Scottsdale Arizona Real Estate Blog

Audrie Garrison
The Arizona Republic
May. 31, 2007 11:39 AM  

A 26-acre Desert Ridge parcel of land sold at a record price Thursday morning will likely be the site for high-end apartments.

Westfield/Greystone Master Partnership, LLC won the Arizona State Land Department auction with a $28 million bid. That price translates into $1.063 million per acre, the highest price per acre in the history of the land department.

The previous record for price per acre was set about a year ago, at about $1 million per acre.

The property, located at the northeast corner of Deer Valley Drive and 56th Street, was appraised as a high-density residential area at $20.5 million, or about $800,000 per acre.

The parcel is tucked in amid land owned by Pulte Development and Toll Brothers, across the road from the Toscana development and kitty-corner from the CityNorth property.

“Even though that market has been challenged, it demonstrated a demand for well-located property, and this is a well-located property,” said Arizona State Land Commissioner Mark Winkleman.

Walter Eeds, chief executive officer of the Greyston Group, said they plan to develop 750 high-end multi-family dwellings on the property. He said the spaces will likely be for rent, not for sale, but that decision is not final.

He expects construction on the apartments to begin within two years.

Eight potential bidders registered for the auction, but only three placed bids: Westfield/Greystone, Pacific Life Insurance Company and Towne Development. The bidding began at the appraised value of $20.5 million and the auction lasted about 30 minutes.

Funds raised through the land auction will benefit Arizona’s public schools.  

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Michael Clancy
The Arizona Republic
May. 30, 2007 05:43 PM

 NORTHEAST PHOENIX -Another parcel of land in the Desert Ridge area likely will be sold at auction Thursday, but it could be years before the master-planned community is complete.

The sale is for a 26-acre block of land zoned for “high density residential,” and one applicant has come forward. The parcel is at the northeastern corner of 56th Street and Deer Valley Drive.

The Arizona State Land Department will auction the land to the highest bidder at 10 a.m. Appraised value is $20.5 million.

Land north and south of the parcel already has been sold to homebuilders Meritage/Monterey, Pulte and Toll Brothers. Only preliminary work has been done in those areas.

Still in the hands of the Land Department is 202 acres on the outer edges of the area that centers on the J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge Resort. Some of the land runs along 56th Street and some along Pinnacle Peak Road. It is zoned for single-family homes.

The Land Department says it will auction the land this year, but no date and no appraised value have been established yet.

Also to be auctioned is land at the southeast corner of 56th Street and Pinnacle Peak. The 265-acre parcel also is zoned for single-family homes. No date or value have been established.

A third Desert Ridge parcel is south of Loop 101 on the west side of Tatum Boulevard. The 41 acres may not be sold until next year.

The first Desert Ridge land was sold in 1993 – parcels that eventually were home to Desert Ridge Marketplace, the resort and the golf courses that surround the resort. Those places did not open until after Loop 101 was completed in 1999.

In other upcoming sales, the Land Department has listed land for the Sonoran Preserve, large parcels north and south of Pinnacle Peak Road on the east side of Cave Creek Road and land on Phoenix’s eastern border.

One of the Pinnacle Peak-Cave Creek parcels, 600 acres or so at the northeastern corner, would be the first sale in the Azara area, formerly known as Tatum East-West.

Azara runs from Cave Creek Road to Scottsdale Road, and from Pinnacle Peak Road as far north as Dynamite Road.

Also on the “future” schedule is the first parcel to be sold in the Palisene area, 112 acres at the southwest corner of Thompson Peak Parkway and Scottsdale Road.

The land is appraised at $32 million, and several shopping center developers, including Westcor, are believed to be interested.

Palisene, formerly known as Paradise Ridge, runs from 64th Street to Scottsdale Road, and from Loop 101 north to Pinnacle Peak Road.

No dates have been set for those auctions  

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