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Article: Austin, Texas, Developer Buys Resort Town.(Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
- Article date:
- February 25, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Feb. 25--LAJITAS, Texas--Stephen R. Smith, Austin developer, rancher and one of the founders of Excel Communications Inc., purchased the resort town of Lajitas in a dusty corner of Southwest Texas on Thursday for $4.25 million.
He arrived by helicopter at noon, two hours before the auction began for the 2,123-acre resort.
A gripping bidding war between Smith and San Francisco hotelier Manou Mobedshahi ended when a deflated Mobedshahi walked across the crowded Lajitas Saloon and shook Smith's hand shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday.
Smith, patiently answering the questions of people who had never laid eyes upon him, accepted the best wishes of Walter ...