Peter Corbett
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 19, 2008 12:00 AM
Don and Barbara Ruff have hunkered down on several of Scottsdale's so-called ranches since 1963 when they moved to town. They lived at McCormick Ranch, Scottsdale Ranch and now DC Ranch, which they have called home since it opened a decade ago."We've made the ranch circuit, but I think we're here to stay," said Don Ruff, 72, a retired banker. The Ruffs couldn't be happier with the way the community has developed.
"If you like outdoor life this is a great place to live," Ruff said, noting that community trails lead into the adjacent McDowell Sonoran Preserve.The Ruffs are among an estimated 10,000 people who have moved to DC Ranch since late 1997 when DMB Associates Inc. began developing the 8,300-acre planned community east of Pima Road at Thompson Peak Parkway.It includes almost 2,000 homes, everything from apartments and condominiums to small homes and multimillion-dollar estates on the upper slopes of Horseshoe Canyon, more than 1,300 feet above the Scottsdale Airport.
Estate lots of up to 35 acres sell for as high as $8.5 million and custom estate homes are priced at up to $12 million.
Of course, most folks in DC Ranch are not living in the pricey Silverleaf neighborhood where the best-view lots are.
Originally, one could buy a Standard Pacific home in DC Ranch for about $245,000, which sounds like a smoking deal now. But in 1998, that was nearly double the median price of new homes in the Valley.
Those homes now sell for almost $700,000, DMB Vice President Brent Harrington said.
"The market has reacted very well" to DC Ranch, he noted, comparing it to neighborhoods like Arcadia that are widely appreciated and valued.
DC Ranch has its gated, exclusive neighborhoods but DMB has always tried to offer a variety of housing types and prices, Harrington said.
Even today, Engle Homes is selling its 1,800-square-foot Villas at DC Ranch for as little as $487,000.
But new homes are getting scarce in DC Ranch as the community approaches its completion. Individual builders will construct another 100 or more homes, and DMB has about 50 custom lots remaining that it will sell in the next few years, Harrington said.
Otherwise DC Ranch is nearly complete. Canyon Village, a 100,000-square-foot office and retail project northeast of Union Hills Drive and Thompson Peak Parkway, will start to open within two months.
DC Ranch Crossing, a 27-acre shopping center anchored by AJ's Fine Foods, is expected to open early next year southeast of Union Hills Drive and Pima Road, Harrington said.
DC Ranch has come a long way from a decade ago when coyotes and roadrunners were more plentiful than homes or residents, according to Ruff, an original resident who said he still sees lots of wildlife on his walks.
And of course Scottsdale has grown up during that time as well.
"DC Ranch," Ruff said, "is kind of like a little town within the city."
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