BY KRISTA ALLEN
WESTERN AGENCY BUREAU
FLAGSTAFF & TUBA CITY, Ariz. — Last summer, the Navajo Nation purchased more than 300 acres of land in Flagstaff, on which billboards, housing, and an office tower will be constructed, among other things.
For $3.2 million, the Nation purchased 363.07 acres of land alongside Interstate 40 near Cosnino Road in Flagstaff, according to the Coconino County Assessor’s Office.
“The Navajo Nation purchased land toward the community of Winona, both on the north side and on the south side,” President Russell Begaye said in an interview with the Navajo Times. “It’s mainly to establish billboards, to advertise Twin Arrows Casino, and other things we may be doing for the Nation.”
Using funds generated through the Nation’s Land Acquisition Trust Fund, the Nation purchased 196.18 acres on the north side of I-40 and 166.89 acres on the south.
“The trust fund – established in 1993 – has been there,” Begaye said. “And the Nation has not used it like it should, mainly because it takes forever.”
Each year, the Nation invests two percent of its annual revenues into the trust fund to acquire properties to expand the Nation’s land base. Begaye in August signed into law a resolution passed by the Navajo Council amending the Trust Fund process and enacted the Navajo Nation Land Acquisition Act.
“The process was where it would take two to three years,” Begaye explained. “Like if we saw land and we knew it had value on it, we would put a bid in there. But by the time we got to buying it, someone had already bought it. Buying and selling land, you have to have that money or sign the deal immediately.”
The Nation was not in a position to do that, and it could not compete on the commercial market for land purchases.
“We lobbied hard to get it passed,” Begaye said of the land acquisition improvements. “We got it through and now we’re in a position to buy land that we need within a week.”
Begaye said the 196.18 acres will be used for economic and housing development. Though there is a great deal of consideration. “And it’s a good property.”
“But we’re looking at that for housing purposes,” Begaye said. “We have people in Twin Arrows and in Flagstaff always looking for apartments or houses to buy.”
Begaye said the Nation will be looking to purchase more land.