The Gilbert Town Council will hear (and potentially vote on) a proposed amendment Tuesday night to modify the towns “vertical development zoning code”. That’s government-speak for “allow taller buildings to be built”.

The proposal, which is endorsed by both the Chamber of Commerce and the Planning Commission has been in development since June 2007. The changes would allow for buildings from 4 to 11 stories tall to be built.

Best I can tell, the bulk of the proposal affects currently undeveloped land in what would be future “commercial corridors”.

Naturally, there are some for it, and some who are opposed. If you are opposed to these changes, tomorrow’s Town Council meeting (7:00pm, Gilbert Civic Center) is probably your last chance to speak your mind. Generally speaking the council approves proposals that are endorsed by the Planning Commission.

You can get all the details in this Council Communication packet (52 pages, PDF file).

Here is a map that roughly delineates the 5 proposed areas of future vertical development. For detailed maps, please see this page on the Planning Commission site.

View Larger Map

While the median value of all 2,719 (!) active single family Gilbert listings is $269,999, there are still many choices available in a lower price range.

As of this writing, there are currently 185 single family homes listed for sale in Gilbert with asking prices of between $150,000 and $200,000.

Currently: 185 single-family homes in Gilbert between $150 – $200K

Many of these are bank-owned and short sale listings, and some are “fix ups”, but there are many nice homes included in this range.

Some of the short sales will never get lender approval at the listed price, some will. Such is the nature of the short sale beast.

Here is a sample of what is available (interactive, click an icon and you’ll go to a search that is nothing but Gilbert SF homes between $150 – $200K):

If you want to set up your own searches for Phoenix area homes for sale, just visit our Phoenix MLS search page. You can easily define searches and receive email updates when homes meeting your criteria come on the market.

Just about anything you’d like to know about the Town of Gilbert, Arizona is available in a nifty 28 page document available here (PDF file).

I thought the chart shown above was pretty telling evidence for how much our little slice of the Phoenix East Valley has changed over the last few years. Sort of explains why housing and real estate development in Gilbert have exploded in the last 10 years.

The report contains demographics, business and community resources and an overview of the Gilbert community and surrounding areas. Info on the labor force and employment, growth, tax information, education and more are included.

If you are a resident, or considering relocation to Gilbert, this report may be of interest.

Report courtesy of the Town of Gilbert.

Power Ranch is a large Master Planned Community in southeast Gilbert. (Community details can be found in this previous post.)

There are currently 154 homes for sale in Power Ranch, ranging in price from $149,900 to $1,550,000.

If you’d like to search and view all of the available Power Ranch homes, you can go directly to this page which will take you to our nifty map based search just for Power Ranch. You can also search directly on this post in the interactive search below.

If you’d like a personalized home search for Power Ranch (or any other part of town) that will automatically notify you of new listings, simply click the “Register” link on our MLS search page. You can set up multiple searches using various criteria.

Here is a breakdown, by zip code, of current single-family homes listed for sale in Gilbert.

Data is extracted from the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service. It is generally considered reliable, but is by no means guaranteed. It’s only as accurate as the agents entering the data make it (for example, I did exclude the home in Zip Code 85234 that was showing a square footage of 85,234…)

A handy-dandy Gilbert Zip Code map is also included.

(click for larger table)

[tags]Gilbert real estate, Gilbert listings by Zip Code[/tags]

Seville Golf and Country Club is a Master Planned community in South Gilbert.

Bounded (roughly) by Power and Higley roads on the east and west, and Chandler Heights and Riggs roads on the north and south, Seville is a large community offering a wide variety of homes.

There are currently 133 homes listed for sale in Seville, ranging from a 1,215 square foot home listed at $198K up to a 8,490 square foot $2.7M home. Some condos in the low 200’s are also available. There is likely a home available for sale in Seville that will fit almost any need.

Amenities abound, highlighted by an award winning private golf course.

Parks, trails, lakes and ramadas are scattered all across the community, and the massive clubhouse features tennis courts, exercise equipment, a pool and water slide, and dining.

There are orange groves throughout Seville that when combined with the open areas and exterior elevations of the numerous home designs give the community a decidedly Mediterranean feel.

With something to offer all lifestyles, Seville in Gilbert may have just what you are looking for.

Click here to peruse all of the currently listed real estate in Seville. This link is automatically updated when new listings come on the market. Feel free to contact us if you’d like a personalized version of this listing site, set up to match your specific search criteria, for any location in the Phoenix area. (No cost or obligation, and certainly no hassle!)

 Seville video courtesy of Show Appeal

[tags]Seville Golf & Country Club, Gilbert Real Estate, Phoenix Master Planned communities[/tags]

Curious about how many homes are sold in Gilbert every month? (Sure you are!) Here are a few different ways to look at the data:

Table showing Gilbert, AZ home sales by month for 2000 through 2007:

Here is each year plotted by month. Note that home sales in any given year typically peak in June and are lowest in Dec – Jan. The “shape” of each year’s curve is similar, though the absolute value obviously varies.

