Mountain Shadows redevelopment plan might boost home values

When Mountain Shadows Resort closed in 2004, Vernon Parker joked that his son in elementary school would be in college before the Paradise Valley property was redeveloped.

His son graduated from Brophy College Preparatory last week and, coincidentally, the latest plan for redevelopment of the 68-acre site surfaced at the same time.

"We were clairvoyant," said Parker, a Paradise Valley town councilman. "It was a joke, but the joke turned into reality."

Property owner Robert Flaxman, Solage Hotels and Resorts and its sister brand Auberge Resorts have teamed up on a plan to build a hotel with 100 to 289 rooms, a small retail component and a mix of vacation units and single-family homes. The Mountain Shadows 18-hole executive course would be renovated and reconfigured with a new clubhouse.

The property was developed in the late 1950s at 56th Street and Lincoln Drive in the northern shadows of Camelback Mountain.

Councilman Parker, who lives in Mountain Shadows Estates East, said redevelopment would have a negative effect on property values if there is too much density.

"It really depends on the final product that the developer puts forward," he said.

The current plan calls for no more than 239 residential units on the property. That would include 50 homes east of 56th Street and duplexes and townhouses west of 56th Street.

Resort could boost home prices

Catherine Jacobson, a real-estate agent with Walt Danley Realty, said a definitive development plan that is ready to go would be a big boost for Mountain Shadows East and West residents and their home values.

There already has been an increase in price per square foot for Mountain Shadows homes as the overall real-estate market improves, said Jacobson, a resident of Mountain Shadows West.

"We moved in about a year before the resort shut down, just long enough to know how nice it would be to have a new resort come around," she said.

Shawn Shackelton of Ventana Fine Properties said the average sale price in Mountain Shadows the past year on six homes has been $793,000 for an average of 3,200 square feet.

There are two active listings. One is a 50-year-old three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath home of 2,577 square feet on under one-third of an acre for $750,000.

The other home of 3,183 square feet, built in 1958, is three bedrooms, three and a half baths on 0.27 acres for $985,000.

Shackelton said there is a pending sale at $985,000 for a three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath home of 2,939 square feet that was built in 1962. It was a short sale in 2010 and went for $635,000.

"It's a desirable place to be, but if you like land like most people do in Paradise Valley you just don't get it here," Shackelton said.

Jacobson said Mountain Shadows is ideal for people who want to stay in Paradise Valley but who want a smaller single-level home with less property to maintain.

Town plans public meetings

Local residents will have a chance to weigh in on proposed resort redevelopment at Town Council work-study sessions on Thursday and June 28.

A decision on the project could come by the fall, said Jason Rose, a spokesman for the development group. If approved, construction would likely start by the end of 2013 with the resort completed in 2015, he said.

Rose said there would be further refinements of the plan with input from residents and the Town Council.

by Peter Corbett - Jun. 1, 2012 06:42 AM The Republic | azcentral.com



Mountain Shadows redevelopment plan might boost home values