More than 70 people recently flocked to Lobo, Texas, for the chance to own a ghost town for $100,000.
Alexander Bardoff, who with a group of friends bought Lobo in 2001 for $20,000, is looking for a buyer for the ghost town, provided the buyer appreciates its history, The Wall Street Journal reported.
“It was hard for me to let go,” Bardorf told the outlet. “I say to some potential buyers, ‘It’s like Lobo is my kid or our kid, and we want to find good new parents.'”
Potential buyers offered a wide range of ideas for Lobo’s future, including a kangaroo farm, a nudist colony and an escape-room-style attraction where people escape town rather than just their rooms.
Bardoff and two other buyers will decide who is the winning bidder, but Bardoff is the one who meets potential buyers in person.
“Do you respect what I call Lobo’s soul?” Bardorf told the Journal. “You can camp anywhere.”
Lobo’s history dates back to the mid-1800s, when it served as a stopover on the San Antonio to San Diego mail route. The town grew over time, but after its last resident left in 1991, Lobo remained empty until Bardorff and his friends turned it into an arts center, hosting art installations, Film festival and music performances.
The town covers 10 acres and has an empty swimming pool as well as a motel, grocery store and post office, all of which are gone, along with vacant homes.
For many potential buyers, Lobo represents a unique opportunity to create an artsy community or some other unconventional venture.
One musician envisions desert-inspired art and music as the town’s focal point, while others consider building a super-powerful radio tower or establishing sustainable farming and rental properties. Lobo’s serene desert landscape has transformative effect, prompting visitors to appreciate a slower pace of life and the chance to own a piece of history.
“Just being here slows down time,” potential buyer Andrea Alvarez told the media.
The deadline to bid on the town is June 24.
It’s not the only ghost town to hit the market, but it’s one of the cheapest.
A renovated grocery store in Arizona sold for $1.1 million. A marijuana company recently received $2.5 million in ghost town fees from an adult circus.
And, more recently, a mysterious company nicknamed the obscure Ecology Mountain Holdings bought a ghost town in California for $22.5 million, SF Gate report.
— Ted Glazer
