By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
The Buckeye Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to hear two projects this week that will, if ultimately approved, continue fueling the area’s expansive and ongoing growth.
In his presentation at the BEX 2025 Public Works Conference in October, Riley Quinlan, contract deputy director of CIP for City of Buckeye, explained the sheer size and massive opportunity for development in the locale. As we reported at the time, “In terms of size, Buckeye is large enough to fit 16 other Valley cities within its planning area, which is only 14% built out. Buckeye has a current population of 114,000, which could reach 305,000 by 2040.” (AZBEX; Oct. 31)
The projects on the Nov. 25 Planning and Zoning agenda are indicative of the City’s appetite for growth and push for development diversity.
Grand View Arizona
Back in August, we reported on Buckeye annexing 1,900 acres near Verrado Way and Maricopa County 85 for an eventual industrial hub. That land was to be combined with an area already owned by the City to establish an industrial area of 2,271 acres that could eventually be rezoned as a Community Master Plan. (AZBEX; Aug. 29)
The location is near the Union Pacific Railroad’s east-west line, which is connected to the Sunset Route. Additionally, the site is near the Buckeye Municipal Airport and Phoenix-Goodyear Airport, as well as the planned State Route 30.
The site, referred to as Grand View Arizona, currently has a mix of zoning designations made up of Single-Family, Light Industrial and Rural Residential. Owner Rexco LLC is requesting a rezone to Community Master Plan.
Echoing Quinlan’s presentation at the conference, the submitted overview for the master plan says, “Grand View Arizona is envisioned as a forward-thinking regional employment hub that enables the nation’s goal of onshoring key industries, thoughtfully integrates land uses, responds to new technologies and encourages cohesive, high-quality architecture and landscape design. Planned specifically to complement projected land uses under the General Plan while providing a dynamic framework for future development, Grand View Arizona will proactively position the property for the City of Buckeye’s buildout as one of the fastest growing cities in the nation.”
Under CMP zoning, three land use districts would be established. The first is Regional Employment that would “allow for a range of light industrial, limited heavy industrial, and other employment generating uses such as manufacturing, logistics, data centers, aerospace-related companies, and the like,” according to the planning action report prepared for the Commission. The “most undesirable or objectionable” uses associated with such districts would be prohibited.
The report also says, “To allow the property to be marketed to ‘mega users’ that may desire to develop a large-scale facility over the entire nearly 2,300-acre site, the proposed CMP would allow for all but 32 acres of the subject site to be developed with these employment land uses.”
The second district would be a Residential Village of between zero and 750 with various residential applications, including single- and multifamily development. Multifamily uses would be capped at 150 acres. The targeted unit count would be 5,060 units, with a maximum of 6,500 dwelling units across 750 acres. Target density would be 6.75 units/acre, with a maximum allowed density of 8.67.
Residential development would happen primarily next to existing neighborhoods to the northwest, north and southeast of the site boundary.
A commercial district designation would establish between 32 and 235 acres for retail, restaurant, offices and services. While currently conceptual only, the use plan expects the commercial locations to focus largely on arterial intersections like the SEC and SWC of Broadway Road and Verrado Way.
Project representatives held a neighborhood meeting earlier this year to discuss the plan with area residents. During the meeting, residents expressed concerns or asked questions about the planned SR 30 highway, specific residential plans, water supply impacts and assurances, water and wastewater facilities, and the potential need for remediation of existing agricultural land.
The plan was initially submitted in October 2023 and is currently on its sixth variation. It was most recently scheduled for consideration at the Oct. 28 Commission meeting but was continued to Nov. 25. City staff has once again recommended a continuance to Feb. 26 of next year, following a request from land planner Norris Design to allow for additional discussions between project representatives and City staff to work out specifics for a recommendation of approval.
Representatives of nearby property owners also requested a continuance so residents could attend the hearing outside of a holiday week.
The property owner is Rexco LLC. Norris Design is the land planner. Colliers Engineering & Design is the civil engineer, with traffic engineering provided by CivTech. Gammage & Burnham is the legal representative. JLL is the brokerage firm.
Coyote Crest
Also scheduled to come before the Commission is another Norris Design-prepared development plan called Coyote Crest.
Owner Ward Real Estate & Development Company is requesting a rezoning from Planned Community to Planned Area Development for 64.45 acres of vacant land at the SWC of Roosevelt Street (the future McDowell Parkway) and Rainbow Road alignments to create a 901-unit residential community with three distinct housing types.
Plans call for 275 Build-to-Rent cottages, 170 duplex townhomes and 456 garden apartment units. The blended density will be 14.14 units/acre.
According to the supplied materials, Coyote Crest is planned to serve Buckeye’s need for more housing volume and diversity, as well as provide for the needs of the Gateway Activity Center area. The overview says, “The Imagine Buckeye 2040 General Plan identifies the location of ‘Activity Centers,’ which denote live, work, play areas that are vibrant mixed-use areas providing destination locations. Coyote Crest is located approximately 1.5 miles west of the Gateway Activity Center / Banner Medical / Verrado Marketplace located at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Verrado Way.”
Project representatives held a neighborhood meeting in July to discuss the plan with area residents. Questions largely focused on the proposed expanded right-of-way and conceptual drainage easement along the edge of nearby subdivision and potential impacts on surrounding properties, given Coyote Crest’s proximity to the McDowell Parkway alignment.
Buckeye staff has recommended approval of the rezoning, subject to standard conditions.
Ward Real Estate & Development Company is the owner. The land planner is Norris Design. The civil engineer is Hubbard Engineering. Traffic engineering is by CivTech. Gilbert Billie PLLC is the project’s legal representative.
