Don Huffines Defends Purchase of Epstein Ranch

Republican candidate for Texas comptroller Don Huffines runs a real estate empire.

It includes the ranch at which child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein intended to “seed the human race with his DNA by impregnating women,” per the New York Times.

Huffines bought the infamous Zorro Ranch outside of Santa Fe in 2023, four years after Epstein’s death. The candidate’s tie to Epstein’s estate hadn’t been revealed until a February 13 report from The Santa Fe New Mexican named him as the buyer, a revelation that came a few days after a state official called for an investigation into allegations that two girls were killed and buried on the property.

After a failed bid for Texas governor in 2022, Huffines paid an undisclosed price for the property, now known as San Rafael Ranch, at an auction to benefit Epstein’s victims. The property includes a 26,700-square-foot mansion, private airstrip, hangar and helipad.

The ranch was listed in 2021 for $27.5 million; the listing price was later reduced to $18 million. The property was appraised for tax purposes at $21.1 million in 2023. Its valuation dropped to $13.4 million in 2024 after Huffines argued its “notoriety” justified a lower valuation, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.

In response to the news, Huffines shared plans to turn the 10,000-acre ranch into a Christian retreat. Huffines also promised to cooperate with law enforcement, as the U.S. The Department of Justice reopens its investigation into the property.

On Dana Loesch’s podcast, the “traditional family values” candidate called the fallout from the news “a political hit job” aimed at his campaign as voters head to the polls for his race’s March 3 primary. The race has Huffines facing off against incumbent Kelly Hancock, the state’s current acting comptroller; Christi Craddick, a Texas Railroad Commissioner; and accountant Michael Berlanga.

Majestic pulls plug on ICE deal

Majestic Realty got spooked out of a deal with ICE after it was reported that the Los Angeles-based industrial developer was in talks to sell a Dallas area warehouse to the federal government for conversion into a detention facility. Word of the deal, which would have turned a one million-square-foot warehouse into a facility for 9,500, sparked outrage from local leaders in the 8,000-person town of Hutchins. Mayor Mario Vasquez told the Dallas Morning News, “God answered our prayers” after hearing about the decision. It’s one of a handful of scrapped deals with the agency whose reputation tanked after accounts of wrongful deportations and federal agents’ killing of two protesters in Minneapolis last month.

Harwood’s distress gets contagious

There’s not much left of Harwood District that still belongs to Harwood International; after March’s foreclosure sale, there may be even less. Gabriel Barbier-Mueller’s beleaguered Uptown development firm is facing foreclosing on a block of condo units at Bleu Ciel, at 3130 North Harwood Street. TexasBank provided a $30 million loan in December 2024 backed by 26 units at Bleu Ciel. Since the loan was provided, at least six units were sold, causing Harwood to be relieved of parts of its debt burden. However, the fact that Harwood still owns any condos at the property indicates that about 10 percent of the property’s 158 units never originally sold — eight years after Bleu Ciel opened in 2018.

Crescent lands $600M refi

Billionaire John Goff’s firm, Crescent Real Estate, secured fresh debt for its signature Uptown property. The Fort Worth-based firm landed a $596 million refi deal for The Crescent, the 1.3 million-square-foot mixed-use hub that anchors the hot neighborhood. Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase Bank originated the three-year, floating-rate CMBS loan, with JLL Capital Markets arranging it. Crescent bought the 10-acre property in 2021 from J.P. Morgan Asset Management for $700 million.