Approximately 217 acres of pristine desert land in north Phoenix were once targeted as the home of a proposed hockey arena complex for Phoenix’s NHL franchise. With the Arizona Coyotes now defunct, the Phoenix site has been sold to a new owner with its own vision.
In a conference room in downtown Phoenix, Mortenson — a Minnesota-based real estate developer — acquired the 217.16 acres with a winning bid of $136 million on Friday during an Arizona State Land Auction.
In a conference room in downtown Phoenix, over 40 people joined both virtually and in person to witness two bidders — Mortenson and Verde Investments Inc., owned by Carvana's largest shareholder Ernie Garcia II — go back and forth for nearly 10 minutes vying to acquire the prime acreage. Bidding began at $110 million, with Mortenson and Verde taking turns outbidding each other by $1 million increments.
Verde Investments placed its final bid of $135 million before Mortenson ended the auction with its winning $136 million bid.
