Tartesso

Tartesso is the newest master planned community located in Buckeye, Arizona located off Sun Valley Parkway. The development is approximately convert|40|mi|km from central Phoenix at the base of the White Tank Mountains. Tartesso is being developed by Stardust Companies and features eight of Arizona’s premier builders: Pulte Homes, Trend Homes, Elliot Homes, Hacienda Builders, Home Life Communities, Montalbano Homes, Canterra Homes, and Pacific Century Homes.

Growth

Tartesso will to be one of the largest communities in Buckeye with 49,000 units planned to be built by completion. The community will stretch over convert|12000|acre|km2 and will include 17 elementary schools, 3 high schools, and 1 hospital. The construction will not be completed over night though, as the development is set to a 20 year construction plan. As of January 2008 Tartesso was in Phase I. At completion this will include:
* 3,375 homes
* 3 elementary schools
* 1 high school
* 1 neighborhood park
* 1 large sports park
* 20 pocket parks
* 4 commercial parcels

Buckeye Growth

The city of Buckeye is experiencing major growth with the inclusion of the many master planned communities in existence and development. Construction began on Verrado in the summer of 2002 and will include over 14,000 homes when finished. Still in development, Tartesso will neighbor Sun City Festival, Spurlock Ranch, and Sun Valley all master planned communities slated along the Sun Valley Parkway. As of 2007, Buckeye, Arizona was the second fastest growing suburb in the nation [cite web | title=Forbes Article | url=http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/2007/07/16/suburbs-growth-housing-forbeslife-cx_mw_0716realestate_2.html| accessdate=5 January| accessyear= 2008 ] . From 2000-2005 Buckeye’s population has more than doubled reaching 20,780. That number is expected to continue to grow exponentially and by 2010 the population is projected to reach 100,000 residents.

Amenities

Sun Valley Parkway is famous as the road to nowhere but in all actuality recreational attractions surround Tartesso. White Tank Mountain Regional Park is located just 35 minutes from Tartesso. The park encompasses nearly convert|30000|acre|km2 and is the largest regional park in Maricopa County.

Tartesso Town Center

Tartesso Town Center is the convert|3500000|sqft|m2|sing=on shopping center off of Interstate 10 and Sun Valley parkway at the entrance to Tartesso. Construction began in late 2007 and will take 15 years to complete. The project is being co-developed by Stardust Development and Toronto-based Sterling Centre Corp and could create 18,000 jobs bringing the city $450 million in revenue when completed. [cite web | title=AZ Central | url=http://www.azcentral.com/community/swvalley/articles/0128swv-tartesso28Z5.html | accessdate=11 January| accessyear= 2008 ] The mall’s mammoth size will be about 4 times that of most regional malls and will include:
* Two neighborhood shopping centers
* Two power centers
* A lifestyle center similar to Kierland Commons in Scottsdale
* An auto mall
* A movie theater
* A hospital and medical facilities
* Hotels
* Residential units

Elementary School

Tartesso Elementary School is the first school constructed based solely for the residents of the master planned community. The school is part of the Saddle Mountain Unified School District and sits on convert|11.7|acre|m2|sing=on campus able to accommodate 800 students. Construction broke ground October 2006 and was originally set to open their doors for Fall of 2007 but lack of student enrollment and school district debt has pushed the opening back to August 2008. [cite web | title=AZ Central August 2007 | url=http://www.azcentral.com/community/swvalley/articles/0831swv-saddlefolo0901.html | accessdate=7 January| accessyear= 2008 ] Tonopah-based Saddle Mountain School District was in about $3 million debt and has recently been put into receivership, with outside experts in charge of the district's finances and an interim superintendent. [cite web | title=West Valley View July 2007 | url=http://www.westvalleyview.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=27003&SectionID=9&SubSectionID=4&S=1 | accessdate=7 January| accessyear= 2008 ]

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.tartesso.com/ Tartesso: Master Planned Community]
* [http://www.buckeyedevelopment.com/ Buckeye Commercial Development]
* [http://tartesso-arizona.com/ Unofficial Tartesso Community Forums]
* [http://www.mytartesso.com/ Unofficial Tartesso Community Site]