{"id":16417,"date":"2017-02-02T21:36:33","date_gmt":"2017-02-02T21:36:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/?p=16417"},"modified":"2023-09-20T21:48:36","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T21:48:36","slug":"nation-buys-363-acres-in-flagstaff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/2017\/02\/02\/nation-buys-363-acres-in-flagstaff\/","title":{"rendered":"Nation buys 363 acres in Flagstaff"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY KRISTA ALLEN<\/strong>
\nWESTERN AGENCY BUREAU<\/p>\n

FLAGSTAFF & TUBA CITY, Ariz.<\/strong> \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Navajo Nation purchased land toward the community of Winona, both on the north side and on the south side,\u201d President Russell Begaye said in an interview with the Navajo Times. \u201cIt\u2019s mainly to establish billboards, to advertise Twin Arrows Casino, and other things we may be doing for the Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using funds generated through the Nation\u2019s Land Acquisition Trust Fund, the Nation purchased 196.18 acres on the north side of I-40 and 166.89 acres on the south.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trust fund \u2013 established in 1993 \u2013 has been there,\u201d Begaye said. \u201cAnd the Nation has not used it like it should, mainly because it takes forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each year, the Nation invests two percent of its annual revenues into the trust fund to acquire properties to expand the Nation\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe process was where it would take two to three years,\u201d Begaye explained. \u201cLike 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nation was not in a position to do that, and it could not compete on the commercial market for land purchases.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lobbied hard to get it passed,\u201d Begaye said of the land acquisition improvements. \u201cWe got it through and now we\u2019re in a position to buy land that we need within a week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Begaye said the 196.18 acres will be used for economic and housing development. Though there is a great deal of consideration. \u201cAnd it\u2019s a good property.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019re looking at that for housing purposes,\u201d Begaye said. \u201cWe have people in Twin Arrows and in Flagstaff always looking for apartments or houses to buy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Begaye said the Nation will be looking to purchase more land.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY KRISTA ALLEN WESTERN AGENCY BUREAU FLAGSTAFF & TUBA CITY, Ariz. \u2014 Last summer, the Navajo Nation purchased more than<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16417"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16419,"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16417\/revisions\/16419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testv45.demowebsitelinks.com\/ColleenKeane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}