An investment group has purchased 2,389 acres of bank-owned land at the northeast corner of Sun Valley Parkway and Thomas Road in Buckeye for about $7.4 million, or $3,098 per acre, a broker involved in the deal said.
The buyer was Elianto LANDVEST, an Arizona entity formed by LANDVEST North America, of California, according to commercial real estate firm Colliers International in Phoenix, which represented LANDVEST.
The seller, Bank Midwest of Kansas City, Mo., was represented by commercial real estate firm Land Advisors in Scottsdale.
Previously the land was to become a residential community for Lennar Homes, which had spent more than $16 million on entitlements alone, Colliers said.
by J. Craig Anderson - May. 15, 2012 04:36 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Investment group buys Buckeye parcel for $7.4 million
Showing posts with label land. Show all posts
Showing posts with label land. Show all posts
Friday, May 18, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
Developer seeking state land for 2 Scottsdale auto lots
A developer hopes to acquire more than 29 acres of state trust land for two car dealerships on Scottsdale Road just south of Loop 101.
Diversified Partners of Scottsdale submitted preliminary plans to the city last week for two car lots, with one dealership housed in a 90,000-square-foot, two-story building. A second building is not mentioned in the plans.
The 29.37-acre site southeast of Scottsdale Road and Union Hills Drive is scheduled to be sold at auction at 10:30 a.m. May 15 at the Arizona State Land Department.
The minimum bid is $10.2 million, or $348,051 per acre.
Walt Brown Jr., Diversified Partners CEO, said he expects other bidders for the state land.
"We have been talking to banks, talking to hotels that want to be there," Brown said. "We are trying to work our way through it."
No specific car brand has been identified for the development, he said.
But Diversified's plans submitted to the city include architectural drawings labeled Lexus Scottsdale.
The site is one of the first targeted for development within an area of state trust land called Crossroads East. It includes about 1,000 acres between Scottsdale and Hayden roads from Princess Drive north to the southern edge of Grayhawk.
"If we're successful, we plan to put it in production within a year or year and a half," Brown said. "It sure is great real estate."
The site's proximity to the Loop 101 and nearby shopping centers with great tenants make it an ideal location, he said.
Development will require some major drainage improvements including a channel for storm water set back at least 50 feet from Scottsdale Road, Brown said, adding that its unclear how much the work will cost.
It will be similar to a drainage channel on the west side of Scottsdale Road for a series of car dealerships in Phoenix.
Cadillac dealer owns nearby site
A Lund Cadillac dealership was approved in 2002 for a site northeast of Scottsdale Road and Union Hills Drive.
Lund still owns the land, but its plans, approved by the Scottsdale Development Review Board in 2003, have expired, said Greg Bloemberg, a city planner.
Lund Cadillac did not return calls seeking comment about its plan for the site.
Apartment plans advance
TDI Real Estate Holdings, of Irving, Texas, has submitted plans to the Scottsdale Development Review Board for the second phase of its apartment project at One Scottsdale, northeast of Scottsdale Road and Loop 101.
The project, which surfaced in October, would include 677 apartments on 24 acres at the northeastern edge of the 120-acre One Scottsdale site.
The Henkel North America headquarters, formerly Dial, is the only existing building on the northeastern corner. It was completed in December 2008.
The apartments would be developed in two phases with 388 units in the first phase and 289 in the second phase.
Apartments would range in size from 748 to 1,280 square feet.
TDI previously estimated development costs for the first phase at $65 million.
by Peter Corbett - Apr. 6, 2012 08:48 AM The Republic | azcentral.com
Developer seeking state land for 2 Scottsdale auto lots
Diversified Partners of Scottsdale submitted preliminary plans to the city last week for two car lots, with one dealership housed in a 90,000-square-foot, two-story building. A second building is not mentioned in the plans.
The 29.37-acre site southeast of Scottsdale Road and Union Hills Drive is scheduled to be sold at auction at 10:30 a.m. May 15 at the Arizona State Land Department.
The minimum bid is $10.2 million, or $348,051 per acre.
Walt Brown Jr., Diversified Partners CEO, said he expects other bidders for the state land.
"We have been talking to banks, talking to hotels that want to be there," Brown said. "We are trying to work our way through it."
No specific car brand has been identified for the development, he said.
But Diversified's plans submitted to the city include architectural drawings labeled Lexus Scottsdale.
