By BEX Staff for AZBEX
Southern Ridge Golf Club, a defunct golf facility on 59th Avenue between Southern Avenue and Baseline Road in the Laveen area of southwest Phoenix, is set for a major redevelopment and revitalization plan submitted to the City.
According to local news reports, after buying the site in 2022, owners Laveen 140 LLC planned to redevelop the abandoned gold course into a site with approximately 800 residential units and small open space pockets that included pickleball and sports courts, dog parks and playgrounds. That plan encountered deep resistance from the surrounding community.
Removal of the existing golf course was the major opposition driver, according to zoning attorney Adam Baugh of Withey Morris Baugh, who is representing the new planned unit development proposal.
The site was originally a 36-hole golf course that was built in the mid-1990s. It was redeveloped in 2001, retaining an 18-hole course with single-family homes in a community known as Cottonfields. The course was closed in 2019. After the rejection of the initial redevelopment plan, project representatives worked with the existing community through a series of meetings to create a more collaborative and mutually acceptable proposal, according to project documents on file with Phoenix.
Under the new plan, golf-based uses will be reestablished, and the residential component will focus on a variety of single-family housing types. According to the submitted project narrative, “The overall design for The Score at Cottonfields includes a 20-hole golf course with a variety of single-family product types including traditional single-family detached homes as well as single-family attached. Supporting uses such as a restaurant, golf retail store and event venue are envisioned to support the executive course and provide existing and future residents with accessible amenities and improved open space.”
The requested rezoning would change the current golf course designation to planned unit development. The proposed plan would offer an updated golf course and clubhouse on 88.17 acres, along with four development units—A through D—each with a different type of single-family housing:
- Development Unit A: Attached luxury townhomes, 23 units, 3.16 acres;
- Development Unit B: Detached patio homes, 115 units, 24.86 acres;
- Development Unit C: Attached townhome villas, 184 units, 19.89 acres, and
- Development Unit D: Traditional homes, 93 units, 16.47 acres.
According to the article, the clubhouse will be renovated, and a putting course and restaurant will be added. The golf course must be completed before any new homes can be occupied.
Because of prior agreements with surrounding homeowners, approval was required from two-thirds of residents before the project could receive City approval. The article quotes the development team as saying it has received enough signatures to proceed.
The development is made up of owner Laveen 140 LLC, land planner Norris Design and golf course architect Forrest Richardson. The zoning law firm representing the project is Withey Morris Baugh. No meeting dates have been set.
