Item 2. Properties
ITEM 2. Properties
 
Following is a description of our significant properties.
 
The Cadiz Valley Property
 
We own approximately 35,000 acres of largely contiguous desert land in the Cadiz and Fenner valleys of eastern San Bernardino County, California (the “Cadiz Property”). This area is located approximately 80 miles east of Barstow, California and 30 miles north of the Colorado River Aqueduct (“CRA”), and 110 miles north-east of Palm Springs. The Cadiz Property, which is at the base of a topographically diverse 1,300 square mile watershed, is the principal location of our business operations, including our agricultural operations and ongoing development of our water, supply, and conveyance project.
 
Independent geotechnical and engineering studies conducted since initial acquisition have confirmed that the Cadiz Property overlies a significant aquifer system that can support agricultural development, the conservation of groundwater for off property water supply and the storage of imported water (see Item 1. “Description of Business - Cadiz Water Conservation & Storage Project”, above).
 
Additional Eastern Mojave Properties
 
In addition to the Cadiz Property, we also own approximately 11,000 additional acres in the eastern Mojave Desert portion of San Bernardino County, California at two separate properties.
 
Piute: We own approximately 9,000 acres in the Piute Valley. This landholding is located 15 miles from the resort community of Laughlin, Nevada, and about 12 miles from the Colorado River town of Needles, California. Extensive hydrological studies, including the drilling and testing of a full-scale production well, have demonstrated that this landholding is underlain by high-quality groundwater and could be suitable for agricultural development or solar energy production. The Piute properties are private inholdings in the Mojave Trails National Monument, and are proximate to or border areas designated by the state and federal government as Critical Desert Tortoise Habitat and/or Desert Wilderness Areas and are therefore ideally suited for preservation and conservation. Approximately 7,500 acres of our Piute Valley properties are reserved in our Fenner Valley Desert Tortoise Conservation Bank, which is the largest land bank in California dedicated to protecting the desert tortoise. The Bank offers credits that can be acquired by public and private entities required to mitigate or offset impacts to the desert tortoise linked to planned development. We are presently marketing these credits to a variety of planned developments in the region.
 
Danby : We own nearly 2,000 acres near Danby Dry Lake in Ward Valley, approximately 30 miles southeast of the Cadiz Property. Our Danby Dry Lake property is located approximately 10 miles north of the Colorado River Aqueduct. Initial hydrological studies indicate that it has excellent potential for a water supply project. Certain of the properties in this area may also be suitable for agricultural development, renewable energy and/or preservation and conservation lands. The Danby properties are currently managed for open space purposes.
 
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Cadiz Inc.
 
Executive Offices
 
We lease approximately 3,800 square feet of office space in Los Angeles, California for our executive offices. This lease is month-to month. Current base rent under the lease is approximately $8,600 per month.
 
Cadiz Real Estate
 
Title to all of our real estate assets is held by Cadiz Real Estate LLC (“Cadiz Real Estate”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Cadiz Inc. The Board of Managers of Cadiz Real Estate currently consists of two managers appointed by the Company’s Board of Directors. As the ownership of the real estate held by Cadiz Real Estate has no effect on our ultimate beneficial ownership of these assets, we refer throughout this Report to assets owned of record either by Cadiz Real Estate or by us as “our” properties.
 
Cadiz Real Estate is a co-obligor under our senior secured term loan, for which assets of Cadiz Real Estate have been pledged as security.
 
Debt Secured by Properties
 
Our assets have been pledged as collateral for $50.0 million of senior secured debt outstanding as of December 31, 2022. On February 2, 2023, we entered into a First Amendment to Credit Agreement with our lenders which, among other things, provided for a repayment of $15 million of this debt. Information regarding interest rates and principal maturities is provided in Note 7 to the Consolidated Financial Statements, “Long-Term Debt” and Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements, “Subsequent Events”.