ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥

BP Vail Partners LLC bought the 397-acre Vail Crossings, near Interstate 10 between Colossal Cave Road and State Route 83, for $7.6 million.

The project consists of two parcels on the north side of the frontage road.

Developers are proposing a mix of homes, shops, fitness, entertainment, restaurants and hotels.

The residential areas will have walking paths, parks and public art.

It was once the planned site of “The Passages� — also a mixed-use center but those plans fell apart about 10 years ago and the land remained vacant, said Randy Emerson, with GRE Partners, who along with Gary Emerson represented the seller, Chicago-based RMG Vail II LLC.

The unique thing about the property is it comes with multiple zoning entitlements, which allows for residential, commercial and industrial projects.

That designation allows for developers to build up to 50% of the land for residential use, single-family housing or apartments.

Pima County Supervisor Steve Christy, whose district includes this area, said he is eager to see it get started.

“The whole prospect of that development in that location is truly amazing,� he said. “It represents an entryway into one of the most desirable places in Pima County.�

After some modifications regarding ingress and egress from the property, the project was approved and details on the types of businesses, industries and number of residential units will be determined later.

“It’s a moth-lightbulb situation,� Christy said. “I expect more of that development to come as a result of this project.�

The two parcels had little interest from developers in the past, due to a lack of infrastructure, lack of a dense enough populous to support commercial services, and the limitations of the existing zoning which prohibited residential.

“In 2005, a development team led by Bob Hoffman, a principal in the development of the Mall of America, envisioned an ambitious plan to develop the site for an urban, mixed-use development known as The Passages of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ that would include 6.2 million square feet of retail and commercial space and 2,400 high density housing units,â€� documents filed with Pima County show. “The proposal spurred a code amendment that created a mixed use option for industrially zoned properties in Pima County.â€�

Vail residents are into the Town of Vail, but the approval of this project would not be impacted if that were to pass, county officials said.