Phoenix's
answer to Beverly Hills or the
Upper East Side is a low-profile
enclave of quiet mansions next
to the Arizona Biltmore Resort &
Spa.
The neighborhood, Biltmore Estates Drive, or "the Circle," as it's known, meanders around a golf course and is packed with old money and celebrity.
Broadcaster Paul Harvey lives there. So does Anaheim Angels owner Arte Moreno, baseball Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg and car dealer Kemp Biddulph. Singer Glen Campbell sold his Biltmore house last year.
It wouldn't be fair to call the neighborhood staid. Put it this way: If it were a car, it would a Lexus rather than a Ferrari.
But that is beginning to change. In one of those telltale signs of cultural shift, some longtime residents are moving out. It raises the question of whether the neighborhood's style and tone will leave with them.
"There is still is a tremendous amount of class in the Circle no matter how much money you have," said one woman who is shopping for a house there. "It's concerning me, the changes in new money vs. old money, and it's concerning me that the changes will affect the Circle."
The transition is happening because the forces that drive the Valley's housing market finally pushed into this small collection of multimillion-dollar homes near 24th Street and Missouri Avenue. Those forces include:
• Long-term residents downsizing and cashing in on big equity gains.
• Buyers sizing up homes for location and lot size, intending to tear down or drastically remodel them.
• Professionals tired of driving downtown from places like north Scottsdale.
• The boom in expensive condominiums. Despite criticism that the market is overbuilt, a couple of condo projects are going up at the Circle's northern end.
Silver recently sold her late grandmother's house on the Circle. It went for the asking price of $5.5 million. Her grandmother, Helen Smith, was divorced from Clyde Smith. The couple founded the Smitty's Big Town retail chain that was gobbled up in the Valley's supermarket consolidation a decade ago. Helen lived in the house from 1985 until this year, but the family thinks it's time to sell.
So do Trixie and Bob Lutz. They've been in their contemporary home since 1989, but their out-of-town guests and dinner parties have tapered off.
Their house is listed for $3.5 million. They're looking at golf course communities in the West Valley but also considered one of the condos or townhomes being built on the Circle.
"Then we sit here and think, 'Gee, we have a condo. Why don't we just stay in this house?'" Trixie said. "The question about the house is: Are we using it to its full potential?"
A compromise let the landowner, Kabuto Arizona Properties, sell 9 acres for $23 million. Kabuto got the necessary zoning for 38 villas and 75 condos before selling the property to developer GK Biltmore. The projects' prices will range from just under $1 million to $3.5 million, said Keith Mishkin, a broker with Cambridge Properties in Phoenix.
He said the condo buyers are active people who go to sports events downtown. Some are seasonal residents. Others are young professionals who want a "lock and leave" lifestyle with no yardwork. Some lived in Paradise Valley, but their children are grown, and the buyers want to live closer to the city's center.
"You could be all the way out in north Scottsdale, which is gorgeous and a wonderful lifestyle, but what happens if you want to go to the ballgame?" Mishkin said. "You watch it on TV."
Convenience is the name of the game for some Biltmore house shoppers. Even though metropolitan Phoenix has sprawled in every direction, many of their jobs are downtown in law, government, medicine and with other large employers. They have rediscovered north-central Phoenix, Arcadia and, more recently, the Biltmore area.
The neighborhood is just steps from the 24th Street and Camelback Road business and shopping hub. It also is a quick freeway hop from Sky Harbor International Airport and a short drive to downtown's sports and cultural amenities.
"He is a smart businessman," Khalaj said. "He understands the market. The Esplanade is a great investment. He can sell it any time and make a lot of money. . . . We purchase only with resale in mind. We want to make sure these superstar athletes don't buy something they get stuck with."
The Valley's housing market has cooled after a selling frenzy driven in part by speculators.
Prices haven't dropped, but they are stuck in a plateau as more houses are put up for sale.
But prices for elite homes are much more subjective because each one is unusual. In production subdivisions, selling prices for the same floor plan can be compared.
At the beginning of the decade, a house on the Circle typically sold for $1 million to $2 million. The prices since have doubled. Campbell sold his house for $6.5 million.
"The property keeps getting better. The land value keeps going up," said Ellie Shapiro, a Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage agent who specializes in luxury homes.
Kristina Gustafson, an agent with DPR Realty who has two listings on the Circle, also believes values in the area will increase. The prices will go "off the charts" after renovations are done at Biltmore Fashion Park, the shopping center within walking distance.
Gustafson believes the Circle is undergoing a typical change for neighborhoods when families mature and children are grown. Trixie Lutz agreed.
"It's starting to go where it was when we moved in," Lutz said. "There are a lot of new owners who are younger professionals. That is the feeling that I get from people who have been buying in here recently. They want to be in a well-established neighborhood and be in the middle of the action."
Glen Creno
The Arizona Republic
May. 31, 2006 12:00 AM
Reporter Ryan Konig contributed to this article. Reach the reporter at glen.creno@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8972.
The neighborhood, Biltmore Estates Drive, or "the Circle," as it's known, meanders around a golf course and is packed with old money and celebrity.
Broadcaster Paul Harvey lives there. So does Anaheim Angels owner Arte Moreno, baseball Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg and car dealer Kemp Biddulph. Singer Glen Campbell sold his Biltmore house last year.
It wouldn't be fair to call the neighborhood staid. Put it this way: If it were a car, it would a Lexus rather than a Ferrari.
