TUCSON, Arizona — Park Brokerage Inc. has announced the sale of Adobe Manor Mobile Home Park located at 3339 E Grant Rd. in Tucson, Arizona was completed on March 24, 2017 for the price of $715,000 ($14,300 per unit).

John Sheedy with Park Brokerage Inc. arranged the distressed sale on behalf of the seller while procuring the buyer, 3339 East Grant, LLC.

Adobe Manor is an all-ages mobile home park with 52 MH/RV spaces and 5 apartments.  The park however has several smaller older RV sites so with modern mobiles the park has around 45 sites and 5 apartments.  The roads are paved, all utilities are metered and passed through, and there is a small laundry room for additional revenue.  The park was 50% occupied and in poor condition at the time of sale with collection issues .  The experienced buyer re-wrote the loan with the assistance of the current lender at a nearly 100% loan to value and the seller carried a second conditional loan based on a future eminent domain when Grant Road will be widened.

John Sheedy commented, “Adobe Manor has been very poorly managed yet is in a great location on Tucson’s most traveled road near countless commercial developments.  The vacancy rate in the sub-market is around 10% so the experienced buyer should be able to fill spaces quickly.”

For more information, Sheedy can be reached at 602.821.4666.

To learn more, see RED Comp #4660.

TUCSON, Arizona — The Trust for Public Land transferred 44 acres to Saguaro National Park (East district) located north of Vail. The new acreage adds a critical water resource to Saguaro National Park (SNP) east.

The land was purchased by the Trust for Public Land (LWCF) from Scott and Kate Lewis of Tucson for $450,000 ($10,225 per acre). The Trust then transferred the land to the National Park Service using monies appropriated from Congress for the park via the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).

“As native Tucsonans growing up on the east side, we are thrilled that our mesquite bosque land with Rincon Creek will be preserved in perpetuity as part of Saguaro National Park,” said Scott and Kate Lewis. “The Trust for Public Land has a great team of professionals doing their land conservation work in Arizona, and we really enjoyed our partnership with them in protecting our property.”

The LWCF  is funded by a small fraction of revenues generated by offshore oil and gas royalty payments; it is not supported with general taxpayer dollars. In 2016 the federal budge included some $1.35 million in funds from the LWCF, for land purchases at Saguaro National Park.  According to the release “this would allow the purchase from willing sellers of private lands that are located within the authorized park boundaries, particularly focused on undeveloped properties along Rincon Creek.”

“It is always exciting to protect land in our National Parks, and Saguaro National Park is such a treasure for the people of Tucson and for visitors from across the nation,” said Michael Patrick, Arizona Program Manager at the Trust for Public Land, in the release. “The sellers of conservation lands are so important to the success of our mission, and Scott and Kate Lewis were passionate about having their property and Rincon Creek added to the park for future generations.”

Included in the newly purchased land is a stretch of Rincon Creek that has cottonwood, willow, mesquite Bosque and a large area of sacaton grass. The protection of this land is important not only for the riparian habitat, but the fact that it will also protect habitat for the desert tortoise, large carnivores, mule deer, Gila monsters, and other species that are unique to the Sonoran Desert.

This new 44 acres is adjacent to another 44-acre property that was donated to SNP in 2016 by philanthropist Roxanne Quimby, the co-founder of Burt’s Bees. The Quimby donation also includes a portion of Rincon Creek and another prominent feature in the area, Sentinel Butte.

Also in 2016, The Trust for Public Land donated an additional 300 acres and 1-1/2 miles of Rincon Creek to the park, via a generous donation from philanthropist Hansjörg Wyss. That donated land is about a mile downstream of this new addition.  In 1993, the Trust for Public Land purchased an adjacent 1,100 acres of land for the park and is an addition that now includes more than a mile of the Arizona Trail.

“The National Park Service is thankful for the partnership with the Trust for Public Land and Scott and Kate Lewis for making this possible. The rich riparian corridor along Rincon Creek is critically important for the wildlife of the park, and this acquisition will help us to ensure its protection,” said Leah McGinnis, Superintendent of the Saguaro National Park in the release.

“Saguaro National Park is a unique getaway for Tucsonans, Southern Arizonans, and visitors from around the world and is one of our State’s natural wonders.” said U.S. Representative Martha McSally, R-Ariz.  “I am pleased to see the park receive these funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which I have supported during my time in Congress.”

 Santa Rita Ranch III in Vail, AZ to open by year-end

TUCSON, Arizona — Richmond American (NYSE: MDC) and Lennar Homes (NYSE: LEN) are the first two homebuilders to enter Santa Rita Ranch Phase III. Each builder purchased 68 SFR lots recently from Crown West Realty (Dean Wingert, VP) for a finished cost of $50,750 per lot, or $6.9 million.

The Santa Rita Ranch Specific Plan was first approved by the County in 1988 for 2,435-acres and up to 5,307 units. Stanley P. Abrams and Santa Rita Partnership were the applicants. Crown West acquired its portion known as Santa Rita Ranch III in 2013, a total of 182 acres and 330-lots being developed by Crown West.

Nestled into the foothills of the scenic Santa Rita Mountains. “Each additional phase of the community climbs higher into the foothills,” Wingert said. “This latest 136 lots have a 3,500-foot elevation.”

In fact, these lots are so scenic that the builders are alternating homesites on the same streets, Wingert told us, “Santa Rita feels away from the city, yet is convenient to everything off Interstate 10 and minutes to major employers along Houghton, at the UA Tech Park, Davis Monthan Air Force Base and Raytheon.”

Crown West has already begun development of these first lots and anticipates the first builder models to be ready as early as year-end. These first homesites are 6,000-square-feet (50×120) while the next lots will be 60×120 going still higher into the foothills. Each phase has a private park, plenty of open space and walking and bike trails.

The amenities and being located in the highly desired Vail School District brings many families to Santa Rita, but there are also empty nesters and retirees looking for the convenience, “yet away from the city”.

Will White and John Carroll of Land Advisors Organization in Tucson negotiated for the seller with Richmond and Lennar.

White says, “The focus now is definitely on shovel ready lots that can be ready for 2018 and that is what we continue to see getting closed. The southeast has shown some great data over the past 12 months and builders are being responsive to this. We think there will be continued, strong momentum out of these existing projects and future ones on the way.”

For more information, White and Carroll should be contacted at 520.514.7454.

To learn more, login for RED Comp #4641 and #4642.