Casa GRANDE Subdivisions
C
asa Grande is growing like wildflowers in the spring, and homebuilders are busy trying to keep up. In the last couple of years, the City has experienced a resurgence in residential construction after 10 slow years following the Great Recession. The City issued 1,107 building permits for singlefamily homes in 2020, 562 in 2019, 256 in 2018 and 114 in 2017. From 2010-17, the City issued fewer than 200 each year, including just 52 in 2012. During the lean years, two companies were building in Casa Grande. Now, 18 companies are building here. When the housing market collapsed during the last half of the 2000 to 2010 decade, builders abandoned plans to construct homes on thousands of lots in Casa Grande. In many cases, the work had already begun. Some developments had water lines, sewer lines and paved streets, but no houses. Dubbed “ghost” or “zombie” subdivisions, they blighted the City and sat idle for years. As late as 2017, the City had 6,000 vacant lots. “Most of the subdivisions listed on our current builder activity list were subdivisions that were started in the 2004-06 time frame and never fully completed,” City Planning and Development Director Paul Tice said. However, today builders have flooded back into Casa Grande and have started buying up these subdivisions and building homes. They have returned for several reasons. Casa Grande’s location between Phoenix and Tucson and at the junction of I-10 and I-8 is ideal.
Industry is here, and more is coming. Casa Grande is also attractive to home buyers for its low cost of living. “Looking at the cost of housing in Casa Grande vs. Chandler,” said Renée Louzon-Benn, president of the Greater Casa Grande Chamber of Commerce. “Get more house for your money.” The City made the permitting process easier, reduced development impact fees and changed requirements for financial assurances from builders that they will complete infrastructure. “City leadership and City management worked with builders and developers to find out what needed to be done to make Casa Grande attractive to growth again,” Mayor Craig McFarland said. The Census Bureau estimates Casa Grande’s population was 58,632 in 2019. The City projects a population of 75,049 in 2030. To get there, the City is counting on 4,485 new single-family homes, 961 apartment units and 961 manufactured homes, Tice said. The City issued 11 building permits for multi-family housing in 2020. No such permits were issued from 20132019. Casa Grande Crossings on Camino Mercado, a 284-unit apartment complex, will soon be under construction, Tice said. The City issued 63 permits for manufactured homes in 2020.
NEWCOMERS AND NEIGHBORS CLUB Meets second Thursday of each month Central Event Hall, 408 N. Sacaton St., Casa Grande AZ For more information, please visit www.cgnnc.com
14
CITY OF CASA GRANDE · THINKCASAGRANDE.COM
