The team behind the 20,000-acre Estrella master-planned community near Phoenix is reducing the housing density in an upcoming phase of the project, as development reaches the halfway point.
Estrella, located in the city of Goodyear west of Phoenix, is already home to more than 8,000 families and is expected to reach 20,000 homes when fully built out.
The next phase, now called Estrella 14, will have fewer homes than originally anticipated when the development was first conceptualized nearly four decades ago.
Goodyear City Council voted 7-0 at its Sept. 22 meeting to approve rezoning 1,505 acres to reduce the maximum number of residential units from 8,400 down to 6,034. The number of allowed multifamily units saw a more drastic decline, from 4,516 to 864.
Jeff Zimmerman, vice president of development for Estrella Development Co., told Homes.com that the original plans were aligned with the vision for the Loop 303 freeway that would have cut through "the heart" of Estrella. Ultimately, Loop 303 was rerouted further west of Estrella and reduced the housing density need by thousands of homes.
"Most of the time, developers are looking to up-zone, so you're trying to get more density in a space," Zimmerman said in an interview with Homes.com. "This is one of the rare occasions where we're down zoning. [The approval] really sets the table for us for the next several years."
Zimmerman said Estrella is in escrow with an undisclosed "major public builder" totaling 1,000 lots. Zimmerman said it'll be about two to three years before the first home is built within the new neighborhood.
Single-family builders ramp up activity
There are no apartments within the 20,000-acre community — and Zimmerman doesn't expect that to change anytime soon.
"The commute to [major employment corridors] is significant enough where multifamily developers just haven't looked to Estrella to build anything there," he said.
Homes in Estrella are located in the Estrella Mountain neighborhood, about 30 miles from downtown Phoenix.
Estrella is home to several major single-family builders, including Richmond American Homes, Beazer Homes, Brightland Homes, Taylor Morrison, Landsea Homes, Toll Brothers and William Ryan Homes.
Earlier this month, Richmond American Homes announced it will open a 92-lot single-family development called Portfolio at Lucero within Estrella.
Zimmerman said more openings are on the horizon. He said model homes for Richmond American Homes and Lennar Corp. are set to open by the end of the year at a 508-lot community called Montecito. The builders acquired those lots earlier this year.
Estrella Development is owned by a joint venture between Harvard Investments Inc., Toll Brothers and Varde Partners Inc.
The development also has more than 500 acres of open space, 50 parks and 72 acres of lakes used for kayaking, sailing and catch-and-release fishing. The community also has a resort, pools, two fitness centers and the Golf Club of Estrella.