If you have to ask how much money it costs to get a paddle – you probably can’t afford to play.
Indeed, the Arizona State Land Department’s auctions are some of the highest-stakes action this side of the World Series of Poker.
Through this process, land just outside Anthem has been flying out of the state inventory, with hundreds of millions of dollars benefitting Arizona schools.
The latest action was fast and furious, with Dove Valley Phoenix, LLC ponying up $88 million to land (so to speak) 360-plus acres.
The company is a division of Taicoon Property Partners, an East Coast national real estate investment powerhouse.
The two connecting properties, each over 180 acres, have a northern boundary of Carefree Highway with the Interstate 17 establishing a western border. One property ends at Dove Valley Road – where the second begins; the latter property extends south to Sonoran Desert Drive.
It’s no coincidence that the adjoining, undeveloped land is just east of one of the most massive developments in state history.
Years ago, who would want to buy scrubbly desert land bordering a busy freeway?
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company changed all that.
Six years ago, the chip maker known as TSMC announced plans for a multi-billion dollar north Phoenix development – the largest foreign direct investment in U.S. history.
In December 2020, TSMC of Arizona was the sole bidder, paying $89 million for over 1,000 acres near the Loop 303 and I-17.
Just over six years later, TSMC again was the only bidder on just under 1,000 acres of state land in the same area.
This time, the chip giant paid nearly $200 million – showing how much its own development jacked up land values.
Where TSMC paid roughly $89,000 per acre at the end of 2020, it wrote a check earlier this year for about $222,000 per acre in early 2026.
The Taicoon Property purchase at the end of June topped that, coming in around $240,000 per acre.
On June 26, a room at the stand land department’s downtown Phoenix office was packed – with visible investors and their invisible moneybags.
Prospective bidders were given paddles to wave signifying raises.
In May of 2024, Mack Real Estate Group won a similar auction, paying $56 million for 2,300 acres across from TSMC; MREG is now developing that land as Halo Vista, to have apartments, auto mall, Costco and other retailers.
Chris Janson of Mack Real Estate Group signed into the June 26 auction, receiving paddle No. 15.
Kean Thomas of Vestar, a Valley shopping center magnate which “triggered” the auction earlier this year, was handed paddle No. 11.
Hai Chien Wang, CEO and founder of Taicoon Property, was there and ready for action. When the northern property hit the floor, Wang quickly flashed his paddle No. 8 – opening the bidding with the minimum $36.7 million.
Verstar took it to $40 million – with Mack bumping that to $41 million.
Verstar countered with $42 million, then Mack raised the stakes to $43 million.
When Taicoon came back with $44 million, the Mack group was out – but Verstar was ready for action, bumping Taicoon by $200,000.
But when paddle No. 8 took it to $45 million, it was going once, going twice … sold to Taicoon.
The auction on the southern portion of the adjacent land was a two-way battle between Verstar and Taicoon.
Wang started the bidding at $36.6 million. Thomas of Vestar raised that to $36.8 million.
The two raised each other seven times until Wang took the pot to $43 million; Vestar waved the white flag, securing a double win for Wang and Taicoon.
What exactly Wang and Taicoon will develop here remains a mystery. The company has not responded to a Foothills Focus request to share its plans.
