Vikings owners plan 504-unit luxury apartment complex next to Desert Ridge Marketplace

Article originally posted on Phoenix Business Journal on September 18, 2026

The Wilf family, the owners of the Minnesota Vikings, plans to build luxury apartments next to Desert Ridge Marketplace in north Phoenix.

The Wilfs, through their New Jersey real estate company Garden Communities, plan to develop a 504-unit apartment community on land between Vestar Development Co.’s 1.2 million-square-foot Desert Ridge Marketplace and JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort and Spa.

While Garden Communities declined comment on a development timeline for the project, public records on file with the city of Phoenix show the 504-unit apartment community would be built at 5150 E. Deer Valley Drive.

Plans call for developing those rental units on former state land the New Jersey firm bought on Nov. 1, 2022. Garden Deer Valley LLC was the sole bidder on 41 acres of state land in that auction, paying $44.1 million, or $1.07 million per acre for that parcel.

The Desert Ridge area has been buzzing with activity as retail developers and homebuilders bid on state land in the surrounding area.

On April 30, a state land bidding war lasting more than an hour ended up with the winning bidder paying $180 million for a 293.5-acre parcel at Deer Valley Drive and 40th Street.

Gilbert-based Blandford Homes ended up winning that auction battle, with plans to develop a master-planned community on that site.

Garden Communities’ proposal for more residential housing in that area comes at a time when the Valley’s multifamily sector has been showing some signs of stabilizing.

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