Construction of the mini-castles that have been sitting half built on Phoenix’s Central Avenue should start again soon.
Chateaux on Central got new financing last week, and the foreclosure sale of the property was called off.
Mortgages Ltd. is now backing the $65 million development. And the project’s developers are bullish on when they can complete the project and see the first buyer move in.
When the Valley’s housing market started to slow last year, some of central Phoenix’s many planned condominium and urban-living projects fell off the drawing board. Others stalled or cut prices as demand waned.
Central PHX Partners plans to have the first brownstone mansion at Chateaux done by July and the entire project completed by summer 2008.
In November, days after a 30-ton copper turret was lowered onto one of the multimillion homes, Chateaux’s lender, Desert Hills Bank, filed to foreclose. Early this year, construction stopped on the property on the northwestern corner of Central and Palm Lane.
Then on Jan. 30, Central PHX Partners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
A foreclosure sale date for the property initially was set for February and was pushed back a few times before being called off.
Scott Coles of Mortgages Ltd. said Chateaux would bring "buyers back to the city."
But those buyers will have to have deep pockets. The five-story homes that come with private elevators, wine cellars, maid’s quarters, private movie theaters and Viking appliances are priced between $2 million and $4 million.
This article was found at: http://www.azcentral.com/business/columns/articles/0325biz-catherine0325.html
