Blandford Homes buys 115 acres of Arizona state land for $38M

Blandford Homes, a prominent residential developer, won the bid for a prized 115-acre plot of state-owned land in Mesa, Arizona.

The company secured the land, located near Hawes and Warner roads, for nearly $38 million, as part of the expansive 1,200-acre Hawes Crossing community, AZCentral.com reported.

Blandford Homes intends to build 450 to 525 houses on the site, with model homes set to be unveiled in late 2025 or early 2026.

Blandford was the sole bidder for the property. 

Jeff Blandford, the company’s founder and president, expressed confidence in the Phoenix housing market, citing strong job creation and an influx of people relocating to Arizona from other states. 

“The fact there is limited land available in the East Valley and Mesa in general for residential building is a strong factor for this land acquisition,” he told the outlet.

The housing market in the Phoenix area has experienced an upturn this year, driven by a decline in the supply of existing homes. 

Both new and existing home sales saw a decline in the latter half of 2022 due to increasing interest rates. However, the market has shown resilience, with about 9,250 new houses sold across metro Phoenix as of May, representing a decrease of less than 1 percent compared to the first five months of the previous year.

The median price of new homes in the Valley stands at $475,000, which is about $40,000 higher than that of existing homes. 

“Home building is back,” land expert Nate Nathan of Nathan & Associates told the outlet. “Population and job growth is still strong.”

The city of Mesa had annexed multiple dairy farms, county land, and state land in 2020 to pave the way for the mixed-use project, which is expected to attract residents and create employment opportunities. 

Additionally, construction of apartments and a shopping center is already underway within the new development.

Another state-owned parcel of land spanning 165 acres, located near the northeast corner of Warner Road and the Loop 202 within Hawes Crossing, is scheduled for auction on Aug. 29. 

The minimum bid for that parcel is $62.7 million.

Housing development in Arizona has been under a cloud — though not necessarily a rain cloud — of uncertainty due to a groundwater shortage.

The state recently announced that it lacks sufficient groundwater to support the already approved housing construction in the Phoenix area. 

State officials have decided to halt the building of new subdivisions, potentially bringing an end to the rapid development that has propelled Phoenix to become the fastest-growing metropolitan region in the United States.

— Ted Glanzer