First Comes Residential Growth
Corona de Tucson growth expected to generate
retail
By Kyle Schliesman, Inside Tucson
Business, April 14, 2003
Want to find some future retail space?
Head out of town east on Interstate 10 and hang a right
on Houghton Road. Drive south through miles of open
desert until you reach the intersection of Houghton
and Sahaurita roads. At this point you may think you're
in the middle of nowhere, but this place actually may
be Tucson's next major residential destination and a
springboard for future retail business.
This area, also known as Corona de Tucson or the Santa
Rita Foothills, is best known for the Santa Rita Golf
Club, located at 16461 S. Houghton. But developers are
planning to build nearly 4,000 homes in the area during
the next three to five years.
"Those are really the last foothills left around
Tucson that are undeveloped," said Eric Abrams
of the Stanley Group, which is developing in the area.
"The elevation is substantially higher than in
most of town. We think it is a beautiful area."
The Stanley Group is working on its own residential
development in the area. Santa Rita Ranch is being developed
on land southeast of the Houghton/Sahaurita intersection,
adjacent to the golf course. Already, KB Home, AF Sterling
and Richmond American are on board as builders.
"Now we're really full blast in the development
stage of it," Abrams said. "Everyone is off
to a pretty good start."
The first phase of Santa Rita Ranch features 400 homes
and the second phase, which will come in the next year
or two, will feature another 600 homes. These homes
will range from the low $100,000s and may eventually
reach into the $300,000 range.
The Stanley Group isn't alone, though. The Remington
Group is developing a large residential project in the
land southwest of the Houghton/Sahaurita intersection.
This project includes several separate residential developments:
Sycamore Creek, Sycamore Springs, Sycamore Hills and
Santa Rita Mountain Ranch. The latter is a master-planned
community which has mixed land-use capabilities. In
total, the Remington Group has about 2,400 acres for
development and plans more than 1,500 homes for the
area.
While there is plenty of land in the area, both residential
development projects are keeping density low in order
to sell the environment as much as the homes. Specifically,
The Stanley Group is keeping its density about half
what it is zoned for. Likewise, the Remington Group
promotes developments that include water conservation,
wildlife protection and vegetation preservation.
This does not mean that the developments will lack
retail/commercial portions, though. Currently, only
about 200 to 300 homes are up in the area, so retail
developments haven't sprung up yet. However, as the
residential developments continue, retailers are sure
to follow. After all, retail developments typically
don't precede residential growth, said Alex Argueta,
managing director of the Remington Group.
"We realize that a lot of the retail services
don't go to a place until they see enough rooftops in
existence and going up," Argueta said. "There
are about between 3,000 and 4,000 homes under development
in that area. That is a substantial development that
will attract retailers."
The Remington Group's own Santa Rita Mountain Ranch
eventually will have its own village center with retail
services. This will include components such as a market,
specialty retail, cafes, offices and other community
and work environments.
The Stanley Group's development will feature a retail
center. The company is devoting more than 10 acres to
a retail development, which will include a shopping
center of 90,000 to 100,000 square feet.
"We are going to design a traditional neighborhood-anchored
shopping center to serve the residents in the trade
area," said Craig Finfrock of Commercial Retail
Advisors. "They have hired us to put together a
shopping center development for them, in terms of attracting
the anchor, pad users and shop tenants."
A site plan for this project has not been put together
yet, but it will likely be designed to suit a major
grocery chain as its base. For now, the site will be
built in phases, with a first phase of nearly 10,000
square feet.
"The first phase will probably be a wing of small
shops, just because it is going to take a little time
for the population. They are going to have to get some
more houses built before there is enough base for the
grocery store," Finfrock said. "It could be
a couple of years."
The entire residential project will be built over the
next three to five years, and the planned commercial
developments will probably grow over the same time period,
Finfrock said. The area also will soon feature its own
branches of the Vail School District. The district is
building on land near the golf course, which will house
an elementary school and a junior high school, which
will be built during the next few years. These also
will contribute to the area's commercial appeal.
Already, a little bit of retail growth exists in the
area. Corona Plaza, an existing commercial building
at 15921 S. Houghton Rd, includes several services,
such as a beauty shop, a Pima County Sheriff's substation
and a realty office. It once housed a supermarket, which
may open again with the impending residential growth,
Argueta said.
Also, a small convenience market is located on the
southeast corner of Houghton and Sahaurita.
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