Multi-million dollar sales boost real estate market
An out-of-state buyer has paid more than $8.5 million for the Comfort Inn property on E. Halligan Drive, just south of the Iron Eagle golf course.
The land was purchased by Saphire Properties LLC of Newberg, Oregon for $8,650,000, according to county records. The transaction was recorded on May 9.
The four-story hotel sits on 1.94 acres of land.
Big real estate deals raise eyebrows and reinforce the general impression that North Platte is on the verge of a real estate value boom.
The seller of the Comfort Inn was also an out-of-state company – EAD Properties of Gallup, New Mexico.
This is one of the highest prices ever recorded for a real estate parcel by the Lincoln County Deeds Registry, Registrar Lois Block said.
The buyer, Saphire Properties, also has a registered address in Nebraska – 7925 Davenport Road, Omaha, according to the Nebraska Secretary of State. The Nebraska address was registered on March 18.
The Comfort Inn was last assessed for tax purposes by the Lincoln County Assessor at $5.9 million. It opened in 2019 and has 90 rooms and an indoor pool.
The purchase was financed from California, which has some of the highest real estate values in the United States. The lender was First Credit Bank, located on Sunset Blvd in W. Hollywood, Calif., according to the indenture.
Little Caesar
In another notable Lincoln County real estate sale, the Little Caesars Pizza property at 411 S. Dewey in North Platte doubled in price in a single day, according to county real estate records.
The property’s tax assessment is $400,070.
A company called LM Capital, LLC of Beverly Hills, Calif., bought the property for $491,000 on May 6 and sold it for $1.1 million the same day, county records show. The buyer was PINE22 Caesar, LLC of Daytona Beach, Florida. This agreement was registered on May 9.
The original owner of the pizzeria was Mi6 Leasing, LLC of Lehi, Utah, a company that leases real estate as well as machinery and equipment, according to the Utah Department of Commerce.
Rob Stefka of Commercial Investment Services in North Platte said it was prudent to take such real estate deals with a grain of salt. He said it’s hard to know what all is included in such sales. Sometimes certain aspects of the business are included in real estate, and sometimes not.
Stefka also said it’s common for real estate investors to buy and sell hotels.
big month
These two multi-million dollar transactions contributed to what has been an exceptionally busy year so far in the Lincoln County commercial real estate market.
Another exceptional real estate sale took place on April 29 between Olson Farms, Inc. and Trey and Dayna Wasserburger. The Wasserburgers are the owners of TD Angus and one of the main families supporting the development of the sustainable beef processing plant.
Olson sold five sections of land plus two partial sections to the Wasserburgers for $5.8 million. The land is 12-14 miles north of Maxwell, along or near the road running north from Maxwell, aptly named North Maxwell Road.
Most of the land that has changed hands is pasture, although one section has a pivot irrigation system that covers about a quarter section. The assessed value of the land was just over $3 million, according to the county assessor’s office.
With this sale, Olson Farms sold the last pasture they previously owned in this part of Lincoln County.
New private golf course
Olson Farms previously sold its pastures across the road – North Maxwell Road – to Kahkina, LLC, a company that plans to build a golf course there. The purchase price in this transaction was $3.35 million. The transaction was recorded on February 7.
The land the Wasserburgers recently purchased is not part of the golf course property.
The Kahikina course will be a high-end private course that will span four sections. The club will include overnight accommodations for up to 60 golfers, according to plans filed with the Lincoln County Planning Commission.
Other high-end transactions
There have been several real estate transactions of $1 million or more since late last year.
One of the biggest happened on Dec. 28, 2021. Trey and Dayna Wasserburger bought $2.4 million in pastureland south of North Platte, not far from U.S. Highway 83.
Bill and Barb Rishel, renowned Angus breeders, sold the land to the Wasserburgers. TD Angus and the Rishel Ranch have been in business together, providing breeding cattle to cattle owners in multiple states.
The sale was for approximately 2,698 acres and was the conclusion of a larger transaction. Trey Wasserburger said he and his wife had already purchased some of Rishel’s other land. A total of 3,600 acres were affected – 4.5 adjacent sections from Watts Road to Lone Star Road.
Stefka said it was too early for North Platte homeowners to expect a strong increase in the local real estate market.
“I’m excited about the future,” he said. “I think there will be a surge, but it’s wise to wait for it to happen. When industries start to innovate, it will get really interesting.
(Lincoln County real estate transactions are published weekly in the Bulletin’s print edition, showing what’s happening in the real estate market. This story first appeared in the May 25 print edition of the Bulletin. )
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