But that is beginning to change. In one of those telltale signs of cultural shift, some longtime residents are moving out. It raises the question of whether the neighborhood's style and tone will leave with them.
"There is still is a tremendous amount of class in the Circle no matter how much money you have," said one woman who is shopping for a house there. "It's concerning me, the changes in new money vs. old money, and it's concerning me that the changes will affect the Circle."
The transition is happening because the forces that drive the Valley's housing market finally pushed into this small collection of multimillion-dollar homes near 24th Street and Missouri Avenue. Those forces include:
• Long-term residents downsizing and cashing in on big equity gains.
• Buyers sizing up homes for location and lot size, intending to tear down or drastically remodel them.
• Professionals tired of driving downtown from places like north Scottsdale.
• The boom in expensive condominiums. Despite criticism that the market is overbuilt, a couple of condo projects are going up at the Circle's northern end.
Generational shift
"A lot of people in the Biltmore now are of an older generation, and a lot of them are retired," said Kim Silver, an agent with Keller Williams East Valley. "A lot of the recent buyers are working professionals and professional athletes. In the past, it's been more of an old-money area, and I truly believe it's starting to shift."Silver recently sold her late grandmother's house on the Circle. It went for the asking price of $5.5 million. Her grandmother, Helen Smith, was divorced from Clyde Smith. The couple founded the Smitty's Big Town retail chain that was gobbled up in the Valley's supermarket consolidation a decade ago. Helen lived in the house from 1985 until this year, but the family thinks it's time to sell.
So do Trixie and Bob Lutz. They've been in their contemporary home since 1989, but their out-of-town guests and dinner parties have tapered off.
Their house is listed for $3.5 million. They're looking at golf course communities in the West Valley but also considered one of the condos or townhomes being built on the Circle.
"Then we sit here and think, 'Gee, we have a condo. Why don't we just stay in this house?'" Trixie said. "The question about the house is: Are we using it to its full potential?"
Biltmore Condos coming
The condo and townhome projects resulted from a bare-knuckle land battle pitting the Biltmore's influential residents against the owner of the resort's golf courses.A compromise let the landowner, Kabuto Arizona Properties, sell 9 acres for $23 million. Kabuto got the necessary zoning for 38 villas and 75 condos before selling the property to developer GK Biltmore. The projects' prices will range from just under $1 million to $3.5 million, said Keith Mishkin, a broker with Cambridge Properties in Phoenix.
He said the condo buyers are active people who go to sports events downtown. Some are seasonal residents. Others are young professionals who want a "lock and leave" lifestyle with no yardwork. Some lived in Paradise Valley, but their children are grown, and the buyers want to live closer to the city's center.
"You could be all the way out in north Scottsdale, which is gorgeous and a wonderful lifestyle, but what happens if you want to go to the ballgame?" Mishkin said. "You watch it on TV."
Convenience is the name of the game for some Biltmore house shoppers. Even though metropolitan Phoenix has sprawled in every direction, many of their jobs are downtown in law, government, medicine and with other large employers. They have rediscovered north-central Phoenix, Arcadia and, more recently, the Biltmore area.
The neighborhood is just steps from the 24th Street and Camelback Road business and shopping hub. It also is a quick freeway hop from Sky Harbor International Airport and a short drive to downtown's sports and cultural amenities.
Home of a Suns star
Amaré Stoudemire bought a Biltmore house so he could be close to work. The Phoenix Suns star, who is rehabilitating an injured knee, already owns a condo at nearby Esplanade Place but paid $4.75 million for a mansion on the Circle last year. Real estate agents say Stoudemire may tear the house down or remodel it extensively. He couldn't be reached, but his real estate agent, David Khalaj of Realty Executives in Ahwatukee, said Stoudemire is looking for privacy near the city's top attractions."He is a smart businessman," Khalaj said. "He understands the market. The Esplanade is a great investment. He can sell it any time and make a lot of money. . . . We purchase only with resale in mind. We want to make sure these superstar athletes don't buy something they get stuck with."
The Valley's housing market has cooled after a selling frenzy driven in part by speculators.
Prices haven't dropped, but they are stuck in a plateau as more houses are put up for sale.
But prices for elite homes are much more subjective because each one is unusual. In production subdivisions, selling prices for the same floor plan can be compared.
Prices keep rising
Prices in the Biltmore area have climbed steadily. The resort and area have cachet. The Circle's inventory of homes is relatively fixed with the exception of the new condos and villas.At the beginning of the decade, a house on the Circle typically sold for $1 million to $2 million. The prices since have doubled. Campbell sold his house for $6.5 million.
"The property keeps getting better. The land value keeps going up," said Ellie Shapiro, a Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage agent who specializes in luxury homes.
Kristina Gustafson, an agent with DPR Realty who has two listings on the Circle, also believes values in the area will increase. The prices will go "off the charts" after renovations are done at Biltmore Fashion Park, the shopping center within walking distance.
Gustafson believes the Circle is undergoing a typical change for neighborhoods when families mature and children are grown. Trixie Lutz agreed.
"It's starting to go where it was when we moved in," Lutz said. "There are a lot of new owners who are younger professionals. That is the feeling that I get from people who have been buying in here recently. They want to be in a well-established neighborhood and be in the middle of the action."
Glen Creno
The Arizona Republic
May. 31, 2006 12:00 AM
Reporter Ryan Konig contributed to this article. Reach the reporter at glen.creno@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8972.
Desert Showcase
