A 38-acre stretch of land at the southeast corner of 128th Street and Ranch Gate Road in north Scottsdale has sold to luxury homebuilder Weekley Homes LLC for $16 million, with room for up to 32 single-family houses on the site. The deal closes out a chapter for what brokers describe as one of the last big undeveloped parcels left in that part of the city.
According to Your Valley, the site was sold by Ranch Gate 40 LLC to Weekley Homes, a builder known for upscale residential projects. The brokerage that arranged the transaction, Kidder Mathews, describes the property as a 38-acre residential development site and says it offers the potential for 32 single-family homes. Kidder Mathews Senior Vice President Brian Rosella and Senior Associate Joseph Calistri represented the seller, Ranch Gate 40 LLC, in the sale.
One of the Last Big Lots in North Scottsdale
Kidder Mathews characterized the parcel as one of the last remaining large tracts available for residential development in North Scottsdale, a detail that underscores how scarce big, buildable land has become in that corridor. The brokerage's account does not name specific comparable sales, but it points to strong property values and successful nearby residential developments as evidence of continued demand for single-family housing in the market.
Rosella framed the purchase within a broader pattern he says is playing out across the state. Developers and homebuilders throughout Arizona are embracing a “flight to quality” mindset in how they pick sites, he said, per Kidder Mathews. He added that large residential development opportunities in desirable locations are increasingly difficult to find, calling the Ranch Gate sale “a great deal for all involved.”
Zoning Change Nearly Tripled Planned Home Count
The land's path to 32 homes runs through a zoning fight that played out at Scottsdale City Council last year. City Council approved the Ranch Gate developer's rezoning request unanimously at its Sept. 30 meeting, according to Scottsdale.org. That coverage described the project as a 32-home subdivision on 40 acres at Ranch Gate Road and North 128th Street — a figure that differs from Kidder Mathews' 38-acre description of the site now sold, though the discrepancy between the two accounts isn't explained in either report.
The zoning shift mattered because of what it unlocked. Under the prior R1-130 ESL zoning, the land would have allowed only 12 lots, Scottsdale.org reported; the approved change, which the city's case record describes as a shift to R1-35 ESL zoning, made way for a 32-home plan, nearly three times as many homes. In exchange, the development's set-aside of untouched open space grew to 18.32 acres, up from 14.45 acres, after roughly 3.87 additional acres of natural open space were added to the plan, per the same report.
Luxury Demand Driving Up Land Values
The sale lands in a stretch of the Valley where home values already run well above the regional norm. In nearby Dynamite Foothills, the average home value sits at $1.96 million, compared with $577,266 across the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, according to Homes.com. The figures show a premium in nearby home values; separately, Rosella says large residential development opportunities in desirable locations are increasingly difficult to find.
The deal marks another large chunk of North Scottsdale's remaining open land moving from private ownership into the hands of a major production builder, continuing a trend of scarce, large-acreage parcels drawing top dollar in the city's luxury housing corridor.