The site is one of the first targeted for development within an area of state trust land called Crossroads East. It includes about 1,000 acres between Scottsdale and Hayden roads from Princess Drive north to the southern edge of Grayhawk.
"If we're successful, we plan to put it in production within a year or year and a half," Brown said. "It sure is great real estate."
The site's proximity to the Loop 101 and nearby shopping centers with great tenants make it an ideal location, he said.
Development will require some major drainage improvements including a channel for storm water set back at least 50 feet from Scottsdale Road, Brown said, adding that its unclear how much the work will cost.
It will be similar to a drainage channel on the west side of Scottsdale Road for a series of car dealerships in Phoenix.
Cadillac dealer owns nearby site
A Lund Cadillac dealership was approved in 2002 for a site northeast of Scottsdale Road and Union Hills Drive.
Lund still owns the land, but its plans, approved by the Scottsdale Development Review Board in 2003, have expired, said Greg Bloemberg, a city planner.
Lund Cadillac did not return calls seeking comment about its plan for the site.
Apartment plans advance
TDI Real Estate Holdings, of Irving, Texas, has submitted plans to the Scottsdale Development Review Board for the second phase of its apartment project at One Scottsdale, northeast of Scottsdale Road and Loop 101.
The project, which surfaced in October, would include 677 apartments on 24 acres at the northeastern edge of the 120-acre One Scottsdale site.
The Henkel North America headquarters, formerly Dial, is the only existing building on the northeastern corner. It was completed in December 2008.
The apartments would be developed in two phases with 388 units in the first phase and 289 in the second phase.
Apartments would range in size from 748 to 1,280 square feet.
TDI previously estimated development costs for the first phase at $65 million.
by Peter Corbett - Apr. 6, 2012 08:48 AM The Republic | azcentral.com
Developer seeking state land for 2 Scottsdale auto lots
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Goodyear, Glendale eye vacant land near ballparks
Goodyear and Glendale are years behind in building proposed hotels, restaurants and shops that were to surround the multimillion-dollar stadiums in the Cactus League.
Three years after the training ballparks were built, fans are left with little more to do than walk to and from the parking lots.
Land that had been planned to house a hotel and convention center, restaurants and offices became mired in foreclosures, bankruptcies and legal wrangling.
Leaders in both cities worry how they will pay off the complexes. Dwindling tourism-tax revenue collected by the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority has meant a funding shortfall for stadium improvements.
Glendale and Goodyear are on the hook for $63 million and $43 million in stadium costs, respectively, that city leaders had expected would be paid by the tourism authority.
With a legal battle over development rights winding down, Goodyear Mayor Georgia Lord talks of circumstances beyond the city's control.
"It's a very emotional time," she said. "Some of those memories and heartaches are going to linger, but I think this is the time to finish it up, and we'll just get on with whatever next is going to happen with our stadium."
Glendale is also deflated over expectations surrounding its spring-training complex, Camelback Ranch Glendale. The city borrowed $200 million for the project. Sales taxes from surrounding amenities were expected to help pay for it.
"Camelback Ranch to me is the big drain," Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs said two months ago during discussions on how the city could restructure its debt.
But both cities are taking steps to jump-start construction. Goodyear recently settled a lawsuit, a move city leaders hope will pave the way for commercial development around its remote ballpark southeast of Estrella Parkway and Yuma Road. And land surrounding Glendale's ballpark, once tied up in foreclosure, is up for sale again. Much of the land surrounding the stadiums is on the market again or is expected to be soon.
Goodyear earlier this month approved paying $1.1 million to settle with a bank and landowner, a move that will soon put roughly 100 acres around its $123 million ballpark up for sale.
For Glendale, the lender that foreclosed on a huge chunk of land was the only bidder to buy it. A key 70-acre parcel next to the stadium was put on the block two months ago.
"We've had offers," said Mark Winkleman, chief operating officer of ML Manager LLC. "Nothing that we've accepted yet, but we hope to before too long."
A Main Street never built
Camelback Ranch, at Camelback Road and 107th Avenue, is surrounded by 166-acres that was to be called Main Street. Developers spent $120 million on land and zoning to build a sprawling, sports-themed office, shopping and resort complex. The land could support 2.8 million square feet of development.
But when the market crashed and developers defaulted on loans, ML Manager, successor to lender Mortgages Ltd., began foreclosure proceedings. ML Manager has control of roughly 86 acres near the ballpark, including a 70-acre site on the southwestern corner of 99th and Maryland avenues.
