Town Building for Marana Growth and Development
MARANA, Arizona – Build it and they will come proves true for Marana, as the area had the highest home permits pulled last year as well as the highest number of new lots sold – 729-platted lots for new development.
Pima County homebuilders saw a 70 percent growth in permits year-over-year, compared to a 12 percent growth in the Phoenix market, Will White with Land Advisors Organization told us. Most of this growth was concentrated in the Northwest / Marana area over the past few years, as builders are starting to scramble for finished lot inventory.
As the Gladden Farms Elementary School opened this year in Marana, Richmond and Lennar Homes began work on 118-lots in Gladden Farms, Farm Field Five added another 99-lots, Dove Mountain is bringing another 192-lots, Tangerine Ridge has 78-lots under development, and a new 242-lot subdivision is planned at Grier & Sanders Roads, all in Marana.
Marana’s new road infrastructure should be completed in time for its anticipated population growth.
No project will have a bigger impact to the town of Marana than the Ina Road/I-10 Interchange project that moved into a new phase this past week when the I-10 overpass was demolished.
Preliminary work on the $120 million project began last summer. While ADOT is overseeing construction, the Regional Transportation Authority, which is managed by the Pima Association of Governments, is providing funding for the new interchange. In addition, the town of Marana is providing $25 million for work that will widen Ina Road and reconstruct Ina Road bridges over the Santa Cruz River west of I-10.
When complete in about 25 months, the project will ease the flow of traffic at this intersection and improve safety for users of Marana’s roads and I-10.
Improvements to Tangerine Road also continue and the good news for Marana is that its portion should be completed by end of 2017. When completed, Tangerine will be four lanes, be completely level and include paths and walkways, similar to Twin Peaks Road.
See the Tangerine Road Drone Video here:
A second phase to the project will be improvements along Tangerine from I-10 to Dove Mountain Blvd., but that portion of the project is still down the road and is to include a new park, Tangerine Sky Park, for the area.
Marana News is reporting, that the Marana road realignment is also underway. According to Town Manager Gilbert Davidson, the plans are 90 percent complete and bidding will begin soon. The hope is to have the project, which will realign the roads leading into the Marana Road Interchange, begin in May. The current configuration can be confusing and dangerous.
Part of this project will also serve as the initial portion of the town’s Marana Main Street project which is designed to create a downtown area in the town. Those first steps to downtown is a roundabout on Sandario that will connect with Marana Road.
The roundabout planning is about 90 percent done and final drawing should be presented soon for construction to begin in the spring with the project completion in about a year.
Construction of the new Marana Police Station will also begin in May and should be completed by the end of 2018. The new facility will have a full array of training facilities, including a gun range and computer simulation rooms. There will be meeting spaces, storage and jail/holding areas that can better accommodate prisoners who may need to stay overnight before being transferred to a long-term facility.
Thanks to the sales tax there will also be no debt on the project. The Sunset tax will go away as soon as the project is fully funded.
A new Marana Wastewater Treatment plant and recharge facility are also moving forward. Those plans are also 90 percent done, according to Marana News. North Marana is growing and the plant acquired several years ago by the town is reaching its capacity. Add to that the town’s desire to maximize effectiveness of the facility is the reason for the recharge portion of the project.
A Hampton Inn will soon be built near the Tucson Premium Outlets at Twin Peaks and I-10. The project is in its final planning stage and construction should commence in 2018.
Top Golf will be coming to the area behind Costco that was previously the Practice Tee. The popular location in Scottsdale includes a state of the art driving range, a bar, and restaurant with entertainment center and television screens is to be open by fall 2017.
More stores are also coming to Arizona Pavilions by the end of the year including Ross, TJ Maxx, Homegoods and Petco to open this year. All the new stores are relocations from outside of Marana, which means new sales tax revenues for the town.
To read the full story by Brad Allis in Marana News click here.