BLM land sells for $33 million

Kevin Rademacher

Thursday, June 16, 2005 | 11:05 a.m.

The Bureau of Land Management auctioned off more than 280 acres in Laughlin on Wednesday for about $33 million.

The 66 parcels making up the 282 acres that sold were short of the 72 parcels comprising 2,058 acres offered for sale at the auction, but BLM spokeswoman Kirsten Cannon said the results were positive.

"We do consider this a success," she said.

The unsold parcels include the biggest chunks of land on the auction block, specifically plots of 555 acres and 583 acres.

John Restrepo, principal with the research firm Restrepo Consulting Group LLC, said that areas such as Laughlin, Pahrump, Mesquite and even Kingman figure to be future development targets as the tightening land supply and rising prices demand more creativity on the part of developers. That scenario is expected to be particularly pertinent for the development of affordable housing.

Another Las Vegas research firm, Applied Analysis, this week released a survey pointing to soaring land values in the Las Vegas Valley.

The study, authored by Applied Analysis principal Brian Gordon, said that the average price per acre of vacant land in the Las Vegas Valley reached $423,800 in the first quarter of 2005. While the price is down from the peak of $520,500 reached in the fourth quarter of 2004, it is up 55 percent over the $274,200 per acre price reported for the first quarter 2004.

One of the key factors cited by Gordon in a statement on the study was the "limited large contiguous parcels (available for sale) that are suitable for residential development and the increased cost of assemblage."

The report also said that "concerns over housing affordability will press some homebuilders to consider alternative markets."

While the auction of federal lands happens with some frequency in Las Vegas, the Laughlin event was billed as the first of its kind, BLM officials said.

Cannon said 105 registered bidders and more than 400 attendees overall were at the morning event, held in the Laughlin Junior/Senior High School auditorium. She added that, prior to the auction, 153 potential bidders had pre-registered for the sale.

Prior to the auction, bidders were required to submit a bank draft or cashiers check for $10,000 to register. Winning bidders must pay 20 percent of the successful bid by 2 p.m. that day. The remainder of the full bid must be paid within 180 days.

In a February BLM auction held in Las Vegas, 60 parcels were sold for $602.49 million, or about $263,706 an acre.

The previous summer 71 Las Vegas Valley parcels totaling 2,532 acres were auctioned for $707.2 million, or almost $279,300 an acre.