The city hopes the land will ultimately contain mixed-use development primarily focused on employment, residential, lodging and higher-end retail.
The complex is on land owned by Glendale, but the land is actually in Phoenix.
A broker offering the land has plans to approach a new ownership group of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who share Camelback Ranch with the Chicago White Sox. There are several groups of bidders vying for the Dodgers.
"There is a need out there today for amenities and housing for the teams," said Brent Moser, Cassidy Turley executive vice president.
The other option for the area is a limited-service hotel, Moser said. The developer has taken calls from those who want land to build higher-end hotels closer to Loop 101 and Westgate City Center, in time for the area to host the Super Bowl in 2015, Moser said.
Apartments would likely be the easiest to build on land near the stadium, but "I don't know if that's the highest and best use for this property long-term," Moser said.
The White Sox believe growth around the stadium is only a matter of time.
"Certainly, more stores, shops, restaurants and hotels benefit White Sox fans during their visits to spring training, but that scale of economic development benefits Glendale and the residents of the West Valley year-round as well," said Scott Reifert, team spokesman.
'No win here'
At Goodyear Ballpark, where the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians train, attendance has been at the bottom of the Cactus League for two consecutive seasons.
Development plans around the stadium called for a hotel and convention center, restaurants and offices.
But legal battles between a bank, city and family landowners broke out over costs associated with streets, utilities and other work needed to develop land around the stadium.
When the disagreement threatened to delay construction of the ballpark, Goodyear took control of the loan and finished the job.
In June 2009, the bank sued, saying the city's action accelerated the due date on its loan to the family, and they defaulted in 2008. The suit was part of the bank's effort to foreclose on the land surrounding the stadium and south of Lower Buckeye Parkway.
The family filed a lawsuit against the city in January 2010, arguing the city received benefits it did not pay for.
The settlement agreement reached by the City Council earlier this month clears up all the issues related to the title of the land and its development rights.
The bank plans to market the property as soon as a bankruptcy court agrees to the settlement.
City officials say there has been development inquiries about the land, but it has been tied up in litigation. They want to put the issue behind them.
"Unfortunately, there is no win here in this situation," said Vice Mayor Joanne Osborne before approving the settlement.
by John Yantis - Mar. 26, 2012 09:32 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Goodyear, Glendale eye vacant land near ballparks
Three years after the training ballparks were built, fans are left with little more to do than walk to and from the parking lots.
Land that had been planned to house a hotel and convention center, restaurants and offices became mired in foreclosures, bankruptcies and legal wrangling.
Leaders in both cities worry how they will pay off the complexes. Dwindling tourism-tax revenue collected by the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority has meant a funding shortfall for stadium improvements.
Glendale and Goodyear are on the hook for $63 million and $43 million in stadium costs, respectively, that city leaders had expected would be paid by the tourism authority.
With a legal battle over development rights winding down, Goodyear Mayor Georgia Lord talks of circumstances beyond the city's control.
"It's a very emotional time," she said. "Some of those memories and heartaches are going to linger, but I think this is the time to finish it up, and we'll just get on with whatever next is going to happen with our stadium."
Glendale is also deflated over expectations surrounding its spring-training complex, Camelback Ranch Glendale. The city borrowed $200 million for the project. Sales taxes from surrounding amenities were expected to help pay for it.
"Camelback Ranch to me is the big drain," Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs said two months ago during discussions on how the city could restructure its debt.
But both cities are taking steps to jump-start construction. Goodyear recently settled a lawsuit, a move city leaders hope will pave the way for commercial development around its remote ballpark southeast of Estrella Parkway and Yuma Road. And land surrounding Glendale's ballpark, once tied up in foreclosure, is up for sale again. Much of the land surrounding the stadiums is on the market again or is expected to be soon.
Goodyear earlier this month approved paying $1.1 million to settle with a bank and landowner, a move that will soon put roughly 100 acres around its $123 million ballpark up for sale.
For Glendale, the lender that foreclosed on a huge chunk of land was the only bidder to buy it. A key 70-acre parcel next to the stadium was put on the block two months ago.
"We've had offers," said Mark Winkleman, chief operating officer of ML Manager LLC. "Nothing that we've accepted yet, but we hope to before too long."
A Main Street never built
Camelback Ranch, at Camelback Road and 107th Avenue, is surrounded by 166-acres that was to be called Main Street. Developers spent $120 million on land and zoning to build a sprawling, sports-themed office, shopping and resort complex. The land could support 2.8 million square feet of development.
