A patch of land in Ahwatukee Foothills once owned by Wal-Mart could become the site of an ambitious housing and office project.

Members of the Ahwatukee Foothills Village Planning Committee got their first look this week at Parkhouse50, a 1.5 million square-foot development slated for the 35-acre lot at Chandler Boulevard and 50th Street.

Created by the new development group Parkhouse Companies - which was formed specifically for this project - the complex would offer a mix of high-end condominiums, office space, restaurants, art galleries and parks. The hybrid development would be the first of its kind in the Valley, and one of only a handful of similar projects across the country.

"It affords people an opportunity to have an urban environment without necessarily having to live downtown," said Larry Lazarus, the attorney representing Parkhouse Companies.

Monday's presentation was only a preview for the village planning committee, which won't vote on whether to recommend the project until city planning staff reviews it. The committee will likely vote at its next meeting Jan. 23, village planner Chris Hood said.

Plans call for six eight-story buildings with retail space below and about 550 600- to 4,000-square-foot condominiums above. Each building would be topped by a penthouse.

A seventh building would house an upscale grocery store. Planners are in talks with several chains, but would not say which ones.

If approved, Parkhouse50 would be the tallest structure in Ahwatukee, beating out the Grace Inn at 51st Street and Elliot Road.

The team hopes to break ground in early 2006 and have units ready for move-in by October or November 2007.

Planners said they selected Ahwatukee after a comparative study between the area surrounding the former Wal-Mart land and a section of Scottsdale yielded similar results in terms of residents' income and education level. Parkhouse Companies bought the land from Wal-Mart earlier this year, Vice President Anh Nguyen said.

Developers listed lawyers, architects and financial planners as the type of tenants who might be interested in the offices, and said that the building is designed to encourage business tenants to live there, as well. Features available to business and residential occupants would include pools, a putting green and a dog run.

"It has all the amenities of a good neighborhood built in," said Nguyen, who currently lives in Ahwatukee.

No prices have been set for the condos, though planners indicated that they would be upscale.

"These are not going to be inexpensive residential units," Lazarus said.

Village planning committee members expressed support for the project, though several said they wanted to see the results of pending traffic studies to ease their worries about congestion near that intersection.

Horizon Community Learning Center and a planned 108-unit condo development would neighbor Parkhouse50.

Rep. John McComish, president of the Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce, spoke in support of the project.

"We need to have a place where people live and work and play, and this provides it," he said.

In the audience at the meeting was Duncan Robertson, owner of Duncan Salon in Ahwatukee. Now living in Maricopa, he and his wife would like to live in Ahwatukee but want a home that would conform to their modern aesthetic tastes. If Parkhouse50 is approved, he would like to relocate both his home and business to the site.

"This would be perfect for me," he said after the meeting. "My wife and I have not been sleeping since the project was proposed because we're just chomping at the bit."