By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
The planned Emerald Bay Resort in Bullhead City remains up in the air after no bids were received in an Arizona State Land Department auction for 294 acres of State land that make up a major portion of the development site.
Developer Britton Lee’s S3 Group, LLC submitted plans for the 493-acre development early last year and requested the auction. AZBEX was the first outlet to report on the plan, which includes a hotel, golf courses, single- and multifamily residential, a tennis center, a marina, a beach club, storage, assorted commercial, and a sports & science academy. (AZBEX; April 19, 2024)
A local news outlet confirmed the latest cancellation/postponement marks the third time the property north of the Mohave Crossroads shopping center and west of Mohave Community College has come up for auction with no bid being submitted.
ASLD representatives adjourned the auction after there were no bidders signed up and they determined there would be no eligible offers. The Department has rescheduled the auction for July 8.
The auction was first scheduled for March 19. That auction failed to produce any bidders.
S3 was involved in negotiations with the Colorado River Union High School District for a part of the auction site adjacent to a District facility. Last year, CRUHSD considered buying either five, 10 or 15 acres next to its fieldhouse for future use. The District approved negotiations with S3 because the developer was interested in procuring four acres of its land for Emerald Bay.
After the first auction was aborted, it was replanned as part of a three-property auction April 23. District officials met with S3’s statutory agent earlier in April and voted to accept a land donation as part of a land swap. S3 failed to show for the April 23 auction, and there were again no qualified bidders. It was speculated the legal agreement between S3 and CRUHSD had not been finalized, and the auction was postponed until June.
Neither S3 nor ASLD provided any explanation for the latest no-show.
Developer Has a Troubled History
Britton Lee is the lone member of S3 Group and serves as its Principal, as well as a related entity known as S3 Biotech.
S3 Biotech had previously been the developer of a master-planned mixed-use project in Maricopa. With an estimated development value of more than $760M, District 3 at Copper Sky was planned to include a specialty emergency hospital with 25 beds and at least 100KSF of space for medical services, ambulatory surgeries, lab and office space. Other planned uses for the space included apartments/condos, a sports stadium, a training facility and a physical therapy center. (AZBEX; June 15, 2022)
Following a lack of project updates and repeatedly missed deadlines, the City of Maricopa ultimately terminated its agreements with S3 Biotech and Copper Sky Hotel and Residential Group and found the companies in default. They were ordered to vacate the property and remove all fencing and equipment. (AZBEX; Nov. 21, 2023)
S3 Biotech then submitted an updated preapplication in an attempt to put the development back on track. The City terminated the development agreement a second time a few months later and alleged the company and its partners failed to meet the terms of its purchase and sale agreement.