But when the market crashed and developers defaulted on loans, ML Manager, successor to lender Mortgages Ltd., began foreclosure proceedings. ML Manager has control of roughly 86 acres near the ballpark, including a 70-acre site on the southwestern corner of 99th and Maryland avenues.
The city hopes the land will ultimately contain mixed-use development primarily focused on employment, residential, lodging and higher-end retail.
The complex is on land owned by Glendale, but the land is actually in Phoenix.
A broker offering the land has plans to approach a new ownership group of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who share Camelback Ranch with the Chicago White Sox. There are several groups of bidders vying for the Dodgers.
"There is a need out there today for amenities and housing for the teams," said Brent Moser, Cassidy Turley executive vice president.
The other option for the area is a limited-service hotel, Moser said. The developer has taken calls from those who want land to build higher-end hotels closer to Loop 101 and Westgate City Center, in time for the area to host the Super Bowl in 2015, Moser said.
Apartments would likely be the easiest to build on land near the stadium, but "I don't know if that's the highest and best use for this property long-term," Moser said.
The White Sox believe growth around the stadium is only a matter of time.
"Certainly, more stores, shops, restaurants and hotels benefit White Sox fans during their visits to spring training, but that scale of economic development benefits Glendale and the residents of the West Valley year-round as well," said Scott Reifert, team spokesman.
'No win here'
At Goodyear Ballpark, where the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians train, attendance has been at the bottom of the Cactus League for two consecutive seasons.
Development plans around the stadium called for a hotel and convention center, restaurants and offices.
But legal battles between a bank, city and family landowners broke out over costs associated with streets, utilities and other work needed to develop land around the stadium.
When the disagreement threatened to delay construction of the ballpark, Goodyear took control of the loan and finished the job.
In June 2009, the bank sued, saying the city's action accelerated the due date on its loan to the family, and they defaulted in 2008. The suit was part of the bank's effort to foreclose on the land surrounding the stadium and south of Lower Buckeye Parkway.
The family filed a lawsuit against the city in January 2010, arguing the city received benefits it did not pay for.
The settlement agreement reached by the City Council earlier this month clears up all the issues related to the title of the land and its development rights.
The bank plans to market the property as soon as a bankruptcy court agrees to the settlement.
City officials say there has been development inquiries about the land, but it has been tied up in litigation. They want to put the issue behind them.
"Unfortunately, there is no win here in this situation," said Vice Mayor Joanne Osborne before approving the settlement.
by John Yantis - Mar. 26, 2012 09:32 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Goodyear, Glendale eye vacant land near ballparks
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Scottsdale buys nearly 2,000 acres for Sonoran Preserve
Scottsdale was the winning and only bidder Wednesday for 1,937 acres of state trust land that will be added to the McDowell Sonoran Preserve.
State Land Commissioner Maria Baier said the city paid the appraised price of $41 million for the land. That amounts to $21,165 per acre.
The Scottsdale Preserve South parcel is on both sides of Rio Verde Drive between the alignments of 122nd to 136th streets.
Scottsdale hopes to buy another 2,482 acres of state trust land for its preserve next Wednesday. That land, valued at $45 million, is northeast of Pima Road and Dynamite Boulevard and along Lone Mountain Road to 136th Street.
by Peter Corbett The Arizona Republic Dec. 7, 2011 03:19 PM
Scottsdale buys nearly 2,000 acres for Sonoran Preserve
State Land Commissioner Maria Baier said the city paid the appraised price of $41 million for the land. That amounts to $21,165 per acre.
The Scottsdale Preserve South parcel is on both sides of Rio Verde Drive between the alignments of 122nd to 136th streets.
Scottsdale hopes to buy another 2,482 acres of state trust land for its preserve next Wednesday. That land, valued at $45 million, is northeast of Pima Road and Dynamite Boulevard and along Lone Mountain Road to 136th Street.
by Peter Corbett The Arizona Republic Dec. 7, 2011 03:19 PM
Scottsdale buys nearly 2,000 acres for Sonoran Preserve
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Court: Trust-land proceeds can't be used to run department
State lawmakers cannot use proceeds from trust land sales or leases to run the Land Department, at least not without getting voter approval, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled Nov. 17.
In a unanimous decision, the judges rejected arguments by the Brewer administration that the diversion of cash is legal.