And here is a chart showing monthly home sales in Gilbert from Jan 2000 through Dec 2007. There is an obvious shift that occurred in Jan 2006. Gilbert’s 2007 home sales total of 3,143 was the lowest since 2000 (when the population of Gilbert was significantly less than it is today).

Data represents all “dwelling types” (single family homes, condo/town homes, mobile/mfg homes) and signifies homes closed in a calendar month. All data is pulled from the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service (ARMLS) and is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed.

It should be noted that many new home sales are not tracked through the MLS. Nor are FSBO homes (For Sale By Owner).

If you are looking for more Phoenix real estate stats, both John Wake and Jonathan Dalton are excellent resources.

[tags]Gilbert real estate stats, Gilbert home sales, Phoenix real estate stats[/tags]

The Big League Dreams sports park in Gilbert is opening soon.

Since the future sports park is located just a couple of miles from my house, I stopped by over the weekend to see if I could take a few photos.

It appears the park is quite near completion as I only spotted a couple of workers there on Saturday. The gates were locked up, but I did manage to jam my burly arms through a couple of places and squeeze off a few photos before one of the workers there ran me off.

Big League Dreams sports parks contain multiple softball fields that are scaled down replicas of major league baseball stadiums. I *think* the Gilbert version includes replicas of Yankee Stadium, Fenway, Ebbett’s Field, Chase One (formerly Bank One Ballpark — home of the Diamondbacks) and more. There are also batting cages, restaurants, and an an indoor arena.

The original projected cost of the sports park was $23 million, but last I heard that had swelled to over $36 million. Located on Elliot road between Higley and Power, the sports park is set to open in early January. The Republic says the grand opening is Jan 12, notices at the park mention tryouts on Jan 9 and play beginning Jan 22.

The developers that build and operate Big League Dreams sports parks pitch a plethora of perks a sports park like this can bring a community. Only time will tell if it happens here. I can tell you though — the fields are very nice. We’ll see how that turf holds up in the summer heat…

View more photos at Flickr.

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[tags]Gilbert, Big League Dreams, Sports Complex[/tags]

Somehow I’ve missed this from the Blogfather of real estate weblogging. I think it’s brilliant. Dustin, brilliant, there’s a shocker.

UT vs ASU in the Holiday Bowl. The bet is on. When UT wins, Jonathan has to write “I LOVE UT” (or I ?  UT) on his forehead, in Sharpie, and post a pic on his blog.  Should ASU happen to get lucky, Lani and I will do the same with “I ? ASU”.

The Gilbert Town Council will consider tonight whether to acquire 40 acres of land near Germann and Lindsay roads.  Despite falling prices, Gilbert real estate and raw land isn’t cheap — the Town expects to pay around $14M for the parcel ($350K/acre).  The purpose is to build a public safety training complex.

According to the Arizona Republic, there’s an interesting “buy now ask the taxpayers to pay later” thing going on here:

However, Gilbert officials hope to have those costs reimbursed through a future bond issue, a strategy that also must receive council members’ approval.

Huh. Wonder what would happen if voters reject that bond proposal after the land is purchased?

The Town of Gilbert has appointed an “informal Town Council subcommittee” to study whether to propose an ordinance banning or restricting the distribution of fliers at homes.

Seems some citizens of our fair city are growing weary of the junk left on their doors by pizza places, auto-parts stores and dare I say it — real estate agents.

Currently there are no such restrictions in Gilbert. Other Phoenix area ‘burbs do have restrictions in place.

From the East Valley Tribune:

Scottsdale code allows for $250 fines against companies that post fliers, notices or handbills “calculated to attract the attention of the public” on private structures without the consent of the owner. A Paradise Valley code makes it unlawful to leave fliers, but exempts nonprofits except in cases where “no trespassing” signs are posted.

Litchfield Park in the West Valley prohibits fliers where “no solicitation” signs are in public view, and maintains a registry of residents who don’t want to receive fliers, which companies must purchase.

Seems Gilbert residents are clamoring for such an ordinance. Some small business owners, as well as the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, are opposed, saying it will hurt their business as well as reduce employment opportunities for teens.

Personally, I’m tired of removing all the crap people leave on my door and front porch. I tires of removing  the fliers and newsletters left at my neighbors homes that blow into my yard. Interestingly, real estate agents seem to be the worst abusers.

A ban on putting fliers out at homes won’t affect my business one iota. That practice, along with such old-school tricks of the trade as cold calling and door knocking, is something that isn’t in our marketing plan.

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[tags]Gilbert Arizona, flier ban, small business[/tags]