Arte Moreno Buys 21-Acre Macerich Phoenix Parcel

Billionaire Arte Moreno has paid $24.5 million for 21 acres of land outside Phoenix in an area being developed into shopping centers and hotels.

An affiliate tied to the owner of the Los Angeles Angels bought a 1-acre parcel at 2590 South Market Street and a 20-acre parcel at 2025 East Williams Field Road, in Gilbert, 23 miles southeast of Phoenix, the Phoenix Business Journal reported, citing Vizzda.

The seller was Macerich, the mall developer based in Santa Monica, California.

The deal by San Tan Crossing, an LLC controlled by Moreno, works out to roughly $1.2 million an acre.

Broker Bob Crum of Ross Brown Partners and Darren Pitts, co-founder of Accelerated Development, a retail developer based in Phoenix, represented the buyer in the sale. Crum and Pitts will handle the property’s development and marketing.

Crum declined to comment about plans for the vacant land, but told the Business Journal that Accelerated Development will lead the charge on its development.

The area is rapidly growing into a retail hub.

Up the street, Kensington Development is spearheading a $145 million, 30-acre development dubbed the Signature at San Tan Village, according to the Business Journal. The project, anchored by a Whole Foods and Dick’s House of Sports, has secured an 8,400-square-foot lease with Fogo De Chão.

Less than a year ago, Okland Capital and San Tan Development Group broke ground on a 20-acre Northside at SanTan Village containing shops, restaurants and hotels.

They’re now constructing the first six buildings, totalling 37,200 square feet, with the dining and retail expected to open this year. Half the site, or 10 acres, will be dedicated to a 134-room Marriott Springhill Suites.

The surge in retail development in Gilbert is part of a general building boom across greater Phoenix.

The Phoenix metro is among the top five markets in the U.S. for pending retail construction, ranking third behind Dallas-Forth Worth and Houston, according to a first quarter report from Colliers. Overall, Phoenix has 2.5 million square feet of retail under construction.

Moreno — worth $5 billion, according to Forbes, mostly earned through billboard ads — apparently wants a piece of the action.

In November, the owner of the MLB franchise in Anaheim, California, paid $60 million for a 200,000-square-foot office campus behind his Phoenix mansion to prevent a parking garage from being redeveloped into luxury apartments overlooking his 20,500-square-foot home.

Once Arizona’s richest man, Moreno has been superseded by used car magnate Ernest Garcia II, worth $20.1 billion, who made his bones on used car sales and car loans, according to Forbes.

— Dana Bartholomew