Scott Simonton bought a parcel of land north of Finnie Flat Road in 2005. The property had previously been called the Harvard Homestead, after the Harvard company, and Simonton renamed it Simonton Ranch.
Harvard originally had plans to develop the land for residential use in the 1990s but was stymied by lack of sewer capacity. Simonton tried again to get the land developed in the late 2000s, but when the economic downturn hit, plans were shelved yet again, even after the land had already been graded.
“This thing has defied development for almost 20 years,” Camp Verde Economic Development Director Steve Ayers said.
However, it looks like, after all this time, the more than 150-acre property will have houses on it and a new batch of Camp Verde residents. Brad Woodruff, the developer behind the upcoming Red Moon RV Park, bought the land from Simonton this past month.
Woodruff intends to design a manufactured homes development with over 300 units on the property.
In a manufactured home development, the land will continue to be owned by Woodruff and the property management company, while tenants will be able to purchase outright the structures on top of it. The homes themselves — mostly two-bedroom or three-bedroom units — will be constructed off site and shipped to the location, allowing for rentals to begin as early as fall 2019 or the first quarter of 2020.
“We want to make sure that it’s really a resort-style environment, so we’ll have clubhouses and amenities that you would expect at more of an RV resort-type environment,” said Lisa Harold, COO of Contemporary Resorts & Residences, the group that is serving as prop- erty managers for the development. That could include a fitness center, pools, Jacuzzis, playgrounds and pickle ball courts, along with other potential additions.
“This is going to be an all-ages community, it’s not going to be 55-plus,” Harold said. “We really see a need for affordable housing in the area and it may be that we end up with a lot of snowbirds or 55 plus folks that are interested in the community because it will be new and modern but we’re really trying to focus on an underserved family market there, where folks are looking for a great community with really well-curated amenities in an area that’s well-placed for a commuter market.”
The new neighborhood has been developed in direct cooperation with the Town of Camp Verde. According to Ayers, the new housing development serves as part of the town’s goals of expanding its population in order to attract more businesses. The houses are intended to be affordable — under $200,000 for a unit, potentially bringing in new residents that would allow new retailers and businesses to move in to serve the community.
“If you don’t have X amount of rooftops in your town, many retailers just simply aren’t going to show up,” Ayers said. “So there’s this magic number that we’re looking at, which is a population in Camp Verde of somewhere around 15,000 to 17,000 to get to where we can get the attention of many other retailers. That’s why we needed someone to invest in housing again.”
According to Harold, marketing for the new houses should begin in about 90 days, while construction is expected to start in the spring.
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-0823 or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
