The Hobbs City Commission voted Thursday to purchase a foreclosed, undeveloped lot of land in the Homestead Estates Subdivision to use for tourism, recreational purposes or for possible housing projects.
In a unanimous vote following an executive session, commissioners agreed to give city attorney Mike Stone authority to bid on 216 acres for sale between Bender Boulevard and Sanger Streets on the west side of the Seminole Highway.
“This property will fit nicely in the city coffers. It will be nice for the city to be able to maintain this property,” Stone said.
“The site is located prominently along a major entrance to Hobbs from Texas and effectively serves as our east side gateway to the community, making its appearance and developmental pattern critical to our continues progress,” Stone said.
The city successfully bought the property on Thursday afternoon for $10 more than what the bank was entitled to receive, paying $1,266,512.33 for the property, which Stone said translates into about $5,863 per acre.
“The city got the property well under the appraised value. The land was most recently appraised at a value of $8,000 an acre,” Stone said.
Mayor Sam Cobb said he will appoint a committee to come up with a master plan or vision on how to best use the land, which he described as being in a “gateway entry” area into the city. It is located across from the highway near Ranchview Estates. “I envision the city using this land to build a soccer field, a community park or a housing project,” Cobb said. “We will also get input from the community on how best to use the land.”
This section of land does not have any infrastructure in place.
Hobbs Land Development LLC owns another tract of property on the west side of Seminole Highway. Tract 2 does have some infrastructure, which had been started as a housing development across the street from Ranchview Estates.
Tract 1, which the city bought, is the one that has been foreclosed on. The foreclosure sale was held at the law office of Gary Don Reagan.
In a press release, Stone said an opportunity exists to develop this site in such a way to provide attractive features to invite incoming traffic toward Marland and South Hobbs.
“Currently, most such traffic flows north to Navajo and Joe Harvey Boulevard. A balanced development on this corridor should encourage investment along the remainder of Marland and Main by the private sector partnering with the city,” Stone said.
As for housing, the Affordable Housing Ordinance facilitates use of city-owned land and federal tax credits for housing.