Meet the Arizona master-planned community that will outsize The Villages in Florida

Fifty miles west of Phoenix, within the city of Buckeye, Arizona, thousands of acres of vacant land stretch beyond what the eye can see, not unusual for the heart of the desert.

After driving north on Sun Valley Parkway for more than 10 miles after getting off Interstate 10, a left turn onto newly paved roads shows signs of activity that hint at something bigger underway for those thousands of acres of dirt.

Construction workers are busy laying down the initial roots for what will be Arizona's largest master-planned communities: Teravalis, a Latin word that translates to "land of the valley."

In the decades to come, this vacant desert land is expected to transform into a city within a city, covering more than 55 square miles — with 100,000 homes for 300,000 residents, alongside 55 million square feet of commercial space, parks, schools and more.

At roughly 37,000 acres, Teravalis would top The Villages in Florida as the largest master-planned community in the United States in size. The Villages encompasses 30,000-plus acres and more than 70,000 homes, with a population approaching 160,000.

To put the size of Teravalis further in perspective, more than 43 Central Parks and 28,000 football fields would fit within the scope of the project.

It's the largest undertaking by size for developer Howard Hughes Corp. to date. That's no small feat for the global firm that's behind ambitious communities across the nation, such as The Woodlands and Summerlin, Nevada, which both span more than 28,000 and 25,000 acres, respectively.

It's also the first Arizona project for the developer, which purchased the land four years ago for $600 million. Now, the neighborhood is starting to come together, with the first roads paved and model homes under construction.

The initial wave of residents could move in as soon as the end of this year, kickstarting fast-growing Buckeye's next master-planned community.

"[Our work is] underway, and we've got all these future villages and the flexibility to do what we need to do," Charley Freericks, Howard Hughes' president of the Phoenix region, told Homes.com.

Freericks, a longtime Phoenix developer for large-scale residential and commercial developments, is leading the project on the ground for Howard Hughes after joining the firm a year ago.

Over his career, Freericks has helped build neighborhoods, such as the upscale DC Ranch in Scottsdale and Verrado, an 8,000-acre community in Buckeye.

For Freericks, these 37,000 acres have been an elusive commodity over his career that he finally has a chance to mold.

"I pursued it for a developer in the late '80s. I pursued it for my employer in the '90s. And I pursued it at DMB [Associates] a couple times because I was still very intrigued with it," Freericks told Homes.com.

Freericks added that the explosive growth of the West Valley and Phoenix, along with the rising demand for affordable housing, prompted Howard Hughes to create a long-term vision for the land.

Phoenix's West Valley has been a population magnet, with relatively affordable entry prices and ample developable land for new residential and commercial construction. Buckeye is the fast-growing West Valley city in Maricopa County, with its population jumping more than 20% between 2020 and 2024, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by CoStar, Homes.com's commercial real estate data affiliate.

While still in its infancy for what it could ultimately become, Howard Hughes is underway with the first community within Teravalis — a 3,000-acre "bite-sized" cut of that land that will become a neighborhood called Floreo. This subset of Teravalis is planned to have more than 8,000 housing units, along with some commercial components, broken into multiple phases.

Temporary street signs stand at the intersections within Floreo, helping contractors navigate the maze of roads that can be difficult to discern due to the limited landmarks and reference points. A nursery of desert plants and landscaping sits like a mini forest after entering, with plants in pots waiting to be planted as more model homes are built.

Some of the major players in the homebuilding industry have jumped on board at Teravalis, including Brightland Homes, Century Communities, Courtland Communities, KB Home, Lennar Corp., Meritage Homes, and New Home Co. Laborers are hard at work, hammering and framing on the builders' initial homes.

The first models from Century Communities, Lennar and New Home Co. have opened, with the builders offering “dusty shoe” tours, in which interested buyers can check out the homes but should prepare for getting their shoes a little dirty.

As more homes come online in the back half of 2025, Howard Hughes will turn to future plans for Floreo. This will include securing a multifamily developer for apartments, developing a strategy to support the local school district in pursuing school bonds and preparing for the second phase of development.

Howard Hughes is slated to begin selling lots to builders in the fourth quarter of this year in the next phase, bringing another wave of homes online by late 2026 or early 2027.

Floreo, which represents about 10% of Teravalis, is the first of "many future villages" that are set to rise over the decades to come.

Teravalis has been a long time coming. A vision for this land has been in the works for nearly 30 years, according to city documents.

Previously known as Douglas Ranch, the original planning efforts were included in Maricopa County's "2020 Eye to the Future" plan, which the county's Board of Supervisors adopted in 1997.

Howard Hughes acquired the land from Scottsdale-based El Dorado Holdings Inc. and Phoenix-based JDM Partners LLC — both of which retain an ownership stake in Teravalis — in October 2021.

That deal came as the city of Buckeye saw a flurry of activity from both residential and commercial developers over the past few years, who are also looking to get in on the action with subdivisions, industrial parks and retail centers nearby.

"Buckeye is pro-growth, pro-business. They're right here with us," Freericks said. "We're in the West Valley and in the hemisphere of [Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.] and all these big employment moves that are happening. So, we think we're the great housing choice for a lot of those folks, and we hope to be the great site location for a lot of the next round of employers."

The Maricopa Association of Governments found in a 2023 report that just over 26,000 employees worked in Buckeye in 2022 — on par with the city of Avondale — but projects that figure will nearly double to more than 50,000 by 2030. Projecting out to 2060, the employment count could grow to more than 180,000, which would pin Buckeye as the West Valley's largest employment hub, according to the report.

Teravalis is expected to play a large role in growing the city's population and employment. Freericks said Howard Hughes can pull off completing its massive project because "it's a great big piece of real estate that's very developable, because there are no mountains. A lot of these projects I've worked on over the years have big mountain issues, and you can't develop in them. It's too expensive or it's physically not reasonable."

Currently, residents of nearby communities along Sun Valley Parkway, such as Tartesso and Sun City West, must travel to other cities to access essential services like grocery stores and healthcare. Freericks is tasked with pairing such services with new homes coming online in Teravalis.

With several different builders on board with a range of floor plans, Howard Hughes says it'll have something for everyone — first-time buyers, young professionals, growing families, empty nesters and active retirees.

"Our research shows that many of our early buyers will be relocating from other parts of Arizona — especially from Phoenix and the West Valley," Freericks said. "We’re also seeing interest from out-of-state buyers, particularly from California and Washington, who are drawn to the lifestyle, affordability and quality of homes offered here."

Buckeye has attracted big employers in the distribution and third-party logistics space. While Teravalis will be home to some of those users, Freericks said, Howard Hughes will pursue clean manufacturing companies, general office employers and medical office users to establish an employment base.

"And at build-out, we'll have it all," Freericks said. "It's a city-sized project."