For the next generation of property owners, sprawling Colorado ranches require too much upkeep and expense

By Katherine Clarke

Aug. 22, 2019 11:25 am ET

Decades ago, a generation of America’s wealthiest, raised on television shows like “Howdy Doody” and “The Lone Ranger,” headed west with dreams of owning some of the country’s most prestigious ranches. Now, as those John Wayne- loving baby boomers age out of the lifestyle or die, they or their children are looking to sell those trophy properties.

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That generational changing of the guard has led to an oversupply of ultraluxury ranches on the market. Nowhere is the glut more apparent than in Colorado, where some of the biggest and most storied properties are located.

Jeff Buerger, a local ranch broker with Hall & Hall in Colorado, said there are more large trophy ranches on the market right now than he can recall in his nearly three decades in the business. There are about 20 ranches priced at over $20 million on the market in the state, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of listings.

Some of Colorado’s most prominent listings include a nearly 12,000-acre ranch near Meeker, owned by retired professional golfer Greg Norman, which has been for sale since 2011; it is listed for $50 million. Henry Kravis, the billionaire co-founder of private-equity giant KKR , put his Colorado ranch, known as Westlands, on the market for $46 million in January. Discovery Channel founder John Hendricks relisted his ranch near the Utah border, plus an adjacent resort, for $279 million in May. (He and his wife, Maureen Hendricks, first put the property on the market for $149 million two years ago; that price didn’t include the resort.)

A Big Colorado Ranch Near the Big City

Within 60 miles of downtown Denver, South Comanche Ranch is nearly 18,000 acres.

Close up of an entrance.

Tom Bradbury and his sister Lisa Beauprez at their family’s ranch near Byers, Colo.

Known as the South Comanche Ranch, it is on the market for $22 million.

Cattle

The property is nearly 18,000 acres.

The property is located is located within 60 miles of downtown Denver.

The ranch has numerous pastures.

The property is also home to antelope, mule deer and elk.

Mr. Bradbury’s father originally assembled the ranch. Now Mr. Bradbury and his siblings are selling it.

Tom Bradbury and his sister Lisa Beauprez at their family’s ranch near Byers, Colo.REBECCA STUMPF FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

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Despite a strong local economy, buoyed by tourism, the aerospace industry and the cannabis industry, the surge in supply has led to a lack of urgency from buyers—and is putting downward pressure on prices. Some ranches have sat on the market for years. “Savvy investors... take their time to compare and contrast. They get analysis paralysis,” Mr. Buerger said.

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For the children of ranchers, the Wild West doesn’t always have the same draw as it had for their parents. Ranch operations are labor intensive, and keeping up with costs can be a struggle. And grandchildren would often rather play videogames and hang out with their friends than go fly-fishing in the wilderness.

“If you look back in the day to the ’70s and ’80s, there were these guys...raised with this mythology of the West,” said Ken Mirr, a local ranch broker. “It was attachment to something Hollywood produced. Their children aren’t necessarily always as interested in operating the properties. Sometimes the kids just see cows and think ‘What should I do with this?’”

Many of the ranches have sprawling mountainous landscapes, forests, meadows, rivers, fisheries and big-game-hunting facilities. Mr. Kravis’s has its own golf course. Operating costs vary dramatically, depending on how much infrastructure ranchers have on their land and the level of agricultural activity but can often be millions a year.

A Sprawling Colorado Ranch with Log Mansion

Near the ski resorts of Steamboat Springs, Cross Mountain Ranch comes with a roughly 11,000-square-foot home and more than 220,000 acres.

Ms. Krukowski with a horse on the ranch.

Cross Mountain Ranch is on the market for $70 million.

The property was purchased by Cary Krukowski’s parents nearly three decades ago.

The kitchen in the main Cross Mountain ranch lodge.

The stove.

A dining area.

The lodge is about 11,000 square feet.

An office.

A bar area.

The main lodge has nine bedrooms.

An entrance to the property.

The exterior.

The land spans more than 220,000 acres.

Cross Mountain Ranch is on the market for $70 million.TONI AXELROD FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

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And ranching is an increasingly tough business. The increasing expense of upkeep and infrastructure, coupled with the declining price of beef, is squeezing ranchers on both ends, experts said.

“I know a lot of multimillionaires who run cattle and still lose millions of dollars a year,” said Tony Caligiuri of Colorado Open Lands, a land-conservancy group. “One guy I talked to recently in oil and gas said he’s hoping to get his loss down to $1 million a year. His ranch hasn’t turned a profit the whole time he owned it.” In some ways, wealthy ranchers who can afford losses are keeping the industry afloat, Mr. Caligiuri said.

Cary Krukowski, seen here, and her siblings decided to sell the family ranch after struggling to keep up with its day-to-day cattle and hunting operations. PHOTO: TONI AXELROD FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Nearly three decades ago, California real-estate developer Ronald Boeddeker and his wife, Kitty Boeddeker, bought a sprawling property close to the ski resorts of Steamboat Springs. “My father grew up as a rancher in California, and just loved the outdoors and horses,” said Cary Krukowski, Mr. Boeddeker’s daughter and a Denver-based concert and events promoter. “He was a farmer at heart.”

The Boeddekers relished the ranch for years, fishing and white-water rafting, and building an 11,000-square-foot log mansion and a hunting lodge.

