It was not cheap to purchase, and it was a lot of work,” Barr said. “The property had been in the courts for 12 years. He also put a lot of hours into managing the land - not just cleaning things up, but also doing a thorough environmental analysis, funding road maintenance and clearing up confusion about the title, among a variety of figurative and literal messes that surrounded the property. The initial price reflected what the property was. They talked it over, and Barr is now selling them the property for $2.4 million.īarr says it was never his plan to flip his property for a relatively quick million-dollar profit. Over the course of their conversations, staffers told Barr about their vision for the property - as a large public park. As the woods cooled from the disaster, Barr reached out to Sempervirens for guidance on how he could be the best steward possible. After that, the property needed some additional work. It took Barr a year to navigate the complicated purchasing process and complete the $1.3 million sale, as Kaylor was moving out. It might even be the first part of the park to open, she says. She and her colleagues would love to see it be added to Big Basin. That’s part of why Sempervirens is in the process of purchasing the land this month.īarth says her group’s goal is to donate the “Gateway property,” as it’s being called, to California State Parks.

It even has flat areas that would be perfect for picnic areas and campgrounds.Īlso, unlike neighboring Big Basin State Park, the property survived the 2020 CZU Complex fire relatively unscathed. When Sara Barth walks around a 153-acre property near the entrance to Big Basin Redwoods State Park, she finds herself staring up at the canopy and daydreaming.īarth, the executive director of the nonprofit Sempervirens Fund, says the property has everything people love about the Santa Cruz Mountains: redwood trees, Douglas firs, riparian areas and a great diversity of animal wildlife. The Sempervirens Fund is closing in on a purchase of a 153-acre property near Big Basin Redwoods State Park - a development that could reopen at least part of the region devastated by the CZU Lightning Complex fire in 2020. Lookout in the Classroom Open dropdown menu.

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Santa cruz county land for sale