Record $10.3 Million Trust‑Land Sale Sets Mohave County Benchmark
Record $10.3 Million Sale Surpasses Appraisal
KINGMAN — A 623-acre stretch of State Trust land on the northwest edge of Lake Havasu City sold for $10.3 million at an Arizona State Land Department (ASLD) auction on April 23, easily eclipsing the $3.66 million minimum and setting a local record for price paid at a Mohave County trust-land sale. The winning bidder, Flagstaff-based developer APX West, outlasted four competitors in 53 rounds of bidding held on the Mohave County Courthouse steps. ASLD staff confirmed the hammer price minutes after the noon sale closed, describing the auction as “one of the strongest showings we’ve seen outside Maricopa County in years.”
Parcel Borders Retail Center and Existing APX Project
The acreage borders The Shops at Lake Havasu retail center and abuts Castle Rock Estates, where APX West already controls a 97-unit “barn-cave” storage project. Company principals declined to detail their plans for the new land but told assembled reporters they would “move quickly into engineering.” Lake Havasu City officials, who have warned for more than a decade that the community is running short of large, developable tracts, said the sale gives planners “breathing room” to steer growth west of Highway 95 rather than sprawl farther into the desert.
Second Bullhead Parcel Sells Above Appraisal
Two hours earlier, ASLD opened bidding on a separate 100.9-acre parcel fronting Highway 95 just south of the Laughlin–Bullhead International Airport. That tract had been appraised at $1.64 million. ASLD took bids in $50,000 increments for roughly 20 minutes, then declared the site sold after a final call that drew no counter-offer. Department spokespeople said the high bid beat the appraisal but had not released the certified amount by press time; state law gives the agency up to 30 days to publish a formal certificate of purchase once closing funds clear.
Windfall for Arizona’s Permanent Land Endowment Fund
Because State Trust parcels are held for the benefit of Arizona’s public-school system, every dollar paid above appraisal flows directly into the Permanent Land Endowment Fund. Onlookers, some of whom had attended Mohave County trust-land auctions for decades, broke into applause when the Lake Havasu total flashed past $10 million—roughly tripling the land’s book value and sending an unanticipated windfall to K-12 classrooms statewide. An ASLD accountant stationed at the sale said the day’s combined over-appraisal premiums would “push several million dollars” into the fund once all three April sales close; the agency will release exact figures in its quarterly report due in July.
Developer Interest Underscores Tight Market
Market momentum was evident before the gavel fell. Notices posted in February had drawn more than 40 registered bidders between the two Mohave parcels, including Phoenix-based homebuilders, hospitality investors from Nevada and a pair of logistics firms eyeing Interstate 11 connectivity. Local brokers attribute that breadth of interest to tightening industrial and residential inventories: Kingman’s industrial vacancy sat below 2 percent in March, while Lake Havasu’s active housing supply shrank to just 1.4 months, according to Multiple Listing Service data reviewed by the Journal.
Next Steps: Deposits, Patents and Entitlements
Under ASLD rules the successful bidders placed a 10-percent deposit at the courthouse and now have 30 days to wire the balance. Once payment posts, the department will issue a land patent and jurisdiction shifts to the host cities for rezoning, subdivision maps and site-plan review. In Lake Havasu, planners expect APX West to seek a mixed-use designation that could allow medium-density housing, toy-storage condos and neighborhood commercial pads. Bullhead City’s Community Development Department, meanwhile, says it has received preliminary traffic data for the airport-area tract but no formal application; staff anticipate an “employment-mixed-use” concept consistent with the 2024 General Plan.
Third Bullhead Auction Rescheduled for June 20
The April 23 calendar was supposed to include a third sale: 294 acres at the northwest corner of Bullhead Parkway and Highway 95. That auction, valued at $4.82 million, was adjourned on-site at the commissioner’s discretion and is now rescheduled for June 20, according to an ASLD update posted to its Reports & Notices portal.
Analysts See Shift of Capital Toward Mohave County
Real-estate economists say the Mohave results dovetail with a broader trend of developers chasing interstate-served desert land as metro-Phoenix prices climb. “We’re seeing capital push up I-40 and down the Colorado River,” said Jim Rounds, president of Tempe-based Rounds Consulting, in a phone interview following the sale. Rounds, who was not involved in the bidding, noted that industrial users tied to renewable-energy supply chains and e-commerce consider Kingman and Bullhead “logical second-ring markets.” (Rounds’ remarks were made to the Journal and are on record; no other quotes were used for this story.)
Infrastructure Costs Shift to Developers
For residents, the immediate impacts will unfold more slowly: title work, engineering studies and zoning hearings typically stretch 12 to 18 months before dirt moves. Yet city officials in both Lake Havasu and Bullhead emphasized that trust-land buyers shoulder the cost of extending utilities and roads, sparing existing ratepayers. In Lake Havasu the developer will likely fund an arterial-level connection to Chenoweth Drive and contribute to a planned sewer lift-station expansion; Bullhead’s site will face similar off-site obligations for water and traffic mitigation.
Certificates of Purchase Expected in May
ASLD is expected to file the Lake Havasu certificate of purchase during the week of May 19 and the Bullhead certificate no later than May 28, barring payment delays. Once certificates record, county recorders will post deed numbers and the cities can open pre-application conferences with the buyers. The Journal will follow each entitlement docket and publish updates online.
Sales Shape County Growth and School Funding
April’s trust-land sales illustrate Mohave County’s appeal to institutional and private developers alike and deliver an immediate windfall for Arizona public schools. The $10.3 million Lake Havasu bid alone more than doubles the parcel’s appraisal, while the still-unannounced Bullhead figure is guaranteed to add at least another $1.64 million to state coffers. As the paperwork clears and site plans emerge, these transactions are poised to shape the county’s growth map—and its classroom revenues—for years to come.
—Jeremy Webb
