Mohave Daily News: Top Story

LAUGHLIN - In a standing room only crowd, eager bidders took a chance to bid on federal land in an historic federal Bureau of Land Management auction at the Laughlin High School.

The BLM raised $33.2 million in the two-hour land sale. BLM sold 281.54 acres in Laughlin to bidders on the land identified for disposal under authority of the 1998 Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act.

Wednesday's auction averaged about $118,000 per acre sold. The fair market value of the land sold appraised at $23.05 million and sold for $33.22 million. The sale earned 44 percent above appraised value.

According to Laughlin Town Manager Jackie Brady, "this sale confirmed there is a lot of interest in Laughlin. Now it's not just us saying it, it has been proven today."

Don Laughlin, with Tom Griffin acting as proxy bidder, bought the largest parcels at the auction, picking up a 50-acre, 40-acre and two 20-acre parcels.

Laughlin said he felt "like I hit the jackpot" with his success at the auction.

He spent $19.2 million for 130 acres generally located on Bruce Woodbury Drive, around most of the American Legion Post 60 location and west up to the intersection of Needles Highway.

"The Donald" of Laughlin indicated he hasn't yet decided what he will do with the property and is exploring all of his options.

Most of all, he seemed optimistic about the possibilities in the future.

"Finally we have some land to work with. Before this (auction) almost everything was owned by the government," Laughlin said.

The second largest parcel sold to Michael Costello of Las Vegas for $1.86 million. That 20-acre parcel is located near Bruce Woodbury Drive and is surrounded by the land purchased by Laughlin.

The purchase averages $93,000 per acre. Costello, who represents a Las Vegas real estate developer felt like that his purchase was "a good deal."

"The market has changed in Las Vegas so we are expanding our acquisitions out here," Costello said.

At least three other bidders appeared to make some strategic purchases at the sale. Sean Reza Afshar, who accumulated 13.75 acres, purchased 11 parcels for a total of $1.89 million.

The majority the parcels formed a single line along Spirit Lane, across the street from Laughlin High School. Philip Davis picked up six parcels, all connected, for $2.03 million. The purchase represents 15 acres across the street from the school.

The third strategic bidder was Gordon Hardy who purchased nearly 19 acres for about $1.16 million.

The acreage was spread over seven parcels of nearly three acres each. Hardy, a retired dentist from Phoenix, found himself in a bit of a bidding war against Don Laughlin.

The 40-acre parcel finally went to Laughlin for $7.275 million.

Hardy's wife explained that the couple would have liked to pick up a bigger parcel, but that they didn't realize they were bidding against Laughlin.

The least expensive parcel sold for $92,000. That 2.92 acre parcel was originally appraised at $88,000. This parcel averages $31,507 per acre.

Six parcels, comprising about 1,776 acres of land, didn't sell at the auction. That acreage can be offered in a number of ways, including on the Internet in the days to come or at a Las Vegas Land sale scheduled for November, according to Merv Boyd, manager of land sales and acquisitions from BLM's Las Vegas field office.

Of the 72 separate parcels offered, the six that did not sell, represented the vast majority of acreage in the sale.

Deborah Murray, development coordinator for the Town Manager's office indicated that the Laughlin sale was a bit of an uphill battle.

"With the BLM Web site down the entire time (several weeks) prior to the sale and being that we are geographically away from the rest of the Las Vegas Valley and the hub of Las Vegas, we still did really well."