REAL ESTATE

Sterling at Silverleaf brings condo option to popular DC Ranch in Scottsdale, Arizona

By Larry Olmsted,
Special Contributor

Scottsdale, Arizona has a lot of prestigious residential luxury golf developments, and one of the highest profile is the master-planned community of DC Ranch.

The large development includes two golf courses, the Country Club at DC Ranch, by Tom Lehman and John Fought, and the Silverleaf Club, by Tom Weiskopf, each with their own membership, clubhouse and facilities. There is also a town center of sorts, Market Street, a mixed-use office, retail and entertainment complex within DC Ranch, featuring a main-street theme with a variety of restaurants, shops, and neighborhood conveniences. Less than a mile away is another similar enclave, DC Ranch Crossing with a gourmet market, health club, dining and more.

DC Ranch is chock full of multi-million luxury homes, but what it has never had is a condominium option. Until now.

Sterling at Silverleaf villas

Sterling at Silverleaf is part of Silverleaf, a large sub-development within DC Ranch. Surrounded by the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, which has a park-like system recreation of trails, DC Ranch encompasses 8,300 acres, of which more than 4,600 acres are preserved as open space with natural desert beauty and mountain views.

Silverleaf is about 2,000 acres, and the Sterling at Silverleaf development covers about 12 of these acres. Its first phase was comprised of 16 freestanding Mediterranean-style villas, all designed by renowned architect Bing Hu with a combination of Italian Renaissance and Spanish Revival architecture.

Only three villas remain available for purchase, starting at $1.7 million. They have 10-foot ceilings upstairs, high-end commercial kitchen appliances, garages, walk-in closets, air filtration system, wine rooms and a Jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom. Each villa has an integrated state-of-the-art Crestron home automation system throughout that provides the ability to remotely control audio, video, lighting, thermostat and wine-room temperatures.

Last year the National Association of Homebuilders honored Sterling at Silverleaf as Arizona's first and only single-family new construction project to be awarded gold-level certification, naming the villas among the "greenest homes" in Arizona. Less than 400 communities nationwide have received this highest gold-level certification.

Sterling at Silverleaf's luxury condominiums

Next up for Sterling at Silverleaf is construction of phase two, comprised of 213 luxury condominiums -- the first and only ones available at DC Ranch. The condominiums will be similar in design to the villas, and range from 1,892 to 3,890 square feet. While "affordable" when compared to the rest of the homes in the pricey neighborhood, they are far from cheap, starting at $1.49 million.

They are also far from simple and feature top of the line Sub-Zero and Wolf appliances, natural stone counter tops, stone and wooden floors, custom cabinetry, iron stair railings, wire-brushed beam ceilings, and each has a full masonry fireplace. Reservations are now being accepted for the new construction. The development also includes luxury amenities such as a dedicated concierge and valet service.

Silverleaf Club golf

More importantly, residents will have access to join the renowned and otherwise invitation-only Silverleaf Club, which is within walking distance of the condos. The Weiskopf-designed course stretches 7,322-yards through the Sonoran desert, and while it features a lot of panoramic views of this harsh environment, the course itself is blanketed in lush green grass and has plenty of water features.

A large array of multiple tee boxes make it playable for all abilities and lets members vary their golf experience greatly from round to round. The Silverleaf Club also includes a 50,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style clubhouse with fully appointed men's and women's locker rooms, world-class spa facilities, and both resort and lap pools. The club offers a variety of fine and casual dining.

Larry Olmsted has written more than 1,000 articles on golf and golf travel, for the likes of Golf Magazine, T&L Golf, LINKS, Golf & Travel, Men's Health, Men's Journal, USA Today, and many others. He broke the Guinness World Record for golf travel and wrote Getting into Guinness, as well as Golf Travel by Design. He was the founding editor of The Golf Insider, and the golf columnist for both USA Today.com and US Airways Magazine.

March 15, 2013

Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management. The information in this story was accurate at the time of publication. All contact information, directions and prices should be confirmed directly with the golf course or resort before making reservations and/or travel plans.