“When Montage bought the land – at that time it was a smart deal; land in Maricopa was selling for $80,000 to $100,000 an acre,” Olsen says. “But right after Montage bought it, the lights just went out.”

Olsen tells GlobeSt.com that ARCUS paid roughly $3,200 per acre for Amaranth – a price per acre that reflects pricing seen during the early 1990s. The firm was one of three buyers interested in the master-planned community, which was created through a land assemblage of more than 120 different transactions from 2003 thru 2005. Elliot Homes acquired the property for $90 million in 2005 and then quickly sold it to Montage, according to Olsen.

ARCUS, which paid cash for the land, plans to hold it for several years, Olsen says. Eventually, the land will be sold off in pieces to residential and commercial developers. Currently, Amaranth is planned as a series of villages and centers that organize the new town into distinct, identifiable places. Six villages of various sizes and configurations will provide intimate small-town living environments within the larger urban area.