California desert town being sold for $5 million
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| The historic Hotel Nipton is included in the Nipton town site now for sale. |
KTNV Las Vegas
A For Sale sign is up in front of the entire town of Nipton, California.
The sale includes the 80 acres of land, all the buildings, and the fields of solar panels.
Buyers are looking at the small desert community just across the state line for its environmental sustainability and its potential for development.
Six people live in Nipton full-time. They like the isolation.
"It's quiet except for the trains, and I don't even hear the trains anymore," said Jim Eslinger, who lives in Nipton with his girlfriend. "I sleep right through them."
Tony Castrignano with Sky Mesa Realty and Capital is the man tasked with selling the town.
For $5 million, the buyer gets the country store, the RV campgrounds, the Nipton hotel and the solar panels that allow Nipton to operate at 50 percent off the grid.
"You can take it to the resource and tourism industry or you can take it into a more commercial industry or a combination of both," Castrignano said.
He said potential buyers have talked about building housing, selling solar power, growing organic food and turning the community into a tourist hot spot.
"If you own the town you can call yourself the mayor if you want to because you have all the votes," Castrignano said.
He says there are about six serious buyers looking at Nipton right now, which include both individuals and companies.
