Loop 303 drives housing development in Northwest Valley

• Loop 303 will connect Interstate10 near Cotton Lane in the south to I-17 about 2 miles south of Carefree Highway, a distance of about 39 miles.
• Loop 303 is projected to accelerate homebuilding in the far West Valley.
• The new artery will offer improved access to developments in the Sonoran Desert foothills of north Peoria.
• Developers are at work on Village II and Trilogy West at Vistancia, as well as Rancho Cabrillo, Rancho Mercado and Coldwater Ranch, east of Vistancia, and Lake Pleasant Estates and Saddleback Heights, west of Vistancia.

Loop 303 will open up the West Valley for a new generation of housing.

The highway connects Interstate 10 near Cotton Lane in the south to I-17 about 2 miles south of Carefree Highway in the north. Crews are finishing the southernmost interchange.

"When the I-10/Loop 303 interchange is completed by this fall, drivers for the first time will be able to travel all the way from I-17 in north Phoenix to I-10 in Goodyear, a distance of 39 miles," said Doug Nintzel, ADOT spokesman.

Because of this, new areas of the West Valley are becoming even more desirable for homebuilders and homebuyers.

"The completion will allow vastly improved access to the lush, high Sonoran Desert foothills of north Peoria," said Andy Kist, associate broker with the Phoenix office of Keller Williams Professional Partners. An Arizonan since 1968, he lives in Peoria's West Wing area.

Because of the 303, developments under construction are already remaking the Northwest Valley.

Kist says there is a shortage of lotsin north Peoria, with developers briskly preparing Village II and Trilogy West at Vistancia as well as Rancho Cabrillo, Rancho Mercado and Coldwater Ranch, east of Vistancia, and Lake Pleasant Estates and Saddleback Heights, west of Vistancia.

A retail center is in place at Lake Pleasant Parkway and Happy Valley Road, and Vistancia's market center is platted.

New developments include Camino á Lago, planned for approximately 3,500 units near Lake Pleasant Parkway and Deer Valley Road in Peoria. The development includes the communities of Desert Star, which is built out, Casa del Rey and Camino á Lago South, nearing completion, and the Meadows, under development.

Liberty High School serves the area, Sunset Heights Elementary is opening this fall, and Meadows Elementary School in Camino á Lago South has recently been approved.

Kist said the Meadows, planned for approximately 1,500 single-family residential units, is the largest project within Camino á Lago. Scottsdale's Meritage Homes and another builder are pre-selling approximately 831 lots under contract with the Scottsdale-based developer, Communities Southwest.

He said the Meadows will be developed in approximately four phases, generally south and southwest (surrounding Liberty High School) to the north and east (toward 91st Avenue and Pinnacle Peak Road).

Another master-planned development, Rancho Cabrillo, will contain approximately 1,400 single-family detached and attached units at the northwestern corner of Dysart and Happy Valley roads.

Saddleback Heights, developed by Tucson-based Diamond Ventures, will offer multiple villages and planned communities in northwest Peoria west of the El Mirage Road alignment, east of Sarival Avenue and the Cotton Lane alignments, south of the Arizona 74 (the Morristown-New River Highway) and north of the Carefree Highway alignment.

The project is within the foothills of the Hieroglyphic Hills and surrounds Saddleback Mountain, Kist said, noting that many washes and unique topographic features characterize the site, making it particularly attractive to new-home buyers desiring mountain and desert views.

Quintero, a high-end gated golf community that stalled during the downturn, is now selling well, and its Quintero Golf Course is rated very highly in golf circles, he said.

Also in Peoria, the master-planned, approximately 2,100-unit Tierra Del Rio, adjacent to the Agua Fria River and surrounding Calderwood Butte, will contain single-family residential units, multifamily residential units and zoning for single-family attached residential units as well as 10 acres for commercial.

"All in all, the Loop 303 offers a great map for West Valley development," Kist said.

Brown is a Valley-based freelancer (azwriter.com).