The Turkey Track Ranch in the Texas Panhandle is a land of river frontage, ponds, pasture, mesas and a historic marker advising that this is the site of Colonel Christopher “Kit” Carson’s last fight.
A Dallas-based ranch and land broker with a track record of selling high-end properties has bundled the natural resources, history and rich heritage of the 80,000-acre spread and put it on the market with a $200 million asking price.
Bernard Uechtritz, founder of Icon Global Group, said he came up with the price in much the same manner that he used to market the WT Waggoner Ranch for a record $725 million list price a few years ago.
“I have not valued the Turkey Track in the conventional manner, which is on a per acre basis of comparable value sale,” Uechtritz said in an interview with the Dallas Business Journal. “I evaluated by its uniqueness and its scarcity and its one-of-a-kind values. Both the Waggoner and the Turkey Track are incomparable. There are no other ranches like them.”
For views of the Turkey Track, click through the photo gallery here.
The sale includes a 40% stake of mineral ownership and revenues from a number of existing oil and gas wells, as well as further development potential for more, Uechtritz said. Wind and solar rights will also convey, along with all agricultural and domestic water assets. Operating equipment and intellectual property, name and brand are included in the offering.
Uechtritz called it “The Oasis of the Panhandle” because of its water abundance, with some 26 miles of Canadian River frontage. Seven creeks and multiple reservoirs, springs, sub-irrigated bottomland and lakes are on the property, he said.
“The Turkey Track has tremendous oil and gas revenues, tremendous pastures, tremendous wildlife, tremendous grassy plains for cattle and runs a profitable cattle operation every year,” Uechtritz said. “It has an amazing amount of water — more water than any other ranch that I know about, and I've seen a few. This has got seven creeks. It's got all these reservoirs, and it's got all these lakes.”
Ranch properties in Texas, especially big ranches, are hot, Uechtritz said.
“I would say generally there's been more large parcels of land trade hands in the last 24 months than ever before in history,” he said.
The statewide average price for rural land hit $3,433 per acre in the second quarter of this year, according to data from the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University. Total dollar volume for rural land sales added up to a record $2.35 billion, 93% higher than in the second quarter of 2020. A record annualized 685,585 acres changed hands in the second quarter.
In the case of the Turkey Track, Capital Farm Credit, part of the nationwide Farm Credit System, is positioned to underwrite and finance the property in the upcoming sale process.
“Our appraisal and lending team recently toured the ranch by ground and air, unanimously reporting its wildlife, livestock and resource diversification as best-in-class,” said Phil Peabody, Capital Farm Credit’s chief lending officer.
The Turkey Track has been owned by the Whittenburg and Coble families for more than 120 years.
“Generations of Cobles and Whittenburgs have created lifetimes of memories on the Turkey Track,” the Whittenburg and Coble families said in a statement. “Due to our family's increasing numbers and geographical distances, we recognize that it is time to find a new steward for this historic holding.”
More from the DBJ:
- Texas rural land rush pushes prices to record highs
- Fairfield property with state's largest private lake on sale for $110.55M (Photos)
- Photos: Take a peek at newly on-sale Clear Branch Ranch, just outside Waco
- Photos: See the nearly 700-acre ranch for sale in Parker County for $14.25 million
- Gone country: Texas land sales, prices boom to record levels
