Meridian home builder won $36.6 million auction for Caldwell farmland. What went wrong?
Idaho’s largest home builder will take a $600,000 loss for backing out of a deal to buy 282 acres of state-owned land near Caldwell.
Back in June, Corey Barton offered $35.2 million — nearly six times the $6 million appraised value for two parcels of farmland that previously served a University of Idaho agricultural research center that had operated since the 1940s.
The land was auctioned after the university sold the research center, located next to the parcels, and invested in land in Rupert for a research dairy and in Jerome County for an outreach and education center.
With the auctioneer’s fee added to the cost of the land, Barton’s Endurance Holdings subsidiary owed $36.6 million to complete the deal.
Twelve bidders took part in the auction, but only Barton and Toll Brothers, a national builder based in Pennsylvania, were left after the bid reached $30 million.
Barton forfeited $500,000 put up as earnest money and an additional $100,000 for extensions that gave him more time to pay, Sharla Arledge, a spokesperson for the Idaho Department of Lands, said by phone.
After Barton withdrew, Toll Brothers was offered the property but declined to buy it, she said. So the land will be offered at another auction later this year.
In a phone interview Wednesday, Barton declined to say why the deal dissolved. He referred a reporter to a written statement issued by his primary company, CBH Homes of Meridian.
“These are unprecedented times,” the company said. “We’re in a different market than before and are working to navigate through the high cost of land, current home prices and what’s best for our community.”
While housing demand has remained strong in the Treasure Valley, Barton said product shortages were brought by factory shutdowns during the coronavirus pandemic and last winter’s freeze in Texas. The Southern state is where resins for many wood products and bath tubs are manufactured, and delays have made it more difficult to get houses completed on time.
“There’s not enough tubs,” Barton said. “If we’re waiting four weeks on a tub, it causes the whole project to take longer, and there’s a cost associated with that.”
At statehood, the federal government provided Idaho with endowment lands for the sole purpose of providing financial support for public schools, including the University of Idaho.
The parcels that Barton bid on are located between Vallivue High School and Vallivue Middle School. They are between Caldwell and Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge and lie south of West Homedale Road and west of South Montana Avenue.
After he won the auction, Barton told the Idaho Statesman that he got a good deal, saying the appraisal was low.
At the time, a Department of Lands spokesperson said the agency was “thrilled” with the winning bid.
“It’s hard to tell what the interest level will be this time,” Arledge said Wednesday. “We’re hopeful.”
The Caldwell parcels are about half the size of Barton’s Locale development in Southwest Boise, also known as Syringa Valley. That development, which is in the beginning stages, is expected to have about 2,000 homes plus commercial development on 600 acres.
That property is located on both sides of West Lake Hazel Road between Cole and Orchard streets.
Barton’s withdrawal was first reported by BoiseDev.com.
This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 2:22 PM.
