Land Report July 2011 Newsletter

There’s a lot of ground to cover in the July edition of The Land Report newsletter: auctions, equities, timberland, and several political developments affecting landowners, ranging from the passage of key legislation by the Texas Legislature to the appointment of Dan Ashe to head the federal agency that many landowners know on a firsthand basis, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

From a research standpoint, a new frontrunner has emerged atop The Land Report Top Ten, which features the country’s leading investment quality land listings. Count on The Magazine of the American Landowner to follow the $100 million listing of Wyoming’s Walton Ranch by Ranch Marketing Associates in the months ahead.

For more up to the minute reports on listings, sales, and countless other stories pertaining to land and landowners, be sure to follow The Magazine of the American Landowner on Facebook and Twitter.

P.S. Our award-winning quarterly magazine is available in a print version via subscription.

 

Joe Montana: The Land Report Interview

At Villa Montana, Joe Montana does not talk about football. At all. Meet the man on his Sonoma County getaway and all he talks about are his wife, their two girls and two boys, and the memories they share on their breathtaking 503-acre estate. And Italy. The one thing the guy will not stop talking about is Italy.

“If you can believe it, some idiot drove across the Ponte Vecchio in his rent car,” Montana says. As his face lights up in a contagious smile, it’s clear that the idiot Montana is referring to would be the four-time Super Bowl winner himself.

“I’m looking at my GPS, and it said to get back to the villa where Jennifer and I were staying I needed to turn right. The pillars weren’t up on the Ponte Vecchio, so I follow the GPS and I turn right,” he says. And with that, the Hall of Famer etched his name in the history books yet again by driving across one of the most celebrated landmarks in all of Florence.

“I get to the other side, and this cop has his hands up” – Montana raises both hands in a mock “Have you lost your mind?” sort of look – “and he gives me a tongue lashing in Italian. I didn’t understand a single word he said, but I knew exactly what he was saying.”

Stories like this and his amazing wine country estate are two of the new chapters in his life that have been written since he hung up his helmet and retired from the NFL in 1995. With his football career behind him, kids and family became his life, which is why Villa Montana turned into such an important project for him and his wife.

Conveniently located just an hour and a half north of San Francisco, the ranch became the family’s great getaway. Cookouts and campouts quickly replaced practices and game days. Acres and acres of rolling hills were explored. So, too, were the year-round creeks that wind their way through the hollows and the draws that crease the terrain.

A full-size basketball court was built for Nate and Nick, and Alexandra, Elizabeth, and Jennifer got their own professional-grade equestrian center, complete with 17 heated stalls. A skeet shooting range was built in a secluded pasture. Naturally, Joe was the only member of the family who engaged in all of the above. Although he’s in his mid-50s now, his boundless energy is readily apparent. The natural athlete makes time to work out four or five times a week.

Building Villa Montana was an epic undertaking, a monumental, three-year labor of love for Joe and Jennifer. Joe’s mother was born in Italy. He treasures these strong ties, and during his playing days the couple brought back only memories from their trips overseas. “Actually, the truth is on every trip I always brought back a few extra pounds. Jen is one of the lucky few who can eat anything she wants and actually lose weight. Different story with me,” he says.

The couple built a home in Atherton, a Bay area community south of San Francisco, and they infused it with their shared love of all things Italian. By the time they decided to embark on Villa Montana, they were old pros in the Tuscan tradition. When their Atherton builder got a call about a villa that was being torn down, he and Jennifer were on the first flight out of San Francisco. Not long afterwards, hand-hewn beams, Baroque wood portals, and artifact Italian fireplaces were en route to Northern California.

By the time the Montanas broke ground on their new country home, it was clear that a masterpiece was in the works. Although the house itself is almost 10,000 square feet, its three bedrooms and the adjacent studio where Jennifer likes to paint offer an intimacy that personalizes it in a family-friendly way. That’s especially obvious in the kitchen, which may well be the busiest intersection on the property.

Throughout the main residence, a fascinating array of old and new presents itself: hand-worked iron elements and flat-screen TVs, ancient stone floors, and a state-of-the-art outdoor grill. In the massive great room, the 22-foot-tall ceiling compels your gaze upward and outside to stunning views of Mount Saint Helena, the tallest point in the Mayacamas. Beneath the imposing massif, a tapestry of vineyards and pastures unfolds across Knights Valley, one of Sonoma’s original American Viticultural Areas.

