600-acre in California’s Delta Region Has Been Scheduled for Sale This October via Luxury Auction
A 600-acre site with 2 miles of waterfrontage in California’s Delta region has been scheduled for sale this October via luxury auction, announced Platinum Luxury Auctions, the real estate auction firm handling the offering. Though not listed for sale in more than a decade – and currently having no formal asking price – the Contra Costa County property was previously contracted for sale to a national homebuilder for more than $60 million. Platinum is managing the transaction in concert with listing brokerage of record Corcoran Global Living in Discovery Bay, CA. Corcoran is represented by its owner and principal broker Bryan George Hogge.
The October 8 auction is preceded by a mandatory sealed bid program, which has a bid submission deadline of 5pm PT on Monday, September 13. Any party interested in bidding on the property in October must first submit a non-binding sealed bid to Platinum by the deadline. The requisite sealed bid forms are available from Platinum upon request. According to David Ashcroft, the firm’s Managing Director, Platinum rarely utilizes this type of two-part auction model, but is doing so in this case due to the dynamics of the real estate asset, and for the benefit of the bidders.
“Multi-stage or ‘hybrid’ auction programs such as this one are frequently used for larger assets in the commercial or residential development arenas,” Mr. Ashcroft stated. “In this instance, the two-stage model allows us the unique opportunity to craft the auction terms to best suit the specific bidding audience, allowing for a more efficient auction process.” As an example, Mr. Ashcroft noted that if the sealed bids reveal that the majority of the bidding audience is comprised of developers, the terms of sale can then be customized for development-centric transactions, which might include allowing for augmented due diligence or much longer closing timelines.
Paying attention to the development crowd is not without basis: it was in fact a nationally prominent homebuilder that placed the property under contract for more than $60 million in 2005-06, with plans for a residential and mixed-used development boasting a marina and host of other amenities. However, the cratering of global financial markets that occurred soon thereafter caused the builder to withdraw its plans and exercise its right to exit the transaction. The owners then simply decided to keep the property until recently in mid-2021, when they contacted Platinum for the luxury auction sale as part of their strategy to reallocate portions of their family’s property portfolio, according to Mr. Ashcroft.
The 600 acres consists of three contiguous parcels. Its extensive frontage on “fast water” – a local term used to describe the region’s boater-friendly waterways – allows for boating all the way to the waters of San Francisco Bay. This is a significant feature in a region known as a boater’s haven, where there are 25 yacht clubs and more than 100 marinas.
Portions of the property’s waterways also benefit from a newly reinforced, 100-yard-wide levee. The multimillion-dollar levee improvement was paid for entirely by the Bethel Island Municipal District, with no cost to the property owner.
In addition to its frontage, the property also offers significant water supply resources, with three water siphons and three wells onsite. Each of the 12-inch siphons can access unmetered water at a flow rate of 1,800-2,200 gallons-per-minute. “These water assets – specifically the substantial and unmetered flow from the siphons – is an enormous value-add for the asset, especially in the state of California,” Mr. Ashcroft emphasized.
The property has endured relatively light use from the current owners, with modest (approx. 300 head) Black Angus cattle and organic poultry farming operations onsite. The land has held a certified organic farm rating since 2013, allowing for premium pricing on the sale of crops grown there.
Photos, video, sealed bid documents and more are available online at CaliforniaLuxuryAuction.com. Interested parties may also contact Ms. Trudy Vella, Platinum’s project manager, at 800.674.2997. Previews of the site are available by daily appointment with Ms. Vella, and will continue until the sealed bid deadline of September 13.
