Ghost Parcels of land in El Paso

[G Pyros]

 I am trying to gather more information about East El Paso development. I came across Horizon Corp. and The Colonial Act of 1994. What I have gathered is Far East El Paso is land locked obviously to the north because of Fort Bliss being federal government land, and to the east because of these ghost parcels of land, what was really interesting is the satellite imagery of these ghost parcels of land, subdivisions laid out with parcels of land and streets, even names of streets, however these were bought and sold throughout 60's to the mid 70's through Horizon Corp. (Hence the city name , Horizon City) and from what I gather can not be sold because of The Colonial Act of 1994. Even without the law, developing this land would be rather difficult and expensive because of the many multiple owners, with the law, it makes it next to impossible to sell because of the law requires development land to have utilities in place. 

Back to Horizon Corp apparently from 1962 to 1975 Horizon Corp aggressively sold plots of land for thousand dollars a piece but the El Paso Central Apprasial District later determined the land was worth $10/acre. Now with land owners all over the country and potential the world, this makes a unique situation.

How does this affect growth in East El Paso? I feel that it will sooner or later slow the new construction that has been happening in Far East El Paso and maybe some value appreciation.

I am not an urban developer and just learning about these laws, when I first moved here and searching google maps I noticed these "subdivisions" layouts and thought it was future development.

Any Thoughts??

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/06/realestate/high-...

http://www.har.com/blog_19510_HORIZON-CITY-Near-El...

https://makeloveland.com/blog/the-ghost-parcels-of-el-paso

[Laci J.]

http://kfoxtv.com/news/special-assignments/ghost-lots-how-real-estate-development-gone-wrong-could-affect-el-paso-county-growth