Phoenix Buys 812-acres of Preserve Land for $22.4 Million; Developer pays $12.7 Million North Scottsdale Parcel

The Arizona State Land Department announced the results of two separate live auctions which brought more than $35 million to the State’s Common Schools.

During the first auction, the city of Phoenix made a significant investment to expand the Sonoran Preserve when they won the auction and presented a $22.4 million check for 812-acres of preserve land located 1.5 miles East of I-17 and 1 mile North of Carefree Highway.

According to State Land Commissioner Mark Winkleman, the auction marks another major preservation benchmark for the city of Phoenix and the state of Arizona. 

“This fiscal year the city of Phoenix has made a wonderful investment to protect open space for generations to come,” said Winkleman. “Selling 800-acres to Phoenix for its Sonoran Desert Preserve brings a total of 1700 acres of preserve land that the city has purchased this year,” Winkleman said. “This outstanding commitment to preserve open space for the public is another clear example of how we can work with cities to acquire Trust Land for the benefit of future generations,” he said. 

“I thank Mayor Gordon, Vice Mayor Neely and city staff for their genuine commitment, vision and efforts in taking the lead to preserve open space,” Winkleman said.

Winkleman explained that the Arizona Preserve Initiative is designed to encourage the preservation of select parcels of State Trust Land in and around urban areas for open space to benefit future generations. The law lays out a process by which Trust Land can be sold for conservation purposes. Under the current system, sales must occur at a public auction. 

According to Mayor Gordon, the partnership with the Land Department to preserve open space is mutually beneficial and vitally important to the city of Phoenix and the entire State of Arizona. 

“The natural beauty of the desert is one of the incredible benefits of living in our community,” Gordon said. “Preserving that resource and protecting our environment is our responsibility to the future.”

According to Vice Mayor Neely, this purchase of preserve land is part of a long-standing commitment to preserve the environment and protect the Sonoran desert.

“In the last eight months alone, the city of Phoenix has worked with the Land Department to preserve more than 1700 acres of open space,” Neely said. “We look forward to continuing working with the Land Department for additional land preservation opportunities in the future,” she said.

Winkleman said that a second live auction for 17-acres in North Scottsdale brought $12.7 million dollars. The commercially zoned parcel is located East of Pinnacle Peak Park on Pinnacle Peak Parkway and was purchased by JTW PPR LLC.

According to a statement from JTW PPR LLC they are pleased with the result of today’s auction and have begun actively working on site plan concepts.

Winkleman said that despite current national economic conditions this auction caps off a successful year for the Arizona State Land Department. He explained that the Land Department reached some important benchmarks.

“We helped to establish a significant amount of permanent open space and generated over $100 million in doing so,” said Winkleman. “Although this years' sales volume was down, the actual cash that was generated for education and our other beneficiaries increased by over $40 million, establishing a new record,” he said.

Winkleman said that the decrease in sales revenues was more than offset by increases in revenues for the state wide issuance of rights-of-ways.

The proceeds from land sales and leases go to the beneficiaries of the Permanent Fund, primarily Arizona Common Schools, supporting grades K-12. The Arizona State Land Department manages 9.3 million acres of Arizona State Trust Land. For more information about the State of Arizona Land Department visit land.state.az.us or call 602-542-4621.