Despite its artistic feel, Villa Montana is user-friendly, built with an active, energetic family in mind. An endless array of patios, terraces, and courtyards encircle the villa and give it a great indoor-outdoor feel. A bocce court, a swimming pool, and a Jacuzzi can all be found in close proximity to one another just a few steps from the kitchen. Drain spouts emerge from hand-plastered walls. Potted plants and crawling vines bring color to pale stone. It’s wonderfully relaxing, which is ultimately the most inviting—and appealing—aspect to Villa Montana. It’s definitely made for entertaining: two people, 20, or 200.

Unfortunately, Villa Montana sits in silent splendor much of the time these days. No longer can Nate and Nick be found playing on its hills. Nate has just moved to Bozeman where he will play ball for Montana, and Nick is a Washington Husky. With Alexandra and Elizabeth in San Francisco and Los Angeles, their papa admits that his days on the ranch have dwindled to a shadow of their former number. “Jennifer and I are too busy chasing our kids to give this property the time it deserves,” he says.

With that in mind, the Montanas have listed Villa Montana with Avram Goldman and Tim Hayden at Pacific Union International’s Sonoma and St. Helena offices for $35 million.

“It’s a Picasso,” Goldman says. “A rare jewel. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The antiquities and artwork make you feel like you’ve come upon a 500-year-old Tuscan villa. Yet it has every convenience and amenity imaginable. I’ve been in real estate more than three decades, and I promise you that you would be hard-pressed to find a home like this anywhere, Italy included.”

In addition to the 9,700-square-foot villa, the ranch includes a pool and spa, a guest house, a caretaker’s residence, a gym, an equestrian center, a basketball court, a bocce court, the skeet shooting range, and an olive farm. As Joe puts it, “It’s time someone else started making memories here.”

Learn more about Villa Montana HERE.

 

Editor of The Land Report Discusses Rural Land Trends

For Sale: Montana’s Engwis Ranch

Three and a half miles of the Yellowstone River course through this 5,500-acre ranch, which features stunning views of the Absaroka, Beartooth, and Crazy Mountain ranges. A Yellowstone Valley gem, the Engwis features 900 irrigated acres, all mineral rights, significant water rights, and a 9,500 S.F. main residence. A newly constructed indoor riding arena also includes an attached guest house.

$15.5 million
(970) 769-8989
www.engwisranch.com

For Sale: Colorado’s Dallenbach Ranch

Spring 2011 Pricing Update: Colorado’s 130-acre Dallenbach Ranch now offered for $21 million.

The year was 1973, and Wally Dallenbach’s racing career had shifted into high gear. Thanks to back-to-back-to-back wins for Patrick Racing on the Indy car circuit, he had the opportunity to fulfill his dream of buying a piece of property in Colorado. And as Peppy Dallenbach points out, it was definitely her husband’s dream, not hers. “I was perfectly happy back home in New Brunswick where our families lived,” she says.

Years before, however, Wally had promised himself that he and Peppy would make the Rocky Mountains their home. The seed had been planted in 1960 on their honeymoon when the couple made a stop in Aspen. “It was all hippies and dogs back then,” Wally says. The New Jersey native was already making a name for himself as a drag racer and a stock car racer; his open cockpit racing days were still to come. But already he knew that he had fallen for the small-town charm and scenic beauty that can be found a short drive down just about every road that crisscrosses the Colorado Rockies.

It would take more than a decade to fulfill that promise, but he finally closed on a beautiful old homestead just outside of Basalt in 1974. Thanks to more than half a mile of frontage on both sides of the Frying Pan River, a dozen cabins dotted its 100-plus acres. Known to anglers as the Wooden Handle, the breathtaking encampment had also served as base camp for hikers and hunters who roamed the millions of acres of the White River National Forest bordering the property.

“Growing up on the ranch was like growing up in Disney World,” says Wally Dallenbach Jr. Like his father and his brother, he pursued a career in racing, and his training ground was the mountains and valleys surround his family’s ranch.

“We rode dirt bikes in the summertime. We rode snowmobiles in the winter time. There was everything a kid could want to do. It was a great place for my sister and brother and I to grow up,” he says.

