PHOENIX (March 18, 1999) -- The Peoria City Council voted on Tuesday to approve the plan for WestWing Mountain, a 1,300-acre masterplanned community located north of Happy Valley Road and west of 83 rd Avenue.

Bordered by Sunrise Mountain to the south and West Wing Mountain to the north, WestWing Mountain is being developed by Pivotal Group, a Phoenix-based development company that acquired the site in 1996. Pivotal, along with project planner Vern Swaback of Vernon Swaback Associates (VSA), spent most of 1998 meeting with community members, neighbors and planning officials to glean community input and visioning for the site's development.

"From the onset, our goal (for WestWing Mountain) has been to maximize community input, find out what would work best for Peoria and build our master plan based on this information and the character of the property," said Jahm Najafi, a partner with Pivotal Group. "Without question, evaluating other masterplanned communities and responding to our neighbors has helped us create something special in Peoria and unique for the entire West Valley."

According to Vern Swaback, WestWing Mountain offers neighborhood amenities not often found in traditional golf course-oriented master plans. "The heart of WestWing Mountain is its central park and community areas set aside for a school, church and fire station," said Swaback. "Old fashioned neighborhood values, coupled with open space, trail systems and mountain preservation, are the signature features that make this community a gift to the future."

Through a series of open house meetings and an ongoing dialogue with the City of Peoria, Pivotal was able to achieve consensus on many issues regarding WestWing Mountain. As a result, the project's plan now includes the following:

Open Space - More than 30 percent of the WestWing Mountain site (approximately 344 acres) will be donated to Peoria as a public preserve. Valued in excess of $7.5 million, this acreage represents more than three times the amount of open space that has been set aside by any other developer in the city.

Schools - Pivotal has committed to the potential donation of two 15-acre school sites valued at $1 million, respectively, to help alleviate school congestion. Pivotal, the first developer to enter into a Developer Assistance Agreement with the Peoria Unified School District, also has an extended reservation for a third 15-acre school site to the Deer Valley Unified School District.

Infrastructure - Pivotal will be responsible for all on-site and off-site infrastructure associated with WestWing Mountain, including improvements and extensions to existing transportation, water and wastewater projects. All would be dedicated to the City for public use.

Emergency Svcs. - Pivotal will provide a fire station within WestWing Mountain to offer fire and emergency services to both the development's residents and other citizens in northern Peoria.

Density - WestWing Mountain will offer the lowest residential density of any masterplanned community in the area. The project's residential component includes only 2,150 homes, less than half of the density currently allowed by the Peoria Comprehensive Master Plan designation for the development. With an overall density of 1.76 units per acre, WestWing Mountain's density also is substantially lower than that in other communities approved by the City.

Developed over four phases as a residential, commercial and resort mixed-use project, WestWing Mountain also will include quality light commercial development at Lake Pleasant Parkway.

"WestWing Mountain has raised the bar for residential communities in the West Valley by offering high-end living and an outstanding quality of life," said Diane McCarthy. "Because of the easy access this development offers to business centers around the Valley, prospective companies will be more likely to consider cities like Peoria as a prime site for their operations."

The project's design features incorporate wash corridor, mountain/open space preservation and quality streetscapes. In addition to preserving the area's distinctive desert landscape character, WestWing Mountain also will allow public access to the community's hiking and equestrian trails.

Pivotal Group, based in Phoenix, is a diversified real estate company dedicated to the quality development of residential, resort, retail, office and industrial properties in Arizona and the Southwest.

Founded in 1978, Vernon Swaback Associates is a Scottsdale-based multi-disciplinary firm specializing in land planning, architecture and community visioning. Over the past 30 years, VSA president Vern Swaback has been involved in the design of award-winning master plans, hotels, office buildings, recreational facilities and custom homes throughout the Valley. In addition to planning the 1,000 acres that are now the Arizona Biltmore Estates, he established the City of Phoenix's Village Core concept plan and has created more than 20 master-planned communities in the Valley including DC Ranch, Palm Valley, Mountain Park Ranch and Scottsdale Mountain Estates.

For more information about Pivotal Private Equity, visit www.pivotalgroup.com