You could say 1985 was probably the turning point for modern-day Fountain Hills. The building boom had its start and the town’s property would find its increased value.

And that is the topic of this week’s Fountain Hills History Lesson.

MCO Properties began work on Lakeside Village, a luxury patio home development at Fountain Park.

MCO also cashed in on the development boom announcing plans in late 1985 to develop the Crestview/Westridge subdivisions as well as a project called Summit East, which eventually developed into FireRock.

Pima Development bought and began developing the remaining lots in the six-year-old Courtside Villas development.

The newest large home development to get underway that year was The Cottonwoods. It was built near the intersection of Saguaro and Grande boulevards.

As the development in the community continued, the population started to explode.

As the year began, an announcement that the Mayo Clinic would be building a new facility in East Scottsdale seemed to have an impact on lot prices in Fountain Hills. At the beginning of the year, lot prices ranged from $10,000 to $65,000 for view lots. By the end of the year, prices had skyrocketed to $165,000 for premium lots.

Developers believed the influx of doctors would help their businesses, which eventually it did. One doctor, Dr. John Simons, a nationally known plastic surgeon, decided to become a developer, purchasing a 405-acre parcel north of Shea Boulevard for a large medical center.

The problem with that plan was he wanted to have a Scottsdale address

for the property.

That move would later cause a major problem for us in our incorporation effort. I’ll talk about that in a future column.

There was also a major resurgence in commercial construction as evidenced by the number of building permits totaling 87 units that had been started in the community for offices and retail shops.

Undoubtedly the most significant commercial project under construction in 1985 was the Fountain Hills Plaza shopping center. The 119,000 square-foot shopping center was built by W.M. Grace Development Co.

The three anchor tenants were Bashas’ supermarket, Revco Discount Drug Center and Sprouse Reitz, an affordable department store.

As the community’s population continued to grow, the Fountain Hills School District successfully lobbied for a $4.9 million bond election in May that provided the funds to build McDowell Mountain Elementary and expand Four Peaks Elementary.

Voters passed the measure 438 to 377. The school board was prepared for another election to be held February 11, 1986 concerning the possible sale and acquisition of building sites.

Well, that about does it for this week. I’ll continue reviewing 1985 for our next Fountain Hills History Lesson.