Attorneys for the state Land Department, which manages the properties, had argued that anything that the Land Department does to improve the value of the trust's land increases the amount of money that the trust earns. That meets the constitutional requirements, the lawyers argued.
Judge Donn Kessler said that is legally irrelevant because the Arizona Constitution specifically forbids what was done.
"If the Legislature desires to use the proceeds from trust lands to pay for managing trust lands, it must obtain permission from the people of Arizona in the form of a constitutional amendment," he wrote for the court.
Land Commissioner Maria Baier said she was still studying the ruling. But she said it is likely see will seek review by the Arizona Supreme Court.
The lawsuit stems from an effort by legislators to provide more money for the Land Department. Of the 10 million acres Arizona got when it became a state, about 9.2 million acres remain.
The federal law conveying the land to the state specified that when Arizona sells such land, the money must go to specific beneficiaries, mostly public schools.
The Arizona Constitution forbids taking money from trust funds for any reason other than the purpose for which they were established.
Two years ago, though, the Legislature let the state land commissioner divert up to 10 percent of what was raised in the prior fiscal year in proceeds from all trusts, including the one for public schools.
This includes not only property that the state sells, but also any revenues generated from the sale of minerals and timber on that land. That move allowed lawmakers to cut taxpayer funding used to run the Land Department so funds could be shifted to plug other budget holes.
Proponents of the move argued it would help the trust - and the beneficiaries -- in the long run.
It could help the agency prepare state land so that it's ready to sell later, when the real-estate market returns and developers want to buy it, presumably, at higher prices.
And Baier said using some of the proceeds is only logical.
"Most trusts don't function unless there's a funding mechanism built into them," she said.
Kessler, however, accepted the arguments of the Center for Law in the Public Interest, saying the courts cannot ignore the plain requirements of the Arizona Constitution.
He said the legislation allows the use of trust funds to assist the state in reducing budget deficits.
"In doing so, it diverts money from the trusts' permanent funds, depriving the trusts of the value of lands sold and the products derived from such lands, as well as interest earned on those proceeds," he wrote. "It is a paramount requirement that the trusts must be fully compensated for any lands or products lost from the trust through sales."
The case is Rumery v. Baier 1 CA-CV 10-0807.
by Howard Fischer Arizona Business Gazette Nov. 24, 2011 12:00 AM
Court: Trust-land proceeds can't be used to run department
In a unanimous decision, the judges rejected arguments by the Brewer administration that the diversion of cash is legal.
Attorneys for the state Land Department, which manages the properties, had argued that anything that the Land Department does to improve the value of the trust's land increases the amount of money that the trust earns. That meets the constitutional requirements, the lawyers argued.
Judge Donn Kessler said that is legally irrelevant because the Arizona Constitution specifically forbids what was done.
"If the Legislature desires to use the proceeds from trust lands to pay for managing trust lands, it must obtain permission from the people of Arizona in the form of a constitutional amendment," he wrote for the court.
Land Commissioner Maria Baier said she was still studying the ruling. But she said it is likely see will seek review by the Arizona Supreme Court.
The lawsuit stems from an effort by legislators to provide more money for the Land Department. Of the 10 million acres Arizona got when it became a state, about 9.2 million acres remain.
The federal law conveying the land to the state specified that when Arizona sells such land, the money must go to specific beneficiaries, mostly public schools.
The Arizona Constitution forbids taking money from trust funds for any reason other than the purpose for which they were established.
Two years ago, though, the Legislature let the state land commissioner divert up to 10 percent of what was raised in the prior fiscal year in proceeds from all trusts, including the one for public schools.
This includes not only property that the state sells, but also any revenues generated from the sale of minerals and timber on that land. That move allowed lawmakers to cut taxpayer funding used to run the Land Department so funds could be shifted to plug other budget holes.
Proponents of the move argued it would help the trust - and the beneficiaries -- in the long run.
It could help the agency prepare state land so that it's ready to sell later, when the real-estate market returns and developers want to buy it, presumably, at higher prices.
And Baier said using some of the proceeds is only logical.
"Most trusts don't function unless there's a funding mechanism built into them," she said.
Kessler, however, accepted the arguments of the Center for Law in the Public Interest, saying the courts cannot ignore the plain requirements of the Arizona Constitution.
He said the legislation allows the use of trust funds to assist the state in reducing budget deficits.
