A parcel consisting of about 269 acres of State Trust land will be auctioned Wednesday, and if sold would bring at least $54 million to benefit K-12 public education in Arizona, State Land Commissioner Lisa Atkins announced.

The subject property, east of 56th Street and north of Deer Valley Drive, northeast of Desert Ridge Marketplace in Phoenix, will be auctioned at 11 a.m. Wednesday, April 25, in the auditorium at the Arizona State Land Department, 1616 W. Adams St., Phoenix. 

Included are more than 36 additional acres of right of way for public road and underground utilities. The total appraised value of the subject property is $54 million. An additional $19 million is payable on this subject property for Rawhide Wash Flood Control Improvements.

The auction is open to the public.

An auction notice containing bidding information as well as a schedule of upcoming auctions is available at www.azland.gov/upcoming-auctions.

The successful auction amount from this sale on April 25 will be placed in a permanent fund whose proceeds benefit Arizona’s K-12 public schools. The fund is administered by the Arizona State Treasurer. 

Public education is by far the largest beneficiary 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 Trust’s 13 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 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.