Well I've seen very lucrative developments spring up out of "nothingness" farmland hereabouts over the last 45 years.
Hang the expense of running services to the property, it's apparently worth it in the long run, and frequently the local govs are cooperative. Gunbarrel Estates NW of Boulder CO comes to mind immediately, but there've been others.
One developer pulled a fancy (and quite legal) trick by optioning the water rights on the property for a relative pittance, selling the option to the City (which is always buying water rights) at a handsome profit, then using the proceeds from that sale as a down payment for the property itself, then proceeded to develop it. By nowadays, that procedure might have become a standard operation, but at the time it was innovative for the area. Kind of a stepladder/bootstrap operation, but if you have the balls, it can be done.
So, just 'cause a fitting property is out in the middle of nowhere, it doesn't mean it can't and won't be developed. Just depends on how the $s work out. (A lot depends on the mineral rights, too.)
If any part of those huge ranches is in actual ownership, and is near some pretty hills and/or a pretty stream and also within, say 5 or 10 miles of a major road, it might be very feasible to develop that portion. And the local govs are usually pretty cooperative about it, considering the increase in the tax base... both in terms of property taxes and the sales tax revenue accompanying the necessary development of retail and service centers near the residential areas. Developers can also sell or donate "Development Rights" to portions of the property to the local govs so they can make recreational areas, trails, etc., out of them. Another possible $ source, and the costs of putting in trails and shelters and trash cans in the rec area is borne by the local govs... yet this becomes an amenity for your development.
As the saying goes, "Buy land. They ain't makin' any more of it."
Terry Trump, 230RN
