Tartesso Buckeye Update

Although this master-planned development's name is derived from an ancient Phoenician cultural center, Tartesso aspires to be among the most modern of communities. The sprawling 12,000-acre development has been approved for 40,000 homes.

The first phase, located at Sun Valley Parkway and Tartesso Parkway (Indian School Road), will include sites for 17 elementary schools and three high schools. Open space will be abundant in Tartesso, with plans for 26 parks in the works. The largest of these parks will feature full-size baseball fields, lighted basketball courts, facilities for smaller children, and picnic areas. A Tartesso golf course has not been planned. Commercial or mixed-use sites in Tartesso potentially could encompass 717 acres, or more than 10 million square feet. Tartesso will be accessible from Interstate 10 by two existing interchanges at Sun Valley Parkway and Miller Road. Three additional interchanges eventually will be installed at Johnson Road, Bruner Road, and Wilson Avenue.

Tartesso's main thoroughfare will be Sun Valley Parkway, which historically has been called the "Road to Nowhere" after development dreams turned sour in the 1980s. Developers are ready to fill the 160 square miles of desert with 300,000 new homes in one of the last large pieces of undeveloped land in the metro area. Buckeye's Sun Valley area will be metro Phoenix's next big growth corridor. Planners are projecting that 500,000 to nearly 1 million people will move to the area in the next 40 years.

More development along the Sun Valley Parkway is on the way. Stardust Development is partnering with Sterling Centre Corp. to build Tartesso Town Center, a 3.5 million-square-foot project planned for the entrance to the community. Developer El Dorado Holdings is partnering with Sonoran West Properties to develop Douglas Ranch, the state's biggest planned development. Douglas Ranch will cover 35,000 acres, more than twice the size of Manhattan. Douglas Ranch will eventually have 84,000 homes, 250,000 residents, four freeway interchanges, and dozens of office parks and malls.

Pulte bought or bought options on several parcels of land totaling about 4,100 acres east of the Sun Valley Parkway between Missouri and Northern avenues. The new community will be part of the Sun Valley area of Buckeye. Pulte will build one of its signature all-ages Anthem communities there. Pulte is building Sun City Festival in the northern part of the Sun Valley area. Pulte also is developing property in Tartesso.

I took a trip out to Tartesso in Buckeye, AZ this weekend to update my photos and get an update on progress. I was able to preview homes with 4 builders. Trend Homes is not open on Sundays. Keep this in mind when planning to visit the community.

Unlike the past few years, builders were happy to have a REALTOR visit and were very friendly and helpful. If you are planning on visiting any new home community, you really can and should have a real estate agent with you. Builders will not give you a discount because you don't use an agent. It will NOT cost you extra if you use one and it might just save you money if you do as many builders are offering incentives to REALTORS which might not be advertised to the general public. You are also protecting your best interests by having an agent act as your fiduciary.

Back to Tartesso....
As evidenced by the photos on my site, there are a lot of homes already built and many under construction. Parks are in place as well as tennis courts. Almost every subdivision has a playground area with grass and jungle gym. There is signage for future schools.

The biggest negative was the lack of a central sales center. Recent master-planned communities like Verrado and Estrella Mountain Ranch have a central area with a map of the entire community and directions to individual builders. A feature such as this would be extremely helpful at Tartesso as I found some of the signage and round-abouts confusing.
Contact me today if you would like more information on builders, floor plans and pricing available at Tartesso. Copyright 2006. Tracy Thompson is a member of the National Association of Realtors, The Arizona Association of Realtors and the Glendale Board of Realtors. To find out more about home buying and selling, contact Tracy at 623-326-0597 or email Tracy@TalkToTracyHomes.com http://www.azhomebuyerhelp.com/