Lennar Corp. is looking to beef up its presence in Phoenix — but will likely have to fend off competition.
The Miami-based homebuilder applied to bring more than 473 acres of Arizona state trust land located in Mesa out to auction.
The Arizona State Land Department has scheduled the auction for the third quarter of 2026. Before the auction, an appraised value for the land will be finalized, which will be the minimum bid when the auction takes place.
These 473 acres are located off the U.S. 60 highway between Signal Butte and Meridian roads near the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway and Eastmark neighborhoods.
In a statement to Homes.com, Lennar said it was not ready to disclose plans for the site. Any builder, private investor or company is allowed to bid on the 473 acres.
If successful in the upcoming auction, the land would add to existing holdings for Lennar in Mesa. The company is actively selling new-build homes in the nearby Hawes Crossing and Avalon Crossing developments. The builder lists just 24 available homes between the two communities.
Prices for homes in these Lennar communities start in the low $400,000s in Hawes Crossing and from $484,000 in Avalon Crossing. The builder is trying to extend its push in Hawes Crossing through new project plans for 343 homes across 60 acres in the community.
Land auctions that involve homebuilders bring out competition
In July, D.R. Horton applied for more than 52 acres in Phoenix's Desert Ridge neighborhood to go out to bid. Eight builders competed to win the land in a Sept. 23 auction. Representatives from K. Hovnanian Homes were ultimately the last to raise their paddle, agreeing to pay $71.1 million for the land.
The September auction, with 117 bids, ranked among the most active land auctions in the past decade. A July 2021 land auction drew 328 bids from homebuilders, the most of any such procedure since 2016. Blandford Homes ultimately won, paying $175.5 million for the 373 acres in Phoenix.
D.R. Horton recently applied to bring 324 acres out to bid in Florence, Arizona — a town located more than an hour southeast of Phoenix.
Lennar is the nation's second-largest homebuilder based on 80,210 total closings in 2024, according to Builder Magazine.