In the 1970s, Basalt was nowhere near the cosmopolitan getaway is has since become. Paul Dallenbach recalls “a whopping 400 people” living there when the family first arrived, and going to Basalt High School had nowhere near the cachet of archrival Aspen High School. “That’s all right,” he says. “We beat them in every sport they played.”

Like many overachievers, Wally brought his work home. In his case, it took the form of a Honda 350. One summer day, he loaded Wally Jr. on the back of that dirt bike, and the two took off for a great old mining town called Ouray. The next day father and son went over Engineer Pass to Lake City. If this sounds like too much fun, now you know where the Colorado 500 got its start. Since 1976, the charity ride has raised more than $1 million for the Red Cross, area schools, churches, and hospitals, and countless other beneficiaries. A Who’s Who in racing has showed up to ride, including Parnelli Jones, Rick Mears, Roger Mears, Roger Penske, a whole host of Unsers, and of course all the Dallenbachs.

A disappointing number of sports stars plow their money into poor investments. Not Wally Dallenbach. In the early 1970s, the legendary Indy car racer took his winnings from the California 500 and bought an absolutely stunning piece of property along the banks of Colorado’s Frying Pan River just outside Basalt. In the 35 years since then, Wally and his wife, Peppy, not only raised a family but they also bettered the lives of thousands of Coloradoans through their own amazing race, the Colorado 500.

After 180 Indy car races, Wally’s career behind the wheel took a sharp turn; for the next 23 years he would serve as CART’s chief steward. Since his retirement in 2003, he and Peppy spend as much time as possible following the fortunes of their grandchildren. Although Paul and his wife, Dana, are right next door in Basalt, Wally Jr.’s family is in Texas and Colleen’s is in Indianapolis. Convenient airport connections have become a top priority.

With that in mind, the Dallenbachs decided to sell the ranch. Mark Weida, a suspension specialist who has worked on racing cars for 30 years, introduced the couple to Chip Lenihan, a great wit who proudly describes himself as “the last Republican mayor of Telluride.” In addition to being a longtime ranch broker, Lenihan had another equally important qualification. He is an avid fly-fisherman.

The Fay Ranches broker sees enormous upside. “The right investor can acquire this incredible piece of property and then recoup a substantial percentage of the purchase price with a conservation easement,” he says.

Another big plus is the ranch’s Eagle County setting.  “You’re right next door to Pitkin County, which is probably the most restrictive county in the Colorado. Everything from subdivision to structure size is strictly controlled through the county planning process. Eagle County also has a comprehensive planning department, but it is much more private property rights-oriented and much more smart growth-oriented,” he says.

One final attribute stands out. Says Lenihan, “It’s the lower part of the Frying Pan, so you’ve actually got a mix of trout that migrate up from the Roaring Fork. There are all sorts of little shallows and ripples, and there’s one deep pool that’s always good for a 20-incher.”

Try putting a price on that.

Take a tour of this one-of-a-kind property HERE.

Land Report March 2011 Newsletter

Take a look at this month’s edition of The Land Report newsletter, and you’ll see a wide array of opportunities to invest in land. From the pastoral – Virginia’s horse country – to the nitty gritty – Fayetteville shale gas interests – and of course the time-tested returns of Midwest farmland, land’s appeal as a tangible commodity continues to rise. No doubt this trend will only strengthen thanks to John Malone’s January purchase of more than 1 million acres, primarily in Maine but also in New Hampshire, the biggest transaction in decades.

For more up to the minute reports, follow The Magazine of the American Landowner on Facebook and Twitter.

P.S. Our award-winning quarterly magazine is available in a print version via subscription.

Indiana Farmland Skyrockets in Q4

A combination of global and regional factors, including increased demand for grain, falling yields, and rising commodity prices, propelled the value of top-tier Indiana farmland as much as 25 percent in the final quarter of 2010.

The usual rate? Over the last 25 years, Indiana farmland values have appreciated 5.4% annually. As 2010 came to a close, that number doubled and in some cases more than tripled.

“It’s just been astonishing,” farm manager Steve Slonaker told The Indianapolis Star. “The fourth quarter was the biggest increase I’ve ever seen in farmland value,” said Slonaker, who also brokers for Schrader Real Estate & Auction Co.

