More Scottsdale Custom Homes Coming Soon

Sereno Canyon, a Crown Community Development project containing 122 estate-sized lots will begin accepting reservations for lot sales this week.

The Sereno Canyon development is located on 330 acres near Alameda Road and the future alignment of 122nd Street. It will have lots averaging 2.5 acres and cost from the $700,000s to $2 million.

"Hundreds of people have shown interest," said Jim Buckley, director of sales for Harvard Realty services. "It's literally the last best piece of undeveloped property in Scottsdale."

The first phase will have 46 lots and take three or four years to build out, Buckley said. The homes will range in size from 3,500 square feet to more than 10,000 square feet, with home costs from about $2.5 million to more than $5 million. More...

Learn more about the process of building Scottsdale custom homes at Peak One Builders' website.

Buckeye Residential Land Sells For $86M

The principals behind Douglas Ranch in Buckeye, the state's largest master-planned community, purchased the 3,000-acre Trillium project on the Sun Valley Parkway in Buckeye. The price was $86 million, and it closed last week, real estate records show.

Together, these two projects represent more than 90,000 homes, Buckeye planners say. Both projects have large commercial and entertainment components.

"This can't be a bedroom community and we all know that," said Tom Hennesy, Douglas Ranch's general manager.

Developers hope that Sun Valley will be one of the Phoenix area's housing and development growth spots for years to come. Several big developments are either planned or are under construction in the area, including Sun City Festival, Tartesso and one of Pulte Homes' Anthem communities. More...

Giant Buildings Set To Fill Growing Demand

Developers are building the first of several supersized speculative industrial buildings to answer demand for more industrial space.

In the Valley, developers rarely put up buildings with more than 200,000 square feet of space without a tenant in mind. But now at least four projects with buildings no smaller than 350,000 square feet are under construction. These projects, three in the southwest Valley and one in Casa Grande, account for about 3.6 million of the 8.5 million now under construction, brokers say.

Demand for large industrial spaces has been growing the past few years as Phoenix has become a regional distribution center. Phoenix's industrial boom also is attributed to proximity to California and trucking rules.

Anthony Lyons of Grubb & Ellis said 45 percent of containers come to the U.S. through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and many companies are looking to Phoenix to store and distribute these products. More...

Phoenix Ranks As Financial Services Giant

Metro Phoenix Arizona has made impressive strides in developing its financial-industry base, emerging in recent years as a key regional player for a growing number of banks, insurers, brokerage firms, independent lenders and others. While corporate headquarters remain scarce, regional hubs are popping up all over.

"We've become a regional choice (for financial firms) in the southwestern United States," said Barry Broome, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC).

Many of the same factors that attract other businesses here also lure financial firms, including good weather, good travel through Sky Harbor, and a location in a time zone that's conducive to taking late afternoon and evening calls from customers.

Look for Phoenix to start attracting "corporate headquarter" operations as our economy grows. More...