Townhome, duplex development set for Queen Creek

A new multihousing rental project aims to bring more affordable residential options to Queen Creek.

Hancock Communities is developing Hancock at Hudson Station, which will feature two-story townhomes and single-story duplexes offering 218 total units for rent.

The development on more than 22 acres of land is located at the southeast corner of 220th Street and Queen Creek Road.

The Queen Creek Town Council unanimously approved during its Wednesday meeting an amendment to the project’s planned area development and site plan increasing the maximum building height from 24 to 30 feet.

Hancock at Hudson Station will consist of 12 one- and 37 two-story buildings with 121 three-bedroom units and 97 four-bedroom units. Each unit will have a two-car garage and two off-street parking spaces, plus community amenities featuring a clubhouse, pool, tot lot and dog park, according to a staff report.

The most significant proposed revision to the original plan is replacing one- and two-bedroom, single-story multifamily units with three- and four-bedroom units.

Before the vote, Queen Creek Mayor Julia Wheatley said she had spent time at the state Legislature where the need for affordable housing has spurred “multiple proposals of very small houses on very small lots, and it’s a very one-size-fits-all approach.”

“(Hancock at Hudson Station) went from one to two bedrooms to now three to four bedrooms and it speaks to the families that this will serve in our community,” Wheatley said. “It is a better project. It’s less density. I know our residents appreciate that. It really speaks to the middle housing, the missing middle housing, that we’re trying to solve, and I wish our legislators could see that every community is different, and the market will change and evolve to that community.”

In a project narrative, the developer stated Hancock at Hudson Station would bring a more affordable housing option in an area where the median home price during third-quarter 2024 was $640,000, so the “average homebuyer in the Queen Creek area needs to earn at least $180,000 per year to be able to purchase. This is almost 50% higher than Queen Creek’s median household income of $125,000.”

If Hancock at Hudson Station “was an actively renting community today,” monthly rents would be between $2,700 and $2,900, “thus making the community a much more viable option for young professionals and families that want to stay in Queen Creek,” the narrative continued.

“At the end of the day, essentially $1,000 less monthly is a huge impact to future residents that will live here in Queen Creek and it’s making it more affordable,” Wheatley said.

Hancock at Hudson Station is part of a larger 95-acre project called Hudson Station, initial plans of which were approved by the town council in 2022.

Barclay Development is developing the commercial portion of Hudson Station, a 24-acre center anchored by a Fry’s Marketplace and Pharmacy and an Eos Fitness facility.

The balance of the acreage in the development after the multifamily Hancock at Hudson Station will eventually become a single-family home subdivision.

Hancock at Hudson Station is bound by Benjamin Franklin Charter School and the former Barney Family Sports complex — the future town of Queen Creek police services facility — to the north, the Marketplace at Hudson Station Commercial Center, the future Hudson Station single-family development to the south, and the Madera West Estates single-family development to the west.

The main entrance for Hancock at Hudson Station will be located off Queen Creek Road.

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