Proposed development near Walmart changes course

A 23-acre development near Walmart originally planned as an age-targeted community of patio homes is changing course, according to its land use consultant.

“The 4EVR age-targeted patio homes project that was originally planned for that site is on the shelf,” said Greg Davis, the president of land use planning firm iPlan Consulting. “El Dorado Holdings (the developer of the property) is working with Shelter Corporation on the asset management portion now, and they’re working to determine the path forward. Right now, they are looking at market rate multi-family for that site.”

That area, at and around the intersection of Porter Road and Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway, is a hub for development, especially multi-family projects. Much of it – more than 1,000 units not including the El Dorado Holdings project – is planned as multi-family housing.

City leaders have repeatedly said that they city needs to develop an inventory of apartments and other multi-family projects if it is to attract more businesses and jobs.

If the El Dorado project goes forward, it would join the 414-unit Sterling at Stonegate; 309-unit Copa Flats; 289-unit Roers Apartments; and the 194 units of REV @ Porter in the area. Those projects total 1,202 units, which would provide housing for about 3,125 people.

Apartments typically have a density of about 20 units per acre for two story communities and about 25 per acre if the buildings are three stories. With about 17 of the 23 acres of the El Dorado project preliminarily slated for multi-family residential, that could yield a community with 340-425 units. Those units would be home to between 884 and 1,105 residents.

In addition to housing, there also are six acres on the site currently zoned as commercial/industrial. Davis said the developers are proposing a mixed-use component as part of the project and are in the preliminary planning process with the city planning department.

“We’ll have an initial meeting with the planning department to talk about our early ideas, then we’ll spend the next three or four weeks working on a formal proposal. Then we’ll submit our pre-application narrative to the city to get their input. Once we do that, we’ll have unit counts and preliminary site plans.”

Davis said the area around Walmart is hot right now.

“There is a lot happening around there,” Davis said. “It’s developing as one of those ‘nodes’ in the city where it’s going to be a hub of activity. The transportation is good there, with access to Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway, and the East-West Parkway coming about a half mile south of there.

“There will be a lot of businesses that will look at that area and decide they want a second Maricopa location there or see it as a way to get into Maricopa in a great

situation where there is lots of population right there. There are three or four multi-family projects right there brining density, commercial and retail, so it’s really moving right now.”