Read the entire story HERE.

Land Report 100: A New No. 1?

Published reports point to a potential new leader atop The Land Report 100. Colorado’s John Malone, who closed on the 290,100-acre Bell Ranch in August 2010, is scheduled to add an additional 1+ million acres in Maine and New Hampshire to his holdings this week. When added to his existing portfolio of 1.2 million acres, it would be enough acreage to vault him from No. 5 on The Land Report 100 to No. 1, ahead of the Irving Family, Brad Kelley, Red Emmerson, and the current No. 1, Ted Turner.

The story is making national news, including an article by Katherine Seelye in The New York Times titled “For Land Barons, Acres By the Millions.” Wrote Seelye,

John C. Malone, a media mogul who is on the verge of buying nearly one million acres of timberland in Maine, could soon become the largest private landowner in the United States, catapulting him ahead of Ted Turner on the list of those who accumulate earth the way others accumulate, say, bison.

The Times quoted Land Report Editor Eric O’Keefe, who noted that “… when the tabulations are done and this transaction closes, Mr. Malone definitely will be America’s largest landowner.”

According to the Portland Press Herald, Malone’s BBC LLC will acquire 1,004,346 acres belonging to GMO Renewable Resources, a forest investment management company:

“The acquisition will  give Malone ownership of more than 5 percent of Maine’s total land mass of 22 million acres. All but about 30,000 acres of his purchase is in Maine with the remainder in New Hampshire.“

For Sale: Texas’s Historic Rockpile Ranch

One of the most significant ranching legacies of the America West has come on the market for just the third time in over a century. McCoy Remme Ranches has listed the 55,374-acre Rockpile Ranch with King Land & Water LLC. James King is the listing agent.

The historic ranching operation represents some of the best cow/calf range in the fabled cattle country of Far West Texas and features a staggering assortment of assets, including remnants of pre-Columbian habitation, historic structures dating back to the Civil War era, and two of the most famous geologic features in the Davis Mountains: the historic Rockpile, the iconic geologic formation that gives the ranch its name, and striking views of 7,686-foot Sawtooth Mountain (above).

But it is the land itself, a rare desert island tucked away at the highest reaches of the Trans-Pecos, that has drawn cattlemen to this country since 1895, when George and W.D. Reynolds founded the forerunner of the Rockpile, the 380,000-acre X Ranch. Thanks to Geronimo Mountain, the Rockpile rises to 6,907 feet above sea level; wooded canyons dip down to the 4,500-feet level.

Since 1992, the McCoy family has owned the Rockpile. The family is best known for its fourth-generation building supply business, which is based in San Marcos, Texas, and operates across Texas as well as in Arkansas, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Readers of The Land Report also know the family for McCoy Remme Ranches, which ranked No. 51 on the 2010 Land Report 100 with 170,000 acres.

“With 72 lumberyards across Texas, I’ve had the privilege of traveling the whole state for 35 years,” says Brian McCoy. “No doubt the Trans Pecos is a uniquely beautiful region … a surprise, really, for many. The Rockpile is at the center of some of the most beautiful land in Texas.”

Kaare and Brenda McCoy Remme oversee the family’s far-flung landholdings. The Rockpile presents unique challenges, and rewards. Says Kaare, “The ranch is a patchwork of terrain types, of soil types, and plant and animal communities. We love maps, and having information about the tremendous diversity of the Rockpile has proven to be a great advantage. But having information about how the Rockpile’s tremendous diversity has responded under specific uses over time is priceless. Rangeland monitoring on the Rockpile has really taken a front seat in setting the environmental agenda for the ranch.”

The varied terrain, soil, and weather support a wide range of grasses and forbs. Every region of the 86-square-mile property is monitored and managed for multiple uses, including livestock, wildlife, aesthetic value, and natural resources. Grazing is planned in six-month blocks.

“Our family has taken stewardship of the land very seriously, and Kaare keeps this a priority when making all our ranching decisions,” says Brian McCoy.

James King of King Land & Water LLC is the listing agent on the Rockpile. “It’s an amazing ranch, one that just two families have been lucky enough to own. Now, for only the third time in more than a century, an opportunity has emerged for a new steward of the Rockpile.”

