MOSES LAKE — There’s nothing at Neppel Estates yet, but there could be. 

“Our client is a developer that bought the property years and years ago with the idea that he was going to develop the lot,” said John Rosenthal, president of Realty Marketing Northwest, which has the property listed for auction. “He’s over in western Washington and he doesn’t want to spend more time … he wants to get it unloaded on an as-is basis.” 

Neppel Estates is halfway between Ephrata and the Grant County International Airport just off SR 17. It’s subdivided into 39 one-acre homesites plus a six-acre lot. One of the homesites is already purchased, according to the auction listing, but has not been developed. 

The area is zoned for five-acre residential lots, according to the auction materials, but the plat was recorded and approved by the county in 1996 before those regulations were adopted, so the smaller homesites are grandfathered in.  

The lots aren’t ready to go, but can be prepped as homesites. 

“Whoever buys it is going to have to spend money buying the water rights, which a water rights consultant told (the client) would probably be less than $5,000 per lot,” Rosenthal said. “And then, of course, you'd have to put in the roads and on-site septic.” 

The property is listed with a reserve bid of $395,000, a substantial decrease from the county’s real market value of a little over $1.5 million, according to the auction listing. The terms are a 25% down payment and 4.75% interest payable over four years. 

The site’s location near the Port of Moses Lake and the various manufacturing facilities located there means Neppel Estates would make good workforce housing, Rosenthal said. 

“You can develop these lots and sell manufactured homes, or put manufactured homes on the lot and rent them,” he said. 

More information can be found at www.rmnw-auctions.com. 

    Neppel Estates has the potential to provide housing for 39 families between Ephrata and Moses Lake.