A 164-acre parcel of former agricultural land in Hayden, Idaho, is on the market for $30 million, a price the Kootenai County Assessors Office says could be a record for a real estate deal in the county in terms of dollar value.


The parcel, called Hayden Crossroads, is at the southwest corner of U.S. 95 and Lancaster Road, just northeast of the Coeur dAlene Airport. The property has been owned by New Frontiers Investments LLC, of Hayden, since 1994.


Its a premier location for high-profile development, says Edward Hanley, the listing agent for Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors, of Irvine, Calif., which specializes in sales of shopping centers and single-tenant retail properties and is marketing the property jointly with the Coeur dAlene office of RealTeam Real Estate Center Inc.


The land is zoned for light industrial uses, and Haydens comprehensive land-use plan also allows for commercial uses, Hanley says. Uses could include retail, service, manufacturing, warehousing, and freight handling, he says.


Rich Houser, the countys chief deputy assessor, says that if the land sold for its asking price of $30 million, it would be the highest price paid in a real estate transaction in the countys records.


The largest completed real estate transaction recorded in the county involved the sale of the land that became the Pointe at Post Falls in west Post Falls, in which 234 acres sold for $20.2 million in 2006, Houser says.


The current assessed value of the Hayden Crossroads parcel is just under $4 million, he says, adding that the assessed value is based in part on recent sales prices of similar property.


The county receives sales-price information through the Coeur dAlene Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service (MLS), of which it is an associate member. Because Idaho is a nondisclosure state, the county doesnt receive sales-price information on property not listed through the MLS, Hauser says.


Alan Golub, a principal in New Frontiers Investments and a real estate agent with RealTeam, says the Hayden Crossroads parcel is priced comparably on a square-foot basis to smaller light-industrial parcels on the market in Hayden, and less per square foot than some land for sale near the Coeur dAlene airport.


Golub says the Hayden Crossroads parcel is about the size of the site of the Riverstone mixed-use development near downtown Coeur dAlene. With its half-mile of U.S. 95 frontage, Hayden Crossroads potentially would accommodate the largest commercial and light-industrial development in the northern gateway to Coeur dAlene, he says.


The mostly vacant property includes a 7,000-square-foot building that could be used for office space, Golub says. The structure formerly housed offices of Electronic Packaging Associates Inc. and, more recently, a church, he says.


The former agricultural land is a quarter-mile west of the proposed Hayden Canyon mixed-use project. Hayden Canyon, if approved, would include 1,800 residential units just north of Lancaster and east of Government Way. The developer, Hayden Canyon Lands Inc., is asking the city to annex the 600-acre parcel.


Golub says Hayden Canyon and Hayden Crossroads would complement each other, but one is not dependent on the other.


No residential development would be allowed in the Hayden Crossroads parcel because of its proximity to the Coeur dAlene airport, he says


Road improvements called for in the city of Haydens transportation plan should make the property attractive to potential developers and investors, Golub asserts.


The transportation plan calls for improvements to U.S. 95 and Lancaster, at the northeast corner of the parcel thats up for sale, including expanding the highway from two lanes to four lanes. The plan also anticipates that Ramsey Road will be extended north, from about Buckles Road, near the western border of the parcel to connect with Lancaster.


Lisa Key, Haydens community development director, says those improvements are in the citys long-term transportation plan, but arent scheduled or funded yet.


Depending on the scope of development projects proposed, however, developers would be expected to help pay for some road improvements, she says.


It would be part and parcel of what would be required of these acreages, she says of planned road improvements.


The Hayden Crossroads parcel is within the citys urban renewal district, which allows for additional financing options to build infrastructure, she says.


Key says she hasnt seen a development proposal for the Hayden Crossroads property yet. She says a large-scale project would be subject to the public hearing process. She adds, however, that a developer could do a minor subdivision of up to six lots without requiring a hearing.


Hanley says hes marketing the property to potential developers nationally and in Canada.


Ive had conversations with a lot of developers, but we havent found a buyer, he says.


He says some potential developers are more interested in buying portions of the parcel rather than all of it.


One of the major selling points of the property is that the Inland Northwest still is seen as a high-growth area, while other markets, including those in Arizona, Nevada, and Florida, have cooled considerably.


Theres no question its going through growth spurts, but it is a stable area, he says.


Contact Mike McLean at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at mikem@spokanejournal.com.