A zoning change request has been approved for a project in Queen Creek, nearly 40 miles to the southeast of Phoenix, that will see the building of 320 residential units.
To be called Elanto, the project belongs to the Church of Latter Day Saints and will go up on 55 acres on the northwest corner of W. Pima and S. Meridian roads. The site, formerly farmland, is currently vacant.
Members of the Queen Creek Town Council have given their unanimous approval to a rezoning proposal for what will be a massive residential/commercial project.
By design, Elanto will be a gated and build-to-rent community. Renderings of the project show a well-ordered development with neatly laid out blocks and an abundance of trees and bushes.
The project will include a combination of detached single-family homes and attached homes. Larger site amenities will feature a clubhouse, dog park, and courts for the increasingly popular pickleball.
Work on Elanto could begin sometime during the first quarter of next year.
The Church of Latter Day Saints is thought to be one of the largest property owners in Arizona. Nationally, according to various news sources, the church owns upwards of nearly 2 million acres.
As of the spring of last year, those properties were collectively valued at around $16 billion. According to a group called the Truth & Transparency Foundation, the church owns land in every state of the country, with those lands located in both urban and suburban areas.
By Garry Boulard