Many more details about this historic ranch are available at TheRockpileRanch.com, including its history, offering details, maps, and a selection of stunning photographs by Laurence Parent.

Sold! The Bell Ranch

On August 17, Liberty Media CEO John Malone bought the 290,100-acre Bell Ranch, an event that qualifies as the largest single ranch sale since Ted Turner bought Vermejo Park from Pennzoil in 1996.  Price and terms on the $83-million listing were not disclosed.

Odds are you already know New Mexico’s Bell Ranch. At 453 square miles, it’s kind of hard to overlook. But to focus on size alone is to overlook a much richer story. The Bell has been featured in countless Westerns and dramatically depicted on millions of Stetson hatboxes. If you’re old enough to remember when tobacco companies could advertise, the ranch’s mesas and pastures were the timeless backdrop in many a Marlboro print campaign. Few venues epitomize the American West like the gorgeous grasslands, stunning mesas, and rugged rimrock canyons surrounding the distinctive bell-shaped mountain a short ride north of the Canadian River.

The Bell Ranch is a place of lore and legend whose contemporary history dates back to an impossibly large land grant of some 656,000 acres by the Mexican government to Pablo Montoya in 1824. Only the hills know how long the Comanche, the Kiowa, and the Apache made camp along the banks of La Cinta Creek before the Spanish army officer petitioned Mexico City for his lands.

Almost two centuries have passed since Don Pablo took title to more than 1,000 square miles of what eventually became the New Mexico Territory. Its ideal setting—the ranch ranges in elevation from 4,200 to 5,600 feet above sea level—is more reminiscent of the African Serengeti than the Great Plains or the Llano Estacado. Top-notch cowmen such as the pioneering trailblazer Charlie Goodnight have long marveled at the ranch’s plentiful waters, its protein-rich grasses, and the temperate climate. The lure of this remote cattle kingdom is so strong that the Bell has enticed five formidable men to commit themselves to shepherding the ranch since 1933: Albert Mitchell, George Ellis, Don Hofman, Rusty Tinnin, and Bert Ancell, the general manager, who had 41 years of experience on the Bell. Half a dozen hands with an average of 15 years service on the Bell worked with Ancell.

This peerless legacy is one of the many priceless assets that make the Bell more than simply another big spread. Take, for instance, the ranch’s horse breeding program, which can be traced back to a remount herd used by the U.S. cavalry almost a century ago. The ranch has also developed a closed composite breed of cattle. Known as RedBell, the breed consists of carefully selected Red Angus and Hereford bloodlines, plus smaller percentages of Brahma and Gelbvieh. And of course there is also the ranch’s iconic one-iron brand. First registered in San Miguel County in 1875, it has been in continuous use ever since.

After more than a century in operation, the Bell was carved into six tracts and parceled off after the end of the Second World War. But for William Lane II, its legacy would have ended with this dissolution. In 1970, the chairman and chief executive of General Binding Corporation purchased the 130,000-acre headquarters tract near the center of the Montoya Grant, and over the next six years he dedicated himself to rebuilding the great ranch. Ultimately, he acquired a total of 290,100 acres, an astounding 44 percent of the original grant.

Lane and his family also put in place improvements that dramatically enhanced beef production. Seven large operating units are cordoned off by 342 miles of fence and connected by 530 miles of interior roads. Ninety miles of pipeline water 206 stock tanks and 117 wells and windmills. The end result is a world-class working cattle ranch that can support 5,000 animal units.

In 2006, the Lane family began its quest to find another steward for the Bell. Several leading brokerages marketed the property, including Mason and Morse Ranch Company and Orvis Cushman & Wakefield. But the Great Recession took its toll. The original asking price of $110 million was lowered to $99 million and then to $83 million in 2010 (not including livestock).

The one constant throughout this process was Patrick Bates of Bates Sanders Swan Land Company, who was brought on to consult for the Lane family in 2006; by 2010 he was the broker of record. In March, Ron Morris of Ranch Marketing Associates contacted him. Like Bates, Morris is a veteran ranch broker with an impressive C.V. His client was none other than John Malone, Liberty Media’s CEO and one of the most respected stewards of the land in Rockies. A new chapter in the history of the Bell was about to begin.

Download the 2010 Land Report 100 HERE.

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