BLM land sale to offer 1,139 acres

Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2002 | 9:44 a.m.

The Bureau of Land Management will offer 1,139 acres for sale in the Las Vegas Valley Friday.

The auction is one of the largest since the 1998 Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act changed the system for the sale of federal land in the valley, second only to a May 2001 sale of 2,030 acres.

Nine of the 10 previous sales were for less than 350 acres in parcels scattered across the valley.

The May 2001 sale, however, included a single sale of more than 1,900 acres in North Las Vegas for a master-planned community. Like the earlier sale, the Friday auction could open up a large area for development.

The auction includes 990 acres southwest of Blue Diamond Road and Interstate 15. Developer Focus Property Group hopes to acquire the land to add to its holdings in the area and build a 2,400-acre master-planned community called Mountain's Edge.

The planned community could ultimately have 15,000 homes and house 37,000 people, according to the developer's plans submitted to the county.

The minimum bid for the 990 acres is $83 million, a price set by BLM appraisers. It will be sold in three smaller parcels of 420, 280 and 290 acres.

The value of all the parcels offered Friday is a minimum of $99 million.

Three parcels totaling 7.5 acres near El Capitan Way and Fort Apache Road, initially included in the public sale Friday, were taken out by request of the Clark County School District.

Under the 1998 federal law that authorizes the sales, government agencies and nonprofit groups get first crack at land in the valley that the BLM has targeted as unneeded.

Thus far, the BLM has sold or conveyed 6,421 acres in the valley under the 1998 law, generating nearly $150 million.

"All the revenue generated by the land sales stays in Nevada," BLM Las Vegas Field Manager Mark Morse said, explaining the benefits of the 1998 law. "We have a unique opportunity in this state to make land available where it is needed for growth and use the revenue generated to protect environmentally sensitive areas along with providing more and better opportunities for outdoor recreation."

Revenue from the sales puts money into the Nevada State Education Fund and pays for purchase of environmentally sensitive property statewide. The revenue also has paid for dozens of capital improvements to the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and the Lake Mead and Spring Mountains national recreation areas.