Hi Everyone

We're sending out our final offers for RV and Park Model spots at Granite Gap at the pre-construction prices of $2,500 for an RV and observatory site and $14,500 for a Park Model and observatory site. The Park Models have been upgraded in size to a  460 sq ft unit so it’s a great deal.

We will open shortly.  Final roads and pads complete this week and it’s time for everyone to enjoy a beautiful fall season in New Mexico.

We've sent a number of documents for review to perspective Lessee’s and now are asking that anyone interested please let us know so we can finalize the phase 1 numbers. It looks like we'll need to open phase 2 sometime early winter to accommodate demand.

Just as an aside, we have been working closely with New Mexico Tech, (NMT) which directs the radio telescope complexes of the  VLA (Very Large Array) and EVLA (Extended Very Large Array) www.vla.nrao.edu   https://science.nrao.edu/facilities/evla  in Socorro New Mexico about 4 hours from  Granite Gap.

Granite Gap patrons now have direct access and personal invitations to visit NMT facilities for inside tours at not only their radio facilities but also Magdalena Ridge which houses a 2.4 meter visual scope and soon to be 10, 1.4 meter scopes connected through an elaborate interferometer array. This system will represent one of the most powerful arrays in the world.  www.mro.nmt.edu/Home/index.htm 

We have our first group of 10 people from Granite Gap heading for Magdalena Ridge on Friday September 30^th, look for their reports regarding facilities and activities. Festivities start at noon and carry over to a barbeque and viewing session.

In addition to affiliations with NMT in the US we are also working out the logistics with NMT to open several  New Horizons West and Granite Gap operated educational facilities and observatories in Botswana Africa. At latitudes of 22 to 24 degrees south the Southern Hemisphere will be readily accessible both remotely and personally by our Granite Gap group. Stay tuned for the details of this exciting opportunity for an “Astro-Safari ” by traveling to Africa or remotely operating observatories from Granite Gap. This project just keeps getting better.

Namibia Africa has long been a European astrophotograper’s destination and Botswana is right  next door.

www.astrostudio.at/namibia.php

Please don't hesitate to contact us with questions about Granite Gap and we hope to see you soon.

Take care,

Gene Turner

Granite Gap Update “Finally”!!

September 14, 2011

Hi Everyone,

We’re rounding the clubhouse turn and heading for the finish line in getting Granite Gap up and running so September and October will see the first influx of Lessee’s in the RV spots. Park Models are a bit more complex because of the permanent nature of the septics but nonetheless we will see openings in October. For those of you investing in our onsite Park Models,  please  know that we have designed and ordered a more spacious and enhanced version equipped with washer and dryers.  I’ll send everyone a picture as soon as the first ones are off of the manufacturing line.

The internet tower bases (and electricity) are installed, both at the Rancho Hidalgo location (the fiber optic source) and now at Granite Gap. We are working with Scott Mecca for tower completion.

It’s very important to know that over the past few months we have been spreading rich and low dust aggregate base road and site dirt over the entire project. One of the issues in a high desert environment is dust mitigation and as we did in our other development Arizona Sky Village we covered the “fluffy stuff” with gravel based dirt. Nothing keeps dust down entirely but this should improve the situation by 70 to 80%. As you can tell I really love this dirt, a good non dusty base is critical to the years of use.

We’re through electrical trenching and piping the RV section opening up 50 spots and the Model residences and will trench the observatory sites this week as well. Columbus Electric is next and then let’s light the candle. Water has been on site all along as most of you have watched the pumping of the lakes and we will trench into the site this week as well.  Septics are an ongoing work in progress with State permits etc. and we’ll have pumping stations at first but will quickly catch up with installations at sites, be assured.

Tony and Sheila, our managers have been really busy tending our vineyard at Rancho Hidalgo and creating a world class birding destination at Granite Gap. Next year we expect to be a top 10 spot for birding in the US. Portal AZ our sister community is a top 5 location so it’s highly probable that our lakes will attract an enormous bird population. Keep track of Tony and Sheila’s exploits with birds and dragon flies see their website   www.artfullbirds.com .

I’ll keep pumping out the reports it’s time to dust off those mirrors and head for the Gap!

