More than 300 acres of land in Gilbert, Arizona has been sold in order to build one of the largest mixed-use developments in the area in recent memory.
The Power Ranch Land Company purchased the acreage from the Phoenix-based Dale C. Morrison Trust, which has been in control of the land for years.
The purchase opens the way for development of a project that has been long planned and is expected to see exactly 221 acres given over to light industrial construction. An additional 34 acres will be designated for commercial development, which will include a small office, fitness center, grocery store, and several restaurants.
Residential development at the site will see the building of both two- and three-story multi-family homes, along with some 16 acres of green space that will include walking trails.
The property in question went for $107.5 million and is thought to be one of the largest such land transactions in Maricopa County this year.
Site planning and design work is now underway on what is being called The Ranch, with actual construction expected to begin sometime in late 2024.
The site is part of an historic 3,000-acre alfalfa, corn, and cotton farm owned and operated for decades by the Morrison Family, once regarded as one of the most important working farms in Gilbert.
The Morrison Trust has been instrumental in transitioning the Morrison Ranch into a multi-use master planned community, with transformation of the land almost seen as a metaphor for Gilbert itself, with a population of less than 1,000 people when the farm was in its early years, to nearly 270,000 today.
At full build-out, The Ranch is expected to include around 15 buildings with retail shops, storage facilities, convenient stores, and even a dental office.
By Garry Boulard
