$1.5 Million-plus Dove mountain homes are linked to high-end resort hotel

The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain, will ultimately include 324 homes built in and around the two golf courses associated with the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, which is tied to the Ritz-Carlton resort hotel being built in Marana's Dove Mountain neighborhood.

The grand opening was held earlier this week for the development's first three neighborhoods, totaling 91 homes and 16 custom lots, just in time for the thousands of people in town for the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship to view the models and their minimum $1.5 million price tags.

Karen Jernigan, vice president of sales and marketing, said The Residences is a housing concept that The Ritz-Carlton has at a handful of its more than 100 worldwide locations.

"They're in some of the nicest places on Earth," Jernigan said. "If you look at where they've decided to build The Residences, it's where the exclusive jet set would like to go."

Such a description is not one often associated with Marana, but some local Realtors feel that Dove Mountain has rapidly become more appealing to high-end buyers who want a home in the Tucson area.

"It's going to be someone who likes the resort lifestyle," Debbie Valdes, a real estate agent based out of Oro Valley, said of prospective buyers. "What's bringing them to Tucson is what is bringing everyone to Tucson -- the mountains, the sunshine and the golf."

David Mehl, whose Cottonwood Properties is developing the housing with partner Greenbrier Southwest Corp., said Ritz-Carlton has been the pioneer in the five-star-hotel world in terms of incorporating a full-time living aspect to its properties.

"It started with attaching penthouses to the top of downtown hotels, and then the first to use the residential golf- course concept was in Jupiter, Fla."

Unlike standard housing developments, The Residences will include many of the services and amenities available to people staying at The Ritz-Carlton.

Jernigan said homeowners will have access to the Ritz's spa facilities and catering services and be able to use a version of the hotel's concierge services to schedule maid service or to have something fixed in the home.

"It's really personal service. Whatever you need, they get for you," Jernigan said. "They will call the plumber for you."

All of The Residences' homeowners will also be members of the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, which starting next year will be the site of the Match Play tournament currently under way just to the east at The Gallery Golf Club.

The Residences' residents will be required to be members of the club, Jernigan said, and they will make up most of the club's 495 members.

With such amenities and exclusive membership comes a high price.

The homes range from $1.5 million to $3.5 million, while land for custom homes ranges from $750,000 to $1.8 million. The cost to join the golf club: $100,000, plus monthly dues, which are not likely to be set until the club opens next year.

While Jernigan said it is possible that some of the homes could serve as the primary residences for buyers, it's more likely the homes will end up being the second, third or fourth homes of a clientele she expects to be made up of sports figures, screen actors and CEOs.