Nearly 300 acres of state land at Desert Ridge heads to auction

By Hailey Mensik

The Arizona State Land Department is preparing to auction off another chunk of prime land it owns in the Desert Ridge area.

About 294 acres off 40th Street and Deer Valley Drive will go up for auction – likely in the second quarter of next year, though an exact date has not yet been set.

The appraised value of the site, which is typically the starting bid, is $108,284,000, or about $368,400 per acre, according to documents submitted with the ASLD.

Documents also show that the applicant plans to develop the site for residential uses, and the property is already zoned for that.

The applicant is AZ18 LLC, an entity tracing to Michael Lieb. Lieb is president and CEO of Phoenix-based Michael A Lieb Ltd.

Lieb represented Toll Brothers earlier this year in the $28 million acquisition of an 11.27-acre parcel in north Scottsdale.

In 2023, Lieb’s firm won 20.5 acres of north Scottsdale land in an auction where it was the sole bidder, paying the starting price of $28.07 million.

The Desert Ridge area has been somewhat of a hot spot for developers looking to scoop up state land for new projects this year.

In September, a handful of national homebuilders placed bids for a 52.9-acre site bordering the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa at a state land auction. In the end, K. Hovnanian Homes placed the final winning bid of $71.1 million, an amount far exceeding the original $37.75 million starting bid.

So far in 2025, the priciest state trust land auction happened in June, when Minnesota-based developer Mortenson placed a winning bid of $136 million for about 217 acres near the Desert Ridge area. The starting bid was $110 million, with Mortenson bidding against Verde Investments, the real estate firm owned by billionaire Ernest Garcia II – the richest person in Arizona.

That property was formerly eyed by the Phoenix Coyotes for a proposed hockey arena. Now it will become a new Arizona Cardinals training facility and headquarters, after the NFL team’s owner worked behind the scenes with Mortenson to acquire the land for the planned development.



Final Thoughts/Takeaways:
The upcoming Desert Ridge land auction highlights continued strong developer interest in North Phoenix, with high per-acre valuations signaling long-term confidence in residential growth. With previous competitive bids and major institutional players active in this corridor, this site is positioned to become one of the most closely watched land deals in 2026.