Pederson Group Inc. successfully bid $7.2 million today for about 23 acres of State Trust Land in Phoenix at the northwest corner of 35th Avenue and Happy Valley Road, State Land Commissioner Lisa A. Atkins said. 

Phoenix-based Pederson Group’s successful bid amount at the Arizona State Land Department auction was $2.58 million more than the subject parcel’s appraised value of $4.62 million, which began Monday’s bidding, Commissioner Atkins said.

“Today’s auction result reflects the continuing growth of Arizona’s economy.  We’re pleased to see another market-ready parcel of State Trust Land be a part of the region’s growth,” Commissioner Atkins said. “Arizona Pioneers’ Home in Prescott and Arizona’s adult and juvenile correctional institutions are the Trust Beneficiaries who benefit from today’s sale of State Trust land.”

The successful bid amount will be deposited into accounts of the Permanent Land Endowment Trust Fund at the Office of the Arizona State Treasurer. The investment accounts are separately designated for the benefit of the Arizona Pioneers’ Home, the Arizona Department of Corrections, and the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections.  

About State Trust land and auctions

K-12 public education is by far the largest of 13 Beneficiaries of Trust Land managed by the Arizona State Land Department, whose mission since 1915 is to manage the assets of a multi-generational perpetual trust in alignment with the interests of the Beneficiaries and Arizona’s future. 

All uses of the land and resources held in the Trust must benefit the Trust, a­­­­ fact that distinguishes it from the way public land, such as parks or national forests, may be used or managed. While public use of Trust Land is not prohibited, it is regulated to ensure protection of the land and its resources and compensation to the Beneficiaries for its use. Today the Arizona State Land Department pro-actively manages more than 9.2 million acres of Trust Land, which is 13 percent of the land within the state of Arizona.

Upcoming Land Department auctions are listed at www.azland.gov/upcoming-auctions.