Petatlon, Mexico - A massive parcel of undeveloped beachfront land nestled along Mexico’s Pacific could well be the country’s west coast version of Cancun.

It’s too soon to tell, of course, but the 2,259 oceanfront acres known as Bahiamar, located on nearly four miles of beach and lagoon along the Pacific coast, 20 minutes south of the airport in Ixtapa, are up for grabs.

Well, maybe not exactly up for grabs. The land is on the auction block right now with a sealed-bid deadline of June 28, 2012 and a minimum bid of $39 million, working out to $4.25 per square meter.

The land, which remains untouched in its natural state of sand, sea grass, and shrubs, is zoned for tourism development, including resorts, golf courses, marinas, villas, condominiums, and retail business. It carries no mortgage and has owners eager to sell — at the right price, of course.

It lies in the city and municipality of Petatlan, in the state of Guerrero, south of the Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo tourism zone, and within the Costa Grande region. That region totals 311 miles of coastline extending from the border of the state of Michoacan south to the Acapulco area.

Paramount Realty USA, a real estate auction company based in New York, is handling the auction negotiations on behalf of a small group of prominent Mexican shareholders, whose grandfathers started acquiring the land in bits and pieces over the years since 1979 from a wealthy Mexican family under a company named Inmobiliara Fraccionamientos Turisticos, also known as Infratur.

Only one of the original group of purchasers is alive today, and all of the current owners are in their 70s and 80s, having acquired their shares passed down from family members over the years.

"The original purchasers, a group of 12 to 15 individuals, held out hopes of developing the land for more than 30 years," said Misha Haghani, principal of Paramount Realty. "Now the current owners realize they will not see their dreams materialize in their lifetimes. They want someone else to live out the dream for them, and they are willing to sacrifice the selling price to do so."

Representing the present owners is Eddie Villa Real, 77, president of Infratur and a Mexican businessman, writer, and physicist.

Mr. Villa Real earlier founded several electronics companies and in his later years became an activist dedicated to improving tourism and fighting environmental and pollution problems in Mexico.

"This land is without a doubt one of the largest and most undeveloped oceanfront sites left in Mexico," he said.

A 2011 Mexican government appraisal and report assessed just one-fifth of the property at $175 million, according to Haghani.

"The minimum starting bid of $39 million is set well below market value to drum up interest, bring potential buyers out of the woodwork, and get things moving along," he said. "This auction represents a rare opportunity for the right investor or developer."

Interest is running high, although Haghani would not divulge what companies or individuals already have expressed interest.

Those who do and who are serious first must download the due-diligence package from Paramount Realty’s website. The package costs $100 and includes property and auction information, corporate documents, copies of deeds, public records, and appraisals.

Paramount had not done business in Mexico prior to this auction, "so we spent six months studying the property and meeting with legal counsel in Mexico City before we put it up for bid," according to Haghani.

"An auction is the right way to go," he said. "If this property were listed with an individual broker, it could sit for years. This way, we as the auction company have done the homework in advance to educate those who are interested, we market the property to reach as many potential buyers as possible and then let them bid on the purchase price."

An auction also demonstrates to the marketplace that the owner is serious about and committed to a sale.

The government of Mexico also is "very interested" in the auction, Haghani said.

"The government has expressed explicit support for the development of this property," he said. "In fact, they are thrilled. They envision it down the road in the next 10 years as becoming the next Cancun."

And what a success story that is. The tourist zone today in Cancun, packed guest wing to guest wing with resorts of all sizes (most of them all-inclusive and flying the flag of every major international hotel brand), was as barren in the 1960s as Bahiamar is today.

When development started in January 1970, Cancun had only three residents, who were caretakers of a coconut plantation. The Mexican government had to finance the first nine hotels, due to the reluctance of investors to bet on an unknown area.

Last year, Cancun welcomed 5.9 million international visitors. This year, spring break season alone was up 7.2 percent over 2011, according to Mexico’s Ministry of Tourism, and Cancun and the Riviera Maya topped the list as top spots chosen by American travelers between 16 and 25 years old.

That’s what officials are hoping for, at least 10 years out. The Bahiamar land has year-round tropical weather, miles of beach, more than 3,500 coconut trees and fertile soil.

The infrastructure includes a highway that intersects the Bahiamar entrance, another four-lane highway under construction from Ixtapa to the site, high-voltage electricity, a microwave relay station that will permit installation of thousands of telephone lines, freshwater sources, and water wells for irrigation.

Bahiamar also is within driving distance of Mexico City, Leon, Guadalajara, Ixtapa, and Zihuatanejo.