Public Land Auction Bypassed
The Las Vegas Sun is reporting that the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is bypassing the public land auction process to sell a three-quarter-acre vacant lot to developer Randy Black Jr. Additionally, an appraisal used 16 months ago, valuing the land at $546,900, will be used instead of a current appraisal which would probably place the value of the land at $1M - $1.5M, if sold in open bidding.
BLM blamed the delay between appraisal and sale on a slow-moving government bureaucracy and confirmed they will skip the open bidding process. Federal law allows the BLM to sidestep the auction process in rare instances. Because of the unique benefit it holds to Black, who owns adjacent lots and intends to build a medical complex, officials said the sale bypassing public bid is allowable.