After 51 years of owning the property, the owner of Cal-Nev-Ari has put the town for sale for $8 million.
Domain.com.au reported that Nancy Kidwell has offered the entire property including the town's casino, diner, convenient store, motel, RV park and airstrip. Cal-Nev-Ari, which is a combination of California, Nevada and Ari, was initially listed in the market in 2010 with an asking price of $17 million. Since it has found no buyer, the price tag has been cut. There used to be a bidding war between two buyers of the property, but then there came the recession and so nothing came out of it.
The sale exclude some private homes, the small community center and a fire station built by Clark County. The town, which has a population of around 350 people, also has deep water wells, a sewer system and a utility company.
Nancy founded the 640-acre town in 1965 with her husband Slim who died in 1983. They built the town from scratch, turning the piece of a desert into an inviting place to live. Nancy, now 78, said she could no longer sustain the maintenance of the town and it's time for someone to take over.
"It's time for someone else to do something with it," Kidwell said. "Fifty-one years is long enough."
Further to Domain's report, listing broker Fred Marik is advertising the property as a blank canvas because majority of its value is land and it does not have paved roads. Marik said a couple of potential buyers have already expressed their interests on the property. Because there's a lot of vacant land in Cal-Nev-Air, they are looking into building projects in the area such as a retirement community, a ranch and a renewable energy plant.
Cal-Nev-Ari is a census-designated area located along U.S. Route 95, some 70 miles south of Las Vegas.