Deal for 1,160 acres foresees 3,600 homes in Hidden Valley

A Scottsdale land acquisition company has purchased 1,160 acres in Hidden Valley for $11.6 million and intends to sell it to one or more homebuilders for a master-planned community.

Emmerson Holdings acquired the land just southwest of Warren and Papago roads in a deal that closed on May 28 with Michigan-based Miedema Produce Inc. The parcel has been named Hidden Valley Ranch ahead of its development.

The Phoenix Business Journal first reported the deal.

According to Chase Emmerson, the manager of Hidden Valley Ranch Partners which bought the land and will sell it to homebuilders, his firm already has zoning approval from Pinal County for a Planned Area Development with up to 3,600 homes in a master-planned community. The community is bordered on both the north and south by Pinal County’s proposed Palo Verde Regional Park. The Thunderbird Farms community is just east of the property.

Using the U.S. Census Bureau’s figure of 2.6 people per household, the HOA development would bring about 9,360 new residents to the area.

According to its web site, Emmerson Holdings “acquires land in the path of growth at below market prices, add value through entitlement and pre-development work, and then sell to homebuilders or developers at retail prices.”

Emmerson said his firm will provide the developer or homebuilder with elements including the preliminary plat, final plat, site plan, product mix, home density and community amenities.

“As a master-planned community, it will be of a scale where the streets are planned to be cohesive within the community, the amenities are planned and CC&Rs restrict architecture, so it all looks nice,” Emmerson said. “We’ll develop a combination of amenities so the whole thing is planned together on a large level rather than having ‘wildcat’ developers coming in and doing whatever they want. It will have amenities and an HOA, just like a Maricopa Meadows or Rancho El Dorado.”

Emmerson told the Phoenix Business Journal that location was an important factor in his acquisition, with access to the potential Interstate 11 corridor being a key to the development of the area. As proposed, the interstate would run through the intersection of Hidden Valley Road and Val Vista Boulevard from the south and cut northwest through Hidden Valley.

If the I-11 is completed as proposed, Hidden Valley Ranch could draw residents with its more affordable housing and reasonable commute to jobs in the west Valley. The community would sit just east of the freeway, which is proposed to link Nogales to the south and Wickenburg to the north and speed travel from metro Phoenix to and from Las Vegas.

Stephen Miller, Pinal County’s District 3 supervisor and chairman of the board of supervisors, said at last week’s Pinal County complex opening that balancing growth in that area with the desires of longtime residents who desire a more rural lifestyle is an issue the county is looking at long and hard.

“We have to develop a very diverse housing stock,” Miller said. “There are those people who want to tame that acre, and there are people that want to travel, and they want small facility with no yard. So again, we have a diverse citizenry, and so we need to find an opportunity for all of them. It’s very, very, difficult because of the urbanization that tends to sprawl, and it cuts out some of those areas, but I think if we manage that growth with all of that in mind then we can co-exist.”

‘SORE THUMB’

News of the future residential development did not sit well with two Hidden Valley residents.

“This will completely destroy Hidden Valley,” said Tina Blanchard, a five-year resident of the rural area who said she and other residents have numerous concerns about the impact on life. “Subdivisions are not conducive to the area and will stick out like a sore thumb. Each plot of land has to be at least 2-plus acres to fit in with our rural area. People who move out to this area have no idea how we live.”

Whether people find it desirable or not, new home growth in the city of Maricopa is exploding. Permits are up 217% for the January through May period, year over year, with 987 in 2021, up from 311 in 2020.

With growth in and around Maricopa accelerating, residents’ concerns go beyond just having a neighbor living closer than they might like. There are practical concerns as well, according to Blanchard.

“My biggest concern is if Global Water comes out that way, they will not be able to provide each house with water and am also concerned about what happens to our well water,” she said. “We don’t want them cutting off our water supply and being forced to use and pay for city water.

“We’re also concerned about the increase of traffic,” she continued. “Out here, a lot of people ride their horses on the side of the roads and city folk don’t know how to drive past a rider and their horse. We all moved out here to get away from city life and the crimes that come with it.”

June Staruch agreed.

“I am 100% against this,” she said. “I was against the growth when they first started talking about Rancho Eldorado and I was on a committee to stop it. I am even more against it now. We moved out here 22 years ago for the rural western lifestyle. That is disappearing every time they come up with another one of these housing developments.

“This is not Chicago, Seattle, Boston or New York. This is a ranching community with minimal crime, no streetlights and no sirens. We want it to stay that way. We do not want an HOA coming into our area and telling us how to live. We have done just fine without them for the last 20-plus years and we will do fine without them for the next 20-plus years. We have seen what a mess Maricopa has become – high crime, murders, homes being broken into, cars being stolen, gunfire in neighborhoods. 347 has become a death trap with aggressive drivers because there is no way for them to get to work on time, the road is closed on a regular basis, and even if you are staying within the city limits, traffic is horrendous. Most of the businesses are chains, there is no longer any personality.”