Take care,

Gene Turner

Granite Gap Recap

Construction update as of January 20, 2011:

The new year has started similar to the end of 2010, with an increasing pace of construction at Granite Gap. With a majority of the spaces filled in Phase 1 we are continuing to wrap up. Anyone who contacted us prior to year’s end will have the opportunity to close at the 2010 prices.
We've had some delays from Columbus Electric with the final engineering of the electrical layout but as of January 15th the engineering firm SGS Engineering out of Lubbock has concluded its audit. Our electrical engineering group should start trenching sometime this week.
We have started the remodeling of the initial clubhouse on site and have the walls built for the new clubhouse going in 100 yards to the South, located at the North perimeter of Observatory Row. 17 observatories are under construction with another 8 under contract so astronomy has begun in earnest. We anticipate high speed internet to the observatory sites in February as all the planning has been complete and thanks to Jim Pierce a Granite Gap purchaser for helping to design the system.
Lakes are continuing to flourish and the wildlife increases daily except for the cold spells. The winter has been very mild which has kept demand at a maximum.
The BIGGEST news is that the 1st phase of the planetarium/mineral complex is breaking ground February 5th with an all star cast onsite for the dedication and to help usher in the inaugural activities of the Eugene Shoemaker Discovery Park.  David Eicher and Michael Bakich from Astronomy Magazine, Jack Newton and David Levy will all be on site at Granite Gap for a day of festivities. I'm sure you can read about it on Astronomy Magazine’s web site as David Eicher reports the events. Quite a few of the Granite Gap patrons will be here as well. We've cleared airspace to 25,000 feet for our amateur rocket launches of The International Amateur Space Port (IASP). You've got to stay tuned for that, we're one of the few organizations in the US with a flight control building (see picture attached). There again our flight director is a Granite Gap patron, Kevin Koski. Schools from around New Mexico will be in attendance, what an education to be had for all of us.
I will conclude with some pictures of the observatories and the launch facilities and inventory.
A reminder that anyone who has contacted us but has not yet committed to a leased property should get in touch with us ASAP to keep the 1st phase price structure in place. Prices have gone up to $3,500 for a six month land lease and $16,000 for a six month Park Model lease for all new inquiries.
That means that everyone who has signed up so far has made money. Demand is still excellent especially with the good weather and continuing fabulous skies.
Thank you all again for your faith in the project, we're working hard to get up and running.

I can assure you!

Gene Turner

Development

Latest Update

December 5, 2010

Hi Everyone,

Hopefully the age old addage of "No News is Good News" will get us back on track with everyone. Over the last few months we have signed up close to 200 people to 6 month leases for the 125 RV sites as well as Park Models in phase 1. Pad materials have been delivered and pads are being constructed. Water has been run onsite with 30 units functional in anticipation of completion of all 125 sites in two weeks. The water testing is complete and we will post the results shortly. As our testing engineer put it, he has not encountered water of such high quality anywhere in the Southwest, so that's a great endorsement. Valley Telecom is running high speed wiring this week with the trenching complete to the observatories week and completion of all sites by the end of December. Hard wiring the site for Internet is a good thing and exceeds the capacity of the original microwaved units. Electricity was delayed a bit because our coop provider, Columbus Electric needed to complete a load analysis for the present and future sites in order to assure us of adequate load. So it was worth the wait I assure you. Realistically we will have plenty of sites available for the first of the year. In the mean time everyone who wanted to check out the site, about 40 couples, pulled their RV's into our Rancho Hidalgo setups temporarily and we have had a great time with my 30". I'll get some postings from satisfied customers regarding the skies. We'll post some more pictures shortly especially showing the progress of the observatories going in. 12 roll off buildings are under contract with 6 slated for completion by month’s end. The 15 X 15 model with warm room has been the predominant choice. Please don't hesitate to call Loy Guzman, for questions, 575-548-0067 or to make reservations to come see us. Phase one sales are coming to an end this month but I assure you that we are working 24/7 to get up and running and everyone in at this point will be happy to see that the prices will double in about a month. 
Thank you for your patience and I look forward to meeting everyone soon.

Take care,
Gene Turner