May 2003 Minutes of Special Meeting/Arizona Board of Regents

A meeting of the Arizona Board of Regents was held at 2020 North Central, Suite 230, Phoenix, Arizona, on May 21, 2003. President Jewett called the meeting to order at 2:15 p.m. All the Regents participated by telephone.

PRESENT:	Regent Fred Boice Regent Chris Herstam Regent Jack Jewett Regent Matthew Meaker Regent Kay McKay Regent Danelle Kelling Regent Christina Palacios Regent Gary Stuart
ABSENT:	Regent Donald Ulrich Regent Robert Bulla Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne Governor Janet Napolitano

Also present were; Executive Director Linda Blessing, Board Counsel Joel Sideman, Secretary to the Board Judy Garza, and Mr. Dave Harris in the Central Office Large Conference room.

All lists, reports, summaries, background materials, and other documents referred to in these minutes can be found in the May 21, 2003, Documents File.

Regent Stuart explained the Board was being asked to approve the sale of approximately 59.91 acres of the former Cowden Estate property, located in Tolleson, Arizona, to EJM Development Company, a California Limited Partnership.

At its April 2003 meeting, the Board authorized the sale of this subject property to Biltmore Development Corporation, which had submitted an offer to purchase the property for $1.13 per square foot. This offer was subject to a public auction under ABOR Policy 7-204 since the Board owned several of the parcels involved.

On May 14, 2003, an auction was conducted at the offices of Beus Gilbert, the legal counsel for the Cowden beneficiaries. The prior offer was considered as the opening bid.
EJM Development Company submitted a higher bid of $1.16 per square foot and Biltmore did not make a counter offer. EJM submitted a $50,000 non-refundable deposit as security for its bid. In the event EJM defaults, the sale of the property would revert to Biltmore Development Corporation under the terms and conditions of their original offer (as approved at the April 2003 Board meeting).

This is a proposed sale of 59.91 acres, the majority of which is in the north section of the Cowden tract. A summary of the basic terms include a cash transaction with a purchase price of $3,027,199. Grubb & Ellis, which represented the Seller, will receive 3% of the gross purchase price and 2% of the gross purchase price will be paid to Condo Marketing, which represented the Buyer. Buyer has 75 days from the opening of the escrow to inspect the property and close the transaction. The Board’s share of the gross proceeds will be approximately $1,164,318.

At the close of this transaction, all 500 acres of the Cowden property will be sold.

Upon motion of Regent Boice, seconded by Regent McKay, the Board authorized the sale to EJM Development Company, in substantial accordance with the terms and conditions described above, or, in the event of default by EJM, the Board authorized the sale to Biltmore Development Corporation, in substantial accordance with the terms and conditions approved by the Board at its April 2003 Board meeting. The Board also authorized the execution of all legal documents by the Board’s President, Secretary, or Executive Director, subject to review of all documents by Board Counsel.

MINUTES