Lajitas Article From B-O-S-T-O-N Of All Places...

[SHANEA]

Of all places to have an article on the Big Bend Country....

http://tinyurl.com/o27pe

Or
Boston Globe article on Lajitas

Gotta wonder how long it will be before Steve Smith tosses in the towl, licks his wounds, and heads back to Dallas.  The red ink has to stop sometime.  Deep pockets or not, you got to know when to say when and cut your losses.

Ok, so when Lajitas is "sold off" or abandoned, or files for CH7 then what?  There was a reason Lajitas failed the first time around.  If the state of Texas had some funds, might be able to enlarge BBRSP or maybe the natl. governement could buy it up for another arm of BBNP.  Of course, that's wishfull thinking.  Maybe we all could cash in our 401K's and open it back up as an old west town with Ms. Kitty, Marshall Dillon, etc. and cater to the common folk.

[randell]

I just can't imagine that area supporting 1,000 houses filled with the wealthy.  I can't wait until this whole project flops.  Party at my house when the Smith goes bankrupt!   :twisted:

[10ftTall&BulletPrf]

I'll bid a buck for one of those houses.  

[bdann]

Party at my house when the Smith goes bankrupt!   :twisted:

right on!  i'll bring the beer.

[TheWildWestGuy]

Thanks for posting that link, very interesting reading, he is losing almost as much every year as it cost to buy it in the first place.  He has sold only a handfull of homes even though he has been pitching them for years.  In my experience employee's outnumber customers 3:1 except during Spring Break.  Hard to believe this guys a billionaire with such a stupid business model.   Here's some Econ 101 Advice for Mr. Smith - rich guys can fly anywhere and spend their $$ in places like Vegas or Palm Springs, they are never going to come to the boondock desert of Big Bend.  If they do come they won't stay long and they won't come back.  No strippers, no famous people, no shock and awe, no flash, no TV crews, nothing much but desert and solitude and rich guys don't go for that!  The new planned development near Study Butte which will cater to more non "exclusive" people will be the final blow for Lajitas,   Time to turn back into a ghost town (in this case a ghost town with a fancy new airport that nobody uses).  Only a total idiot would buy anything there (in my opinion at least)... TWWG

[Roger, Roger (no login)]

You guys don't get it... I don't think he's trying to make money on the place.  It's a toy to him.  He's got guests coming, and is trying to sell real estate, but only to pull in a little revenue for his toy.  But in the end it doesn't matter to him.  The only thing that will make him leave would be for him to get bored with it.  In which case some other wealthy person or comglomerate will buy it.  
WildWestGuy, you've got it wrong about rich people.  People that want famous faces, flash, and all that crap aren't rich...they want to be rich.  When you're truly rich, you want to get away from that stuff.  Hence, a billionaire like Steve Smith visits a place like Lajitas and decides to buy it.  Jeff Bezos, Brad Kelley, and John Poindexter have all done the same thing in West Texas to varying degrees, and with different motives.  Mick Jagger actually tried to buy Cibolo Creek Ranch outside Marfa after staying out there for a month.  Those examples should tell you something.

[SHANEA]

You are right, I don't understand why people post comments and opinions as a guest and then expect me to place any weight on the view - where is Barbara Walters when you need her - Baba Walter that is...   :lol:

Since, I'm not materially overly wealthy, I just don't get it.  Slide me a few million bucks and let me try it out so if I can see the other point of view...   :lol:  

[Roger, Roger]

Sorry, that was my post.  I thought I was logged in when I did it.

I don't have millions of dollars either, but if I did, one of the first things I would do would be to drive out to West Texas and find myself a big ranch.  That's the point I was trying to make in the second part of my statement...some rich people really do want to get away from it all.  Just like some not-so-rich people!

That probably speaks more about the general rise in the price of scenic and remote land in the U.S. (it's not just West Texas land that's being bid up) than specifically about the Lajitas case, but it's the same basic idea.

[TheWildWestGuy]

OK I see your point, they want more than flash.  They want a Prada shoe store in the middle of nowhere which they can drive by and laugh at -like some funny joke on the locals.  Most of these A**holes are about Mick Jaggers age so I am hoping they all die off and sell their little toys in the next 10 years or so.   Let them go back to California or Austin - we all know what's been happening in those places.  Hopefully the desert will win in the end (it usually does).  I will know its all over with for the real Big Bend if the Stillwells ever sell their property to a mini-ranch developer,  I am sure they have been asked more than once.. TWWG

[SHANEA]

There is/was/might be some land transaction between TPWD and the Texas Perm. Fund (it's late, can't think of the actual name of the state agency) - was going to be a land swap between BGWMA horse canyon of TPWD and some land "inholdings" in BGWMA from the Texas Perm. Fund.  I wounder if the Texas Perm Fund would be willing to sell off Horse Canyon?  Might be a good place for a little community if/when the La Linda bridge ever reopens.