“Sometimes the kids just see cows and think ‘What should I do with this?’” —Ken Mirr, ranch broker

Mr. Boeddeker died in 2010. The children, who are in their 40s and 50s and are spread all over the country, struggled to keep up with day-to-day cattle and hunting operations on a property that is larger than all the boroughs of New York City combined. They decided to sell. Ms. Krukowski and her siblings listed the roughly 221,000-acre ranch for $100 million in 2017, but have since lowered the price to $70 million.

As a child growing up in Durango, Colo., David R. Duncan, a winery owner based in Napa, remembers his father Ray Duncan ’s attraction to the cowboy lifestyle. “He was always reading a book on cattle science. I remember it had a red cover and seemed about 4 inches thick.”

At that time, there was a fascination with ranching, which had been glamorized by the likes of business magnates like T. Boone Pickens and Ted Turner. “I have a picture of my dad sitting on a horse wearing a V-neck cashmere sweater and a cowboy hat,” laughed Mr. Duncan, 53.

Ray Duncan died in 2015; the family ranch—Diamond Tail Ranch near Jelm, Colo.—is on the market for $44.9 million.

Owners Tony and Jennifer Lamantia take a stroll on Big Creek Ranch. PHOTO: BRENT BINGHAM FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Most ranchers are secretive about what they paid for their properties, and public records are largely opaque, making it hard to determine the value of these ranches. “In ranching and farming, you never tell anyone how many cattle you have or how many acres you have,” said Tom Bradbury, a Denver real-estate developer whose family is listing their South Comanche Ranch near Byers for $22 million.

Hall & Hall agent Brian Smith said he believes the highest number ever paid for a Colorado ranch was $175 million. That record was set in 2007 when the Forbes family sold their more than 170,000-acre ranch in Southern Colorado to hedge-fund manager Louis Bacon, a spokesman for Mr. Bacon confirmed. More recently, William Bruce Harrison, a scion of one of Texas’ largest oil fortunes, paid roughly $70 million for an 83,000-acre ranch in Colorado’s San Luis Valley known as Cielo Vista in 2017, according to people familiar with the deal. While the price represented a significant discount to its $105 million asking price, the sale was still a major transaction for the market.

“At the end of the day, land is the one thing that can never be reproduced. It’s always going to be a great place to park capital.” —Jeff Buerger, local ranch broker with Hall & Hall in Colorado

For many sellers, it is a waiting game. Ranch broker Christy Belton is listing Big Creek Ranch, a 4,850-acre property near Steamboat Springs, for $39.9 million. It was first listed for $59 million a decade ago, and has been on and off the market several times since.

Ms. Belton said the initial price was much too high, especially since they were hit soon after with the financial crisis, which sent the value of recreational ranches plummeting. “Hindsight is 20/20,” she said.

Tom Bradbury, a Denver real-estate developer, and his family are listing South Comanche Ranch for $22 million. PHOTO: REBECCA STUMPF FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Owner Greg Lamantia, a 62-year-old Texas beer distributor who bought the property with his family almost two decades ago, said he can be patient. They were testing the market initially, he said. Now, they’re more serious. “If it doesn’t happen, we’ll just take it off the market and enjoy it some more,” he said.

Unlike other sectors of the U.S. high-end real-estate market, ranches can’t fall back on international purchasers. Broker Tim Murphy said there is virtually no demand for ranches from international buyers, many of whom “don’t get it.”

For ultrawealthy out-of-town owners, these ranches are frequently geared toward fishing and hunting. But some want the experience of actually herding cattle and plowing fields—and often face lower property taxes if they engage in agricultural activities. Others lease some of their land to local ranchers. “They have high-stress, fast-paced lives,” Ms. Belton said. “When they can spend some time going around and around on a tractor, it’s cathartic.”

A Texas Family’s Colorado Ranch

Near Steamboat Springs, Big Creek Ranch is owned by the Lamantia family, who are in the beer-distribution business.

An exterior look at the lodge.

The Lamantia family’s Big Creek Ranch is on the market for $39.9 million.

The family is in the beer distribution business in Texas.

The kitchen in the main house.

The living room has a large stone fireplace.

A bedroom is stacked with bunk beds.

The main house has eight bedrooms.

A view from the terrace.

A creek.

A path runs through the nearly 5,000-acre property.

Tony and Jennifer Lamantia take a stroll on the ranch.

Cattle grazing on the ranch.

A barn on the property.

The Lamantias stand near an outdoor fire pit.

The Lamantia family’s Big Creek Ranch is on the market for $39.9 million.BRENT BINGHAM FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

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As the cowboy romance fades, sellers are also trying a new tack: targeting conservationists.

“The last wave of buyers was the baby boomers who fell in love with John Wayne and wanted that experience for themselves,” Mr. Buerger said. “Today, it’s more about conservation. You’re starting to hear more landowners talking about wildlife habitat enhancement and ecological work.” Other targeted groups include wealthy families from the East Coast or Silicon Valley.

Hall & Hall’s Mr. Buerger said he is ultimately optimistic about the market, provided the economy is good. “At the end of the day, land is the one thing that can never be reproduced. It’s always going to be a great place to park capital.”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4329248&forum_id=2#38731288)