"In doing so, it diverts money from the trusts' permanent funds, depriving the trusts of the value of lands sold and the products derived from such lands, as well as interest earned on those proceeds," he wrote. "It is a paramount requirement that the trusts must be fully compensated for any lands or products lost from the trust through sales."
The case is Rumery v. Baier 1 CA-CV 10-0807.
by Howard Fischer Arizona Business Gazette Nov. 24, 2011 12:00 AM
Court: Trust-land proceeds can't be used to run department
Developer land returned to farming in Maricopa and Pinal counties
On a late November afternoon, tractors with side chutes harvest sorghum from a small roadside farm, spitting it into a truck riding along. The grain is milled and sold as feed to a nearby dairy.
About a year ago, this land was set for development. But the owner went bankrupt, and another developer bought it at auction and leased it to farmer Jason Perry.
"A lot of our land is in that situation," Perry said.
Rick Gibson, University of Arizona county extension director and agriculture agent in Pinal County, said the real-estate crash has farmland once sold to developers finding its way back into agriculture, especially in Maricopa and Pinal counties.
"Some are buying or coming back to them when the buyers defaulted on payments," he said.
For the developers the land might have dropped in value or may not be worth developing at present, he said.
In the meantime, Arizona farmers are happy to take the extra land and increase acreage for commodities like cotton, wheat, alfalfa and corn that are enjoying high prices amid increasing demand.
For instance, Arizona's cotton acreage rose from 136,000 acres in 2008 to 261,000 acres this year, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
"Farmers have to be businessmen," Gibson said. "They watch the trends and make financial decisions based on those trends."
Perry, a fourth-generation farmer who set out on his own 12 years ago, leases all his farmland from several owners in Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa and Queen Creek. He also grows alfalfa, corn, oats and Bermuda grass.
In the past couple of years, several developers have offered him their land to lease because they either could no longer afford to develop it or didn't think it was worth much at a time like this. Sometimes, he approached them.
"A lot of times, the owners were interested because instead of paying somebody to go pick up the weeds twice a year, by having us there the land would have presence on it," he said.
About 250,300 acres of Arizona farmland was converted to development land from 2002 to 2007, the most in the nation after Texas, Florida and California, according to the Farmland Information Center, a partnership between the Natural Resources Conservation Service and American Farmland Trust.
Although statistics showing what's happening nationally won't be available for another three years, Jennifer Dempsey, director of the Farmland Information Center, said that, ultimately, that development may continue when the real-estate market rebounds.
"I feel like it's forestalling something but not necessarily changing the underlying dynamic," she said.
Jeannette Fish, the Maricopa County Farm Bureau's executive director, said the price of land shot up during the mid-2000s, when the real-estate industry was booming and farmers cashed in.
"A fairly large amount of property was sold to developers at that time," she said.
Fish said many of the farmers included in their sale agreements provisions to regain the land if buyers fell behind on payments.
Harold Crist, who's both a farmer and real-estate developer, is caught in between.
"The land that we're farming today is land that we were planning to use for development," he said. He'd already changed the titles for a 930-acre piece of land in Florence and an additional 150 acres in Eloy.
"As the market fell, we returned that to agriculture, primarily because we don't see the market coming back as quickly as we'd like or as everybody anticipated," Crist said.
He is using the extra land to grow more alfalfa and vegetables like squash, tomatoes and spinach.
As a developer, Crist has seen the value of his land drop drastically with the recession. At its peak, his Florence land was worth about $40,000 an acre.
"Today, we'd be fortunate to get $10,000 an acre if you could find a buyer," he said. "That's a dilemma that people holding land have, and it's part of what drives it back to agriculture."
Steve Barker, state resource conservationist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service, said developers often lease land to farmers to keep their taxes low as they wait for the right time to develop.
Agricultural land has a lower tax rate than commercial or housing property.
"So, as long as you can keep the land in that category, you don't pay as much tax," he said.
Farmland use
250,300 acres of Arizona agriculture land was converted to development land from 2002 to 2007.
Total land in farms in Arizona was 26.5 million acres in 2002 and 26.1 million acres in 2007.
Total land in farms nationwide decreased from 933.4 million acres in 2005 to 919.8 million acres in 2009. It has since increased to 920 million acres in 2010.
Sources: Farmland Information Center, USDA
by Elvina Nawaguna-Clemente Cronkite News Service Nov. 24, 2011 06:41 PM
Developer land returned to farming in Maricopa and Pinal counties
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