Couple Pays Record $7M for 16 Acres in North Scottsdale

A couple has paid a record $7 million for 16 acres in the Silverleaf neighborhood of North Scottsdale, $500,000 short of its asking price.

Melissa and John Donnelly bought the 16.02-acre lot at 10640 East Diamond Rim Drive, in gated Horseshoe Canyon, the Phoenix Business Journal reported.

The sellers were Frederick and Patricia Green, whose 15,600-square-foot home sits on 6.25 acres next door. The deal works out to $437,500 per acre.

The sale represents a record price for land in Silverleaf, Lisa Westcott, associate broker and partner at Retsy | Forbes Global Properties, told the Business Journal.

The lot has a 2-acre building envelope, which means only 2 acres can be used for buildings, with the remaining acreage set aside for the Sonoran landscape.

“They just decided it was time to let go,” Westcott said. “They decided they were not going to build on it, and they wanted to let somebody make their own dream come true.”

Broker Dave Patterson of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Arizona Properties represented the buyers. The sale was a collaborative effort between buyer and seller agents, Westcott said.

“I’ve known Dave a long time,” she told the newspaper. “He had a client who wanted to build.”

Horseshoe Canyon contains more than 80 luxury custom homes, tucked into the canyons of McDowell Mountain, with sweeping views of the desert below, according to a blog by Scottsdale broker Lisa Lucky of Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty. Homes range from 5,000 to 15,000 square feet.

The exclusive community lies behind The Silverleaf Club, with its Tom Wieskopf-designed golf course, which partly winds through the neighborhood.

— Dana Bartholomew