Santa Clara has finally sold a property whose value the mayor has long-disputed. Sale of the city’s Loyalton Ranch property, located just outside Reno, will close the books on a rift between the mayor and her council colleagues regarding the site.
At the end of 2021, the Santa Clara City Council directed city employees to sell the property, which had previously been used for grazing. A wildfire on the property razed 90% of the land.
An appraisal in April 2022 valued the 10-acre property at $4.3 million.
However, Mayor Lisa Gillmor has long opposed the sale, even going so far as to claim that the city had a $10 million offer for it. While she has since stopped repeating the claim, she maintained the city “could have gotten a lot more” for the property at Tuesday night’s council meeting.
“You never sell property when the market is down and when values are down and that is exactly what we are doing now,” she said.
The city bought the property in the 1970s to develop a geothermal power plant, a vision that never came to fruition. Gary Gillmor, Lisa Gillmor’s father, brokered that deal.
The buyer, the Washoe Tribe of Nevada, is offering $6 million and has agreed to purchase the land as-is. It will use the land to protect multiple cultural historic sites, wildlife and artifacts located there, according to a presentation by Manuel Pineda, chief electric utility officer.
Council Member Suds Jain has been a staunch advocate of selling the property, even prior to his time on the council. He initially put the item on the agenda to discuss Loyalton’s sale.
“It is a long time coming,” he said. “It is about time that we are making this move.”
The council unanimously approved the sale.
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