Land Offering May Well be California’s Current Largest

PAICINES, CA—The Ashurst Ranch in California’s Central Valley is primarily located in San Benito County, but extends into Fresno County. The 58,154-acre cattle ranch is currently on the market at an asking price of $17.5 million.

Cushman & Wakefield has been hired by Rancho Mountain Properties to market the property for sale. Matt Davis, Terry Jackson and Curtis Buono of the firm’s agribusiness solutions team in San Diego in collaboration with Todd Renfrew of California Outdoor Properties are leading the marketing efforts for the disposition.

“Ashurst Ranch has a long history starting with John Ashurst, a pioneering California cattleman. In the early 1900s, the ranch played an integral role in the local community by supplying beef to the nearby mining town of New Idria,” Davis says. “Today, the ranch provides fertile winter grazing and remains an integral part of California’s cattle industry. All improvements are in place to support a cattle operation, while the property benefits from an extensive water system with storage tanks, troughs, springs and wells that provide livestock and domestic water for the ranch.”

Located at 15970 New Idria Rd. approximately 60 miles south of Hollister, the property consists of 27,944 acres of deeded land spread across 118 parcels, together with the added benefit of 30,210 acres of Bureau of Land Management grazing leases split between two allotments referred to as Ashurst Ranch (12,406 acres) and Silver Creek (17,804 acres).

“Whether an investor interested in preserving wealth through a stable real estate investment or a cattleman looking to expand their operation, prospective purchasers will recognize productive holdings of this size in California are rarely available for purchase, making this a truly exceptional and unique opportunity,” Davis tells GlobeSt.com.

He says the offering is significant not only for its potential but in terms of size.

“To our knowledge, with 58,154 total acres, this offering also represents the largest offering currently available in the state of California,” Davis notes.

The ranch is fenced and cross fenced, and provides a sizable carrying capacity reported to average 4,500 head of mixed herd of cows and feeders—the most recent season supported 5,100 head. The ranch also has numerous improvements including two houses, two mobile homes, two sets of corrals, loading pens, fencing, irrigation and an unused dirt airstrip.

“Of all of the impressive characteristics of the ranch, from its stunning topography and landscape to its utility as a cattle operation combined with its recreation potential, the most compelling may be its sheer size while being positioned in the center of California’s cattle industry,” Jackson tells GlobeSt.com.

The property also invites the opportunity for various recreational or oil-related uses, he says.

“The opportunity may exist for a new owner to make capital investments into the oil wells to enhance output and revenue,” Jackson adds. “The oil resource is being managed by the seller, who intends to transfer any subsurface rights on the property they control to a potential buyer.”

Essential to the story of the Central Valley industrial market is the volume of new construction delivered in recent years, which is fundamentally modernizing the market’s building base, especially in Stockton and Modesto, according to a second quarter research report by Cushman & Wakefield. There has been 20.1 million square feet of deliveries since 2010, representing an 18.7% increase in the region’s building base, while 6.9 million square feet is currently under construction. Of these projects, 5.8 million square feet is being built on a speculative basis, with the pipeline likely to increase further with new projects at various stages of planning. Though some of these projects will likely not deliver preleased, they will generate even more interest from large requirements in the region, Cushman & Wakefield says.