The attorney for one of the property owners in the Sereno Canyon development has filed a “notice of claim” with the City of Scottsdale, as a prelude to an almost-certain lawsuit.
You may recall that the developer sold a handful of large lots in this rural, North Scottsdale development prior to the real estate bust a few years ago. Recently, the developer has been faced with a severe lack of demand for large lots.
The Scottsdale remedy for this is to disregard the zoning “assurances” made to the previous purchasers and allow the developer to upzone to higher density.
The upzoning process involves Mayor Lane’s illegal use of the “minor” general plan amendment process under the guise of “resort zoning,” a frequently abused loophole.
The prospective plaintiff is claiming diminished property value and requesting relief under Proposition 207.
I won’t do an exhaustive analysis on this right now, but here’s the Sereno Notice of Claim.
1 Comment
John,
The Sereno situation reinforces what I have told people for years who have a desire to move here: “Do not buy next to an open field or desert.”
It doesn’t matter what a developer says; they will change their minds in a second if the market changes.
The people who bought lots in Sereno paid about $750M for them in the era of 2007. Nine lots were sold; not good so now here comes the ubiquitous resort which will have no effect on the current lots. Yeah, right!
I see where the investor offered to buy the lots back for about $200,000 which he considers their current value.
Good luck to the nine people that got laid out to dry. Hopefully, a lesson learned.