Local
Kierland Golf Course Housing Plan Stalls at Paradise Valley Village Planning Committee
A 500-unit residential development proposed on 72 acres of the Westin Kierland Golf Club failed to win approval from the Paradise Valley Village Planning Committee on Nov. 2, as neighbors in green shirts protested what they call a trade of green space for developer profit.
A proposal to replace one of the three golf courses at the Westin Kierland Golf Club with a 500-unit residential development failed to secure approval from the Paradise Valley Village Planning Committee at its Nov. 2 meeting, handing a setback to the resort's owner and a victory to organized neighbors who have opposed the plan.
Host Hotels & Resorts, which owns the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, is seeking to build the Copper Residences Planned Unit Development on 72 acres of the golf club property in north Phoenix. The project would replace one of the club's three courses with a mix of single-family and multifamily homes.
The proposal has drawn significant community pushback, and that opposition was visible at the committee meeting, where members of the Kierland Community Alliance filled the room wearing green T-shirts bearing the message "Don't trade green for greed." The committee did not grant its approval, though the project could still proceed through other stages of the city's review process.
The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa sits within the 730-acre Kierland master-planned community that borders Scottsdale, just northwest of the Kierland Commons and Scottsdale Quarter shopping centers. The golf course land at issue is part of the amenity base that has defined the surrounding neighborhood.
Separately from the residential proposal, the Westin Kierland announced in April a multi-phase renovation set to touch several areas of the property.
The fight over the Copper Residences reflects a broader tension across the Valley over how much open space and recreation land should be converted to housing as demand for homes continues to reshape established north Phoenix neighborhoods. For residents of the Kierland area, the golf course represents both a community asset and a buffer against denser development, and the alliance's showing at the committee meeting signals that the dispute is far from settled.