|
PLANES AT HOME
Developer to put planes in back yards
Jeffrey Mark had an idea: Instead of going to the airport, why not have the airport come to him? "By the time I drive to Sky Harbor, park, board a plane and then wait to take off, I could already be in Southern California," said Mark, a pilot and co-founder of Scottsdale-based apartment builder Mark-Taylor Inc.
Mark, who keeps two planes in a hangar at Chandler's Stellar Airpark, acted on his impulse 15 months ago when Mark-Taylor spent $3.6 million to buy a 50-acre cotton field just west of the airpark. The field will be transformed into Stellar Airpark Estates, a 65-home subdivision of custom and semicustom homes.
For Mark and others who fly their own planes, the big attraction of the project is its proximity to Stellar Airpark, south of Chandler Boulevard about three miles east of Interstate 10.
Each home site is designed for a private hangar in the rear, with access to one of five taxiways within the subdivision. The gated taxiways provide a direct link to the airpark's 4,500-foot paved runway.
"I fly out of Stellar regularly and saw an opportunity," Mark said. "A lot of people want their own private (air) transportation. For aviation enthusiasts, the ability to literally go out your door and get into your plane is an appealing concept."
Although Stellar Airpark was built in the 1960s, even longtime Valley residents might be unfamiliar with it. The facility is mostly used by pilots of single engine planes, although the runway can accommodate business jets carrying fewer than 10 passengers.
Including training flights, Mark says, about 15 to 20 planes fly in and out of Stellar each day.
"The biggest advantage is convenience," Mark said. "Our offices are in Scottsdale (near Lincoln Drive and Scottsdale Road), but it takes as long for me to drive to the Scottsdale Airpark as it does to drive down here."
Mark-Taylor will build 21 semi-custom homes at Stellar Airpark Estates, priced from $360,000 to $480,000. Custom homes will occupy the other 44 lots; Mark says those home sites will cost $155,000 to $325,000.
"Three of the lot buyers don't even fly. They just like the location," he said.
Stellar is remote enough to be considered on the edge of the East Valley. The only obvious signs of nearby development are a 40-home subdivision to the north - built in 1969 - and a few industrial buildings to the east.
The airpark will soon have a major retail neighbor, though. Westcor, a Phoenix-based shopping mall developer, is planning to break ground on a Chandler Fashion Center, a 1.3 million-square-foot mall at Chandler Boulevard and Price Road. The mall will be about a mile east of the airpark.
Stellar Airpark Estates represents a departure for Mark-Taylor, which has built more than 10,000 high-end apartments in the Valley since 1990. Although Mark says the company won't make a habit of single-family construction, it is considering other aviation-connected projects.
|
