The Howard Hughes Corporation and Jerry Colangelo have announced the launch of Douglas Ranch, a new large-scale master planned community (MPC) in Phoenix’s West Valley. Encompassing nearly 37,000 acres in the nation’s fastest-growing metro region, Douglas Ranch is anticipated to become one of the leading MPCs in the country, with 100,000 homes, 300,000 residents and 55 million square feet of commercial development. Residential lot sales at Douglas Ranch are scheduled to begin in the first half of 2022.
The MPC was acquired by Howard Hughes from JDM Partners, led by Colangelo, David Eaton and Mel Shultz, and El Dorado Holdings, led by Mike Ingram; both companies will remain as joint venture partners with HHC on Trillium, the 3,000-acre first village of Douglas Ranch, located in the city of Buckeye, Arizona.
“The launch of Douglas Ranch is momentous news for Phoenix and the state of Arizona. We are creating a city of the future—leveraging The Howard Hughes Corporation’s development expertise to build a community with limitless potential to spur growth, business expansion, economic opportunity and innovation,” said Jerry Colangelo, sports executive, businessman, and long-time Phoenix resident whose development company, JDM Partners, is one of the largest owners of entitled land in Arizona.
“To ensure the success of Douglas Ranch, we specifically sought out The Howard Hughes Corporation for its unique capability to build exceptional communities, implement proven best-in-class practices across new platforms at significant scale, and rapidly deliver on build-to-suit opportunities to help businesses relocate,” Colangelo continued. “As we prepare to start selling homes, we are excited that Douglas Ranch has been elevated to the ranks of the Howard Hughes communities that are among the most sought-after places to live, work and thrive in the nation.”
“The launch of Douglas Ranch is momentous news for Phoenix and the state of Arizona. We are creating a city of the future—leveraging The Howard Hughes Corporation’s development expertise to build a community with limitless potential to spur growth, business expansion, economic opportunity and innovation.”
—Jerry Colangelo
Douglas Ranch will become an industry-leading community focused on sustainable development and technological advancement which will help serve and drive the substantial growth that is taking place in the Phoenix region—which has ranked as the country’s top metropolitan area for net migration for the past three years, owing to its strong economy, low unemployment rate, business-friendly environment, and educated workforce. Phoenix has added almost a million residents in the last decade and is expected to grow by approximately 100,000 residents annually over the next 10 years. The city’s West Valley showed outsized growth in new home construction in the region at over 8% per year and captured 57% of all housing demand in Phoenix. The area is positioned for exponential growth as longterm migration of residents and businesses is projected to continue.
The $600 million acquisition of the 37,000-acre Douglas Ranch is a unique opportunity to add a fully entitled, “shovel-ready” MPC to HHC’s acclaimed portfolio of award-winning communities—without hindering the company’s already extensive development pipeline. With the expectation of 1,000+ lot sales in 2022, Douglas Ranch is able to replicate the self-funding business model synonymous with HHC’s other large-scale master planned communities. Further demonstrating its strong market position, HHC is equipped with ample excess liquidity available to be allocated to continue meet underlying demand across its portfolio.
