City of Mesa Plan Doomed by Facts

Like every other notion put forth since the beginning of this year, the very latest idea floated by the City of Mesa to finance the proposed Chicago Cubs spring training project is, economically speaking, a nonstarter. The most recent concept depends on selling 11,000 acres of city-owned irrigated farm land in Pinal County to make the payments on money borrowed to build the Cubs project. Press reports quote city officials as saying the land in question is worth at least $100 million, or about $9,000 per acre. Well, if the land is really worth that much, why not just sell it now and pay cash for the spring training complex, thereby saving the financing cost?

The answer, of course, is that the Pinal County land is not worth anywhere near $100 million. It is possible that the land was once worth that amount, but like other kinds of Arizona real estate, the average price paid for agricultural property has plummeted over the past few years. In fact, rural land prices in Pinal County peaked in 2005 and have since spiraled downward. Worse yet, not only are prices still falling but buyers are virtually nonexistent. However, for anyone wishing to purchase such property, there is an abundance for sale. Asking prices for irrigated farm land currently for sale in the vicinity of Mesa’s property range from $2,500 to $4,500 per acre. Not only is there no hope of raising sufficient funds to finance the spring training facility, there is a strong probably that the mandatory sale of this land would yield less than what was paid for this asset 25 years ago.