Trillium at Douglas Ranch in Buckeye, AZ

It's hard to believe that just 3 decades ago, Mike Ingram had purchased quite a large piece of land that was purchased from the legendary actor John Wayne. While this is only part of the story, many components are developing a new concept that ties in with a highway extension, a city of the future, and a revitalization of Buckeye that is bold and daring.

Starting with the project formerly known as the Trillium project, now recently renamed Teravalis. This project has been part of a long-proposed and ongoing saga that originally spanned 34,000 acres. Now- the project has been increased to cover 37,000 acres and is reportedly selling lots to developers as of this writing.This is part of a project that includes the Howard Hughes Corporation which has invested $600 million with additional investors within the area.

The first phase of this new project which has emerged into what we can now call Teravalis intends to create 100,000 new homes for at least 300,000 residents. It will further include an infrastructure to support the community with shops businesses, and more than 55 million square feet of land reserved for commercial real estate business.

It's part of a community project that will provide a business park, residential family homes, and an executive residential zone.Teravalis will also have direct access to Interstate 11 which is passing through Buckeye. This new Interstate connection would further allow new residents to have direct routes from Phoenix to Las Vegas. And what might sound like the mythical golden story of El Dorado, there's more to this story to uncover.

A long time in the making, this corridor route that is aptly named Interstate 11 was originally unveiled in 2014, not too far from the Hoover Dam has finally gotten the green light from the US Department of Transportation in 2021. This newly proposed route corridor will become a connection route that will enable many who live in Buckeye currently to have direct route access to Phoenix, Las Vegas, and all the way down to Nogales at the Mexican border.

It's a major move that is now in action to build model homes within the next year and is set to change the previously named Douglas Ranch project. This proposed span of Freeway is over 280 miles connecting major interstate links along the path from the border all the way to Las Vegas. It's one of the few new Infrastructure and Jobs Pact projects that were outlined in Joe Biden's 1 billion dollar initiative that actually goes to improving and developing new roads in America.

What this new project will do is to create a high-priority route in the National Highway system. Although the initiative doesn't mention any reference to Interstate 11 specifically, the proposed plans for I-11 have already undergone countless studies and environmental impact reviews. Among the plans that are being addressed is the impact of the desert tortoise and several species of plants.

The environmental impact has also gotten swift attention from environmental advocates who are against the extension for obvious reasons. On top of that, local Native American Indian tribes have further voiced their opinions on how I-11 will impact their religious ceremonial sites.

This all comes from the very same developers of the previous Trillium project that has plans to increase the community population to include 300,000 new residents in the next 50 years. The current population numbers around 89,000, yet with new construction and Freeway development on the horizon, this number could jump to over 305,400 as early as 2040. Just the proposed I-11 project will be pumping an additional $30-60 billion into the local Buckeye economy!

This would mean that a sustained temporary population will be appearing sooner than expected. There are over two dozen projects meant for housing in Buckeye alone, that are all expecting new workers, contractors, and residents in the 2022-2023 season. The proposed model homes set to be built by late 2024 (but no later than early 2025), is now a reality, but not limited to local Buckeye concerns.

There is also a growing population that is quickly moving to areas including Phoenix for work opportunities and will likely want to find better and more affordable residential housing. Ultimately, the developers of the newly renamed Teravalis project are looking forward to new business developments within the West Valley and drawing in more residents coming as far away as Phoenix. The border of Buckeye would then extend from Wickenburg all the way down to Gila Bend in the south as early as 2040.

Water is not the only issue that is causing red flags to be raised in Buckeye. The developers of Teravalis are also facing environmental impacts caused to the property itself. These are largely coming from the Sierra Club's Grand Canyon chapter head Sandy Bahr who is sounding off about the potentials of animal wildlife and vegetation. It seems that the larger issue with global footprints may spoil hundreds of miles of untouched desert and life that exist there.

Startling as it may sound, Teravalis in Buckeye is facing the issue of irreversible harm to local wildlife. Only one tortoise was actually found living there, but that's enough to raise concerns in addition to many types of wild animals that roam within this arid territory. In addition to that, fears of the current climate crisis are being used as a ploy to prevent development for the ongoing Freeway and Trillium projects.

This includes the plight of the desert tortoise that had been spotted living within a section of Buckeye near the borders of the Teravalis property line. They are deeply concerned that the corridor Freeway project will threaten homes and ceremonial sites used for religious pursuits of its tribal members. Additionally, the present climate crisis rhetoric is not the only reason that these concerns are being voiced about the ongoing I-11 freeway project and construction at Teravalis. Local Buckeye residents already have major issues with ongoing drought problems that are limiting groundwater extraction as it is.

Since last December in 2021, there hasn't been much news that is being revealed just yet. The latest news is- that lots will be available for sale in 2022. Nothing formal has been announced on the main website nor is there much news on the proposed Interstate 11 plans moving forward. Unlike similar projects within the area that include the Taresso community, and the Sun City Festival and Festival ranch projects, Teravalis has not provided any answer to the water shortage issue. However, unlike the expectations for the development of Tartesso, another development near Trillium, Trillium is showing much more promise to reach its initial proposed expectations.

If any when there is breaking news that emerges, we'll be following this development closely to give updates on construction or groundbreaking ceremonies are being announced.  As you may expect, large-scale megaprojects that previously included Trillium at Douglas Ranch are pushing forward with the new Teravalis project one way or another. If current water issues and the eternally delayed I-11 freeway project cease to come to fruition, the sustainable viability of any Buckeye development will be dead in the water (so to speak).

Or perhaps, the allocated funds that are intended from the Infrastructure and Jobs Pact approved last year are not available yet (as of this writing).

What we can see from recent media reports, an endless slew of advertisements and media coverage is further pushing the opportunities to invest in Teravalis property lots. Expansion in new jobs and construction could indeed rival the population of Phoenix- if it occurs without further delays.

Now consider that there was a lot of media build-up for the Nikola hydrogen Truck Factory located in Buckeye back in 2018. Although this was 5 years ago, these old reports were hyping up the then-proposed Douglas Ranch project. Or consider that a new shopping center will be built at the corner of Jackrabbit Trail and Indian School Road in Buckeye that was announced in January of 2021?

There isn't a lot of information that is showing much of anything is being built in Buckeye aside from these random news announcements. Nonetheless, we are thankful that we can share our views on this and hopefully recycle some of that information that comes from it. 

As always, Arizona Junk Removal, will be standing by to service this new addition to Buckeye.