ALLEGRETTI FARMS CASE STUDY

 

Property 2,400 Acres of Farmland in Western Imperial Valley known as Allegretti Farms
Type of Transaction Purchase Option
Term Five Years (Three Years with 2 Extensions)
Final Purchase Price $5,000,000
Total Option Consideration Paid $250,000 over 5 years
Total Revenue Received From Back-to-Back Options and Sale of Option $750,000
Outcome

The optionees (Solana Energy Farms) sold their option to Green Light Energy Development. This resulted in a sequence of developers handling permitting and contracting until Duke Energy Renewables acquired the project in July 2015.

The EPC was a Canadian company, Kruger.

The offtakers are San Diego Gas & Electric and the Imperial Irrigation District.

The system is a 60 Megawatt (DC) single axis array spread over 400 acres. 

A new 90MW project is underway by Sunpin Solar and the offtaker is the Imperial Irrigation District.

Summary of Transaction The transaction produced a net profit of $500,000. An alternative scenario would have been to exercise the option and then lease to a prospective solar developer. During the last year, we had a solar developer and land buyer seeking the property for a specific development and therefore we sold our position at the time for a favorable overall profit.
Alternative Use Underlying the property is a significant water resource. However, the transfer of water and the rights thereto proved to be too risky to undertake. The intended beneficiary was Borrego Springs. Its water rights are now being adjudicated by the state of California.
Optionees Lane Sharman and Jan Stubbs as owners of Aguasol LLC and Solana Energy Farms LLC.