Chambers Realty Group Blog : April 2016

Monday, April 4, 2016

Rancho Santa Fe Exit, Kingman Arizona and the Economic Implications of it.

Updated 8-16-17

There is a lot of talk with the eastern "bench" of Kingman and the "Rancho Santa Fe" or Rattlesnake Wash which are the same interchange. The idea that it should have a positive name as opposed to Rattlesnake Wash, I think in the future the Rattlesnake Wash name will not be used anymore and Rancho Santa Fe will permanently be the name of the interchange once built.

It is just a matter of time before we know when it will happen but everyday we are seeing more talk and progress on it. The state of AZ is willing to commit about $20 million towards this and the city as of last night increased the city sales tax 1/2 percent to fund the rest. (8-15-17) To pay for this the city will need to take out a bond of about 40 million and pay it off over 25-30 years at what I think will be about 3.5 percent interest. This should cost the city about 3.8 to 4 million per year to finance this bond. The city is then leaning on the property owners in this area to fund the utility deficit that will be in place once this or both interchanges go in. There is a need for more water, sewer, power and natural gas as well as roads when this interchange is built. Parcel 322-12-004 just south of the freeway is owned by the same local group. This is a parcel that is hard zoned for more residential. However we do need hotels, which are full every night here, and we also need restaurants. What is also very interesting here is that the I-40/Highway 93 bypass route has already been selected. So just as Boulder City is being bypassed downtown Kingman will be bypassed as well and this is nicknamed "gasoline alley." I see huge potential for this area as a gas station/truck stop location. Also I think there will be interest from big box stores, like Target, Lowes, Sam's Club for instance.

Proposed Rancho Santa Fe Exit, Kingman AZ and Parkway

The other interchange "Kingman Crossing" at the hospital is being pushed by KRMC. They are not willing to work on both interchanges. According to a letter written by its president he feels it isn't prudent to build and finance both interchanges. They also feel that by having both interchanges you are giving retail more options to build and providing too much land that will drive the price of their real estate down. However I think they are looking at it as dividing one pie up when there is enough people to eat two pies.

Stockton Hill Farms, Farming in Kingman AZ

Stockton Hill Farms/Red Lake Ventures

Here are some photos of the Stockton Hill Farms also known as Red Lake Ventures that is east of Mile Marker 23 going north on Stockton Hill Road. There are thousands of acres here being plowed, disc-ed and then planted with cotton, wheat, alfalfa, onions and Sudan grass. The soil out here is very favorable for crops as it doesn't have rocks and it is virgin soil so it is easy to get a certification for organic farming here.
Another name they can be found under is Wood Creek Capital Management, LLC. Mr. Bob Saul serves as Managing Director at Wood Creek Capital Management LLC.

The only other prior use for this area was the grazing of cattle since being privately owned. The land formally belonged to John T. Neal who sold the land to Red Lake Ventures also known as Mass Mutual. The land they own is now about 17,000 acres.

A lot of people are associating this farm with Jim Rhodes, however that is not the case. Mr. Rhodes did get them interested in town and started a joint venture with Stockton Hill Farm, however that partnership has since dissolved.

When I have buyers call me asking about land for sale and wanting 5-6,000 contiguous acres I find it sometimes difficult. Over the years the large ranches in our area were bought out by groups that subdivided the land and then marketed them to people all over the country. Therefore 80% of the land in Mohave County is owned by out of state owners.