Host Hotels eyes Scottsdale golf course for condos

Neighbors Draw the Line at Kierland: No Houses on Our Golf Course

If you've driven through the Kierland area lately, you've noticed the yard signs. "Don't trade green for greed" is popping up on fences, balconies, and front lawns throughout the neighborhood — and the residents holding those signs mean business.

Here's the backstory: Host Hotels & Resorts has submitted an application to the City of Phoenix to convert the Mesquite Golf Course — one of three nine-hole layouts at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa — into a mixed-use housing development called Copper Residences. The roughly 72-acre site straddles Greenway Parkway. The 16 acres to the north would be developed into high-density condos up to four stories tall, with densities between 10 and 15 units per acre. The 56 acres to the south would include a mix of condos and traditional single-family homes.

For the dozens of homeowners who back up to the Mesquite course, this isn't just a zoning argument — it's personal. One resident described the prospect of waking up and staring directly at the first floor of a condominium building from his backyard. The Kierland Community Alliance has raised concerns about traffic volume, sewer capacity, and the loss of an Audubon-certified course and its wildlife habitat.

Host Hotels is using a familiar playbook here — the company pulled off the same move at The Phoenician, converting nine holes there into luxury residences while keeping 18 holes in play. Supporters of the Kierland project point to potential water savings of more than nine million gallons annually and promised infrastructure upgrades as benefits.

But neighbors aren't buying it. As one community leader put it: they're not against development — just not on this golf course.

The application is still early in the city review process, with no formal hearings scheduled yet.

Sources: AZ Family | AZBEX | Homes.com | Scottsdale Realtors | Kierland Community (Support Site)