20 YEARS: The road to El Dorado

Mike Ingram

El Dorado Holdings co-founder and chairman

What changes do you expect to see in the next 20 years?
Maricopa will not just be known as a bedroom community over the next 20 years. You’re going to see a lot of employment that will develop within Maricopa, sooner than you think sitting here today. It’s coming, and it’s coming quickly.

Do you consider Maricopa to be metro Phoenix? If so, when did that happen?
I think Maricopa became metro Phoenix whenever it joined the Maricopa Association of Governments. You started seeing yourself as part of Phoenix, a part of the Valley. Now, you’re included in structure deals that involve the whole region.

What’s next up for development in Maricopa?
I think you’re going to see a lot of healthcare. I think there will be a real interest in Maricopa for improved health care and improved infrastructure in the whole city.

Chris Grogan

El Dorado Holdings president

Where do you see real estate in 20 years?
You’ll continue to see residential demand out to the east.

What about commercial real estate?
You’re on the cusp right now and in the next 20 years of seeing some real push for employment. You’re going to see some heads turn towards, ‘Why aren’t we doing more with employment type development real estate plays in this area?’ I think you’ll see some of the Trammell Crows, the big developers that are up in the Valley, those types of players look at Maricopa with a little more detail.

Are you currently involved in any Maricopa projects?
Right now, we are under construction on Porter Road. We own some of the land there, we put some of the multifamily developers there and we’re developing EVR Porter across from Walmart. We have some commercial plays there as well. Down in the Stanfield area, which is part of Maricopa’s planning area, we do have some properties down there that are being planned as well.

Jim Kenny

El Dorado Holdings CEO

Do you consider Maricopa to be metro Phoenix? If so, when did that happen?
They’re trying to create a full city in Maricopa with the different amenities and the different options for different types of housing and businesses that come. You’re going to see it, more and more, become reflexively automatically part of metropolitan Phoenix.

What will bring more commercial development to Maricopa?
It’s very numerically driven. When you have a certain number of people, it’s the right time to build office buildings, it’s the right time to build more retail, it’s the right time to build manufacturing. All different types of development look to the population.

To what do you attribute the development trajectory?
City Manager Rick Horst has done a really good job, and the city council has supported this in terms of setting the stage to bring more people in so that the commercial employment functions can begin to take off as they already are. The stage is set there, they’re ready to go, everything’s in place and it’s just evolving in the right way.