Exeter and the State of Rhode Island,” he said. “We don’t want to lose another farm to development.”