New community being called Fulton Ranch

By Champion in : News // Feb 18 2005

FULTON BUYS 500 ACRES IN CHANDLER FOR $57.7 MILLION . . . BUILDING 711 HOMES

Chandler - Fulton Homes Corp. in Tempe paid just over $57.7 million to purchase 501.86 acres in Chandler that will be developed as an upscale residential and commercial community being called Fulton Ranch. The seller was a company controlled by the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City, Utah. The sale was negotiated through Mike Gleave of Fulton Homes Sales Corp. (FHSC) in Tempe. The planned project is expected to have 985 residential units built around a series of lakes and about 650,000 sq. ft. of commercial buildings.

The community is bounded on the north by Ocotillo Road, on the south by Chandler Heights Road, on the east by Arizona Avenue and on the west by Alma School Road. Fulton intends to build 711 single-family residences and a lake system on roughly 387 acres. Of those lots, 332 will average 8,710 sq. ft. (65×134), 240 will average 12,180 sq. ft. (87×140) and 89 will average 15,750 sq. ft (105×150). Models are projected to open around mid-2006. Residences are expected to be priced rom the $500,000′s and up. The housing product has yet to be designed. Sources say Fulton Homes has a waiting list of more than 2,000 prospective buyers at Fulton Ranch. The home builder has had the property under contract for the past two years. On the same day of the acquisition from the Mormon Church, Fulton resold 115 acres of the property in deals totaling $31.31 million.

Cachet Homes in Scottsdale (Matt Cody, pres.) paid $11.523 million to acquire about 39 acres of land targeted for two, multi-family housing projects. That deal was brokered by Gleave and Phil DeAngelis, Michael Martindale and Joe Kachuroi of Commerce Realty Advisors in Scottsdale. Those “super pad” parcels are targeted for 184 condominium units and 90 townhomes. Two- and three-bedroom units to range from 1,300 sq. ft. to 1,800 sq. ft. Pricing expected to run from the $300,000′s to the $400,000′s. Models should be open in March 2006.

Fulton Homes sold roughly 76 acres of commercial land in three transactions totaling a combined $19.8 million. The buyers were companies formed by RED Development in Scottsdale (Scott Rehorn, Mike Ebert, principals). Those sales were brokered through Gleave, the Commerce Realty agents and Mark Holinger of Fronterra Development Co. in Phoenix. The three parcels are targeted for 620,000 sq. ft. of retail space and a 36,000-square-foot office-condominium project. Butler Design Group in Phoenix is the architect on the three retail centers. Norman Engineering in Phoenix has the engineering assignments. Development cost (land and buildings for three centers) estimated at $75 million. LaSalle National Bank in Chicago is the lender. RED paid just over $10.85 million to buy 40 acres at the southwest corner of Arizona and Ocotillo. That parcel is planned for a 350,000-square-foot power center called Town Center. RED has resold 14 acres of that site to Lowe.s HIW Inc. in Carlsbad, Calif. That sale was negotiated through Darren Pitts of CB Richard Ellis in Phoenix. Lowe.s is building a 135,000-square-foot home improvement store on the land. Ebert says the center will have additional anchor tenants and nine pads that will be sold or leased. Layton Southwest Construction in Phoenix is serving as contractor on the power center. Opening is scheduled for November 2005.

RED paid just under $5.283 million for 20 acres at the northeast corner of Alma School and Chandler Heights. That parcel is targeted for a 150,000-square-foot retail center with a speciality grocery in a plaza called Promenade. RED is selling a 4-acre parcel within that site that will be developed as 36,000 sq. ft. of office-condominiums. Champion Partners in Scottsdale (Ricky Lyons, principal) is buying the office-condo parcel. RED paid $3.654+ million to acquire 16 acres at the northwest corner of Arizona and Chandler Heights. That 120,000-square-foot center, which will have a drug store and health club, is being called Marketplace. Construction on Promenade and Marketplace to start this summer. Contractor to be picked. Talk to Norm Nicholls of Fulton at (480) 893-2526. Cody is at (480) 556-7000. Call Rehorn and Ebert at (480) 947-7772. Gleave is at (480) 491-8110. Reach the Commerce Realty agents at (480) 889-9900. Holinger is at (602) 625-2532. Pitts is at (602) 735-5555.