931 home building permits issued in Apache Junction last year
Arianna Grainey
For the first three months of 2024, there were a total of 187 building permits issued in the city of Apache Junction for new single-family homes — 75 in January, 59 in February and 53 in March.
More than 1,200 building permits for new single-family homes in Apache Junction were issued between 2021 and 2023, with the majority last year, according to information provided by the city as part of a public records request.
Many home addresses listed as receiving building permits have street names such as West Shanley Avenue or West Sable Avenue in the Radiance housing subdivision or South Gold Stone Trail in the Blossom Rock subdivision. They are from the south part of the city, where in November 2020 a total of 2,783.13 acres of State Trust Land between Elliot and Ray roads and from Meridian east about 2 miles sold for $245.5 million to homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc.
A home in a Tradition Series style on West Shanley Avenue at Radiance at Superstition Vistas starts at $408,990. The development is adjacent to Ironwood Drive and Ray Avenue, according to https://www.drhorton.com.
Models and homes starting at $400,000 are offered by Brookfield Residential, David Weekley Homes, Lennar, Pulte Homes and Tri Pointe Homes at Blossom Rock at Superstition Vistas, a Brookfield Properties master-planned community near Ironwood and Ray, according to a release.
Members of the Apache Junction Planning and Zoning Commission were recently encouraged by a city staff member to drive by the development on the city’s south side.
“It has been enormous in terms of just how much has been developed. If you have not driven down Ironwood to see it, I’d invite you to do so because it is spectacular to see just the kind of growth that has been brought to our city,” Apache Junction Planner Nick Leftwich said at the commission’s April 9 meeting.
“We in the city have had the most growth that we’ve had in decades. In terms of single-family housing ... residential subdivisions, the growth has been enormous,” he said.
“Not all of those projects come to the planning and zoning commission just due to plat approvals already being underway or being part of the master-planned community, but in terms of just the housing that is being constructed and provided, our level of growth exceeds most in the Valley just by our rate of growth,” Leftwich said.
Building permits by year
The city of Apache Junction’s building safety division coordinates the permit process including building plan review and inspections to ensure building code conformance. Employees from the division also review civil engineering plans to ensure compliance with city engineering design guidelines, state and federal codes and regulations, according to the city’s website.
A five-year snapshot of building permits — for 2019-23 — were sought from the city of Apache Junction in the public records request.
Statistics for 2019-20 are not available, a city employee said in an email.
“I am not able to produce reports from the old permit system as it is no longer in use,” Office Support Specialist Heather Knoblauch said.
The single-family home totals by year, according to the statistics from the records request, are:
In 2021, 223 building permits were issued for new single-family homes.
In 2022, 87 building permits were issued for new single-family homes.
In 2023, 931 building permits were issued for new single-family homes.
For the first three months of 2024, there were a total of 187 building permits issued for new single family homes — 75 in January, 59 in February and 53 in March, according to a website off of https://www.apachejunctionaz.gov/622/Permits.
Richard H. Dyer can be reached at rdyer@iniusa.org, or on X @rhdyer. To voice your opinion on this story, connect with us at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.
Meet Richard Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.
Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions.
Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.
Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.
Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.
By 
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here