Mesa to sell Pinal County farmland for $135 million

Mesa plans to sell a vast swath of farmland it owns in Pinal County so it can plow $135 million into economic development initiatives that include the downtown and a Chicago Cubs complex. The sale would be a windfall for a city that has long considered the land a burden. Mesa had expected it would take 20 years to unload the nearly 11,500 acres between Coolidge and Eloy, but a recent offer generated interest because the price was higher than surrounding deals, Mesa City Manager Chris Brady said. Mesa will get about $10,000 an acre, which Brady said is three or four times higher than similar transactions on neighboring farms. The timing raises the question of whether Mesa should sell because of deeply depressed land values for housing, office buildings and industrial property. Mesa Councilman Alex Finter said farm prices have bucked that trend. Finter said he feels confident in selling the land now because of his family’s experience owning agricultural property across the U.S. “There’s actually a bubble in the market,” Finter said. “We’re selling it at the top of the market in my mind, which I think is a real positive because that could change in a heartbeat.” The City Council is expected to begin the transaction Monday, in a deal with Scottsdale-based Farm Sources International. FSI would have 120 days to conduct a water due diligence study and then 150 days to perform a general feasibility study.

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