Ariz State Sets $110 Million Bid on Parcel Sought by Coyotes

Mortenson wants to buy 217 acres of state land in north Phoenix once sought by the city’s defunct NHL team for an arena complex.

The Minnesota-based developer applied to buy the property at a June auction with a minimum bid set at $110 million for the parcel west of North Scottsdale Road and north of Loop 101 on the border of northeast Phoenix and Scottsdale, the Phoenix Business Journal reported.

The Arizona State Land Department scheduled the auction for June 20.

The developer is eying the property for a mixed-use development, but has no immediate plans for a site partly zoned for low-density farm or residential uses.

An opening bid has been set at $110 million for the parcel, which includes acreage once coveted by the Arizona Coyotes before it pulled the goalie in a desperate attempt to build the NHL hockey arena and entertainment village.

Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo was forced to sell the team for $1 billion in April last year to make way for the Utah Hockey Club after the Arizona team failed to land a local arena.

After the team left for Utah, the Arizona State Land Department canceled the auction scheduled for last June. The state now demands that bidders for the property have detailed plans for its development.

A successful bidder must have a “planning phasing schedule,” engineering permitting and construction of Phase I infrastructure within 10 months after the auction date, according to the land department notice.

A successful bidder must also have a construction start date within a year of the auction and a construction completion date within three years.

The winning bidder must pay $14.3 million at the time of sale. The fee consists of 10 percent of the $110 million appraised value, or $11 million, along with administrative fees of $3.3 million.

The Arizona State Land Department generated $361.6 million in total revenue during its 2024 fiscal year, including $346 million from land sales and long-term leases, according to the department’s most recent annual report.

The State Land Department held 13 successful land sales during the period, the largest being a $62.7 million sale to NOVVA Holdings for 165 acres in Mesa, according to the Business Journal. Utah-based Novva Data Centers is building a $3 billion data center campus at the site.

The next largest sale was Mack Real Estate’s $56 million purchase of 2,300 acres of land to be turned into a $7 billion mixed-use development around the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing project, dubbed Halo Vista.

Mortenson, founded in 1954 by Mort Mortenson, has $960 million in assets under management, with 6.8 million square feet of properties and 300 acres of land in the Midwest and Rocky Mountain states, according to its website.

— Dana Bartholomew