Howard Hughes blueprints a 400,000-resident desert community

Forty miles west of downtown Phoenix, in an Arizona desert valley with mountains on three horizons sits a sweeping, 37,000-acre stretch of land. Not very many people make their home there, but that’s about to change.

New cities springing up out of scarcely-inhabited, parched expanses are rare. But once fully built out, a planned mega community property known as Teravalis could be home to more people than currently live in the City of New Orleans.

Teravalis may well be destined to become one of the largest master-planned communities in the United States. The vast tract is already entitled for up to 113,000 homes and roughly 60 million square feet of commercial space. A recent application from master developer Howard Hughes Communities, however, could up the number of approved homes to over 130,000, enough to bring the community close to 400,000 residents at full build-out. 

For Howard Hughes Communities, which bought the land in 2021 for $600 million, developing large master-planned communities is woven into the firm’s DNA, with The Woodlands and Bridgeland outside Houston and Summerlin in Las Vegas among its best-known projects.

However, Teravalis, a Latin word that translates to “land of the valley,” will rank as the company’s largest undertaking to date. 

The developer broke ground on Floreo, the first of the community’s 12 villages, in 2022, partnering with homebuilders like Century Communities, Brightland Homes, KB Home, Lennar and Meritage Homes. The first residents moved in last November.

Kate Kaminski, the newly appointed president of the Arizona region for Howard Hughes Communities, spkoe with HousingWire TBD, sharing that the massive project could amount to a 75-year, three generation undertaking. 

The 3,000-acre Floreo at Teravalis, currently under construction, is the first of 12 villages planned for teravalis. (Photo courtesy of Howard Hughes Communities)

” data-large-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-07-at-4.02.11-PM.png?w=840″ height=”676″ width=”1024″ src=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-07-at-4.02.11-PM.png?w=840″ alt=”Screenshot 2026-10-07 at 4.02.11 PM” class=”wp-image-606441″ srcset=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-07-at-4.02.11-PM.png 1594w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-07-at-4.02.11-PM.png?resize=150,99 150w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-07-at-4.02.11-PM.png?resize=300,198 300w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-07-at-4.02.11-PM.png?resize=768,507 768w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-07-at-4.02.11-PM.png?resize=1024,676 1024w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-07-at-4.02.11-PM.png?resize=1536,1014 1536w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>The 3,000-acre Floreo at Teravalis, currently under construction, is the first of 12 villages planned for Teravalis. (Photo courtesy of Howard Hughes Communities)

There’s a lot that goes into planning a master-planned community of this scale, including infrastructure, design, placemaking and community identity. In the desert, water conservation is another major consideration. 

But the opportunity to essentially build a new city from the ground up makes the work more than worthwhile. 

“We’re just so excited for this blank canvas, if you will. We have the opportunity to create the foundation for what, one day, is going to be… home to 400,000 people,” Kaminski said in an interview. 

Establishing a distinct community identity

For Howard Hughes, the goal with Teravalis, as with its other master-planned communities, is to create a distinct and recognizable community. The team is pursuing that vision through strategic placemaking and setting community-wide architectural standards and design principles. 

The goal is to establish a cohesive identity across the entire community, while allowing space for each of the planned 12 villages to have its own character. The planning process includes a master homeowners association, individual village associations and a “thematic character” charrette exercise involving architects and designers. 

However, the goal isn’t to over-engineer the identity. The idea is to establish the foundational design principles now so that decisions made decades from now, including where and how roads, schools, amenities, retail and office space are built and designed, continue to reinforce the larger vision in a way that adapts to evolving market preferences.

At the same time, the team is focused on getting the fundamentals right: creating attractive, comfortable places where people can gather, spend time together and build a sense of community.

“People at their core want beautiful places where they can comfortably spend time with people. They’re looking for shade and trees and parks, places for their kids,” Kaminski said.

Seven homebuilders have already signed on to deliver homes in Floreo, the first village in Teravalis. (Photo courtesy of Howard Hughes Communities)

” data-large-file=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/TeravalisBuilders.jpg?w=840″ height=”632″ width=”1024″ src=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/TeravalisBuilders.jpg?w=840″ alt=”TeravalisBuilders” class=”wp-image-606438″ srcset=”https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/TeravalisBuilders.jpg 1490w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/TeravalisBuilders.jpg?resize=150,93 150w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/TeravalisBuilders.jpg?resize=300,185 300w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/TeravalisBuilders.jpg?resize=768,474 768w, https://www.housingwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/TeravalisBuilders.jpg?resize=1024,632 1024w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>Seven homebuilders have already signed on to deliver homes in Floreo, the first village in Teravalis. (Photo courtesy of Howard Hughes Communities)

Creating a destination  

Kaminski envisions Teravalis becoming a destination where people come not only to live, but also to work, shop and spend free time. Summerlin, another Howard Hughes community in Las Vegas, offers a model for that vision. Downtown Summerlin features a more than 100-acre walkable commercial core with shopping, retail, office space and entertainment, including an approximately 8,000-seat minor league baseball stadium and Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa.

Teravalis is still in the early stages of development, but Howard Hughes aims to recreate the success of Summerlin at a significantly larger scale. With entitlements for more than 10 times Summerlin’s approved commercial square footage, Teravalis has significant potential to become a regional, and perhaps national, destination in its own right.

“What makes for a great master plan is that they have more people who commute into the community every day than leave,” Kaminski said. “They create jobs… and have recreation and outdoor space where people can stay and enjoy the retail and commercial components.”

The broader vision is for people to be able to live, work, shop and spend their leisure time within Teravalis. That means creating a well-rounded community with pleasant neighborhoods and res

Source: www.housingwire.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.