Mill Creek Residential Breaks Ground on 330-Unit Modera City North in Phoenix's Desert Ridge

PHOENIX, July 7, 2026 — Mill Creek Residential has broken ground on Modera City North, a 330-unit wrap-style multifamily community located at 20711 N 54th Street in the Desert Ridge neighborhood of North Phoenix. The project, which will serve as a residential component of the larger City North mixed-use master plan, is expected to welcome its first residents in summer 2028.

Project Overview and City North Master Plan

Modera City North will occupy a site on the border of Desert Ridge and North Scottsdale, positioned just north of Loop 101. The community is part of City North, a 100-acre, approximately two-million-square-foot mixed-use development that encompasses retail, office, hotel and residential uses.

The wrap-style building configuration will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom homes with floor plans ranging up to 1,450 square feet. The community is being built to and is pursuing National Green Building Standard (NGBS) Silver Certification.

"Modera City North is a unique, well-positioned community that will capture the best of both metropolitan and tranquil living," said Brandon Finnie, vice president of development in Arizona for Mill Creek Residential. "With its spacious floor plans, refined suite of amenities and proximity to the area's key employment centers, we believe the community will quickly ascend to a best-in-class option in a neighborhood brimming with increased demand."

Location and Employment Drivers

The project's location along Loop 101 provides direct access to several major employment centers in the North Phoenix and North Scottsdale corridor. Nearby employers accessible via the thoroughfare include Republic Services, Sprouts, ASM, Banner Health, Nationwide and Axon. Mayo Clinic Hospital is situated less than two miles from the site, and a regional American Express office — which the company says employs more than 13,000 associates — is also in close proximity.

On the retail and lifestyle side, Modera City North sits adjacent to Desert Ridge Marketplace, a roughly 1.2-million-square-foot open-air retail center, and High Street, a 628,000-square-foot mixed-use lifestyle center. Both destinations offer retail, dining and entertainment options that Mill Creek Residential cited as part of the community's positioning.

The Desert Ridge submarket has drawn institutional multifamily investment in recent years, supported by the area's concentration of healthcare, financial services and technology employers. Mill Creek Residential already operates Modera Kierland, a 360-unit community at 14811 N Kierland Blvd in Scottsdale, and Modera Scottsdale at 7171 E Paradise Lane in Scottsdale — making Modera City North an extension of the firm's existing cluster of Class A assets along the Loop 101 corridor.

Amenities and Unit Features

Community amenities at Modera City North will include a resort-style swimming pool, hot tub and spa, outdoor dining areas, landscaped courtyards, a resident clubhouse, game room, pool table, pet park and pet spa. A club-quality fitness studio with cardio equipment and a yoga and Pilates studio is also planned, along with a conference room, coworking space, garage parking with private EV-charging stations, digital package lockers, bike storage and additional storage space.

Individual homes will feature oversized windows, nine- and 10-foot ceilings, wood-style plank flooring, stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops, pull-down faucets, tile backsplashes, soft-close cabinets with under-cabinet lighting, separate dining areas, movable kitchen islands, oversized bedrooms with spacious closets, in-home washers and dryers, controlled-access guest technology and private patios or balconies. Bathrooms will include double vanities, quartz countertops and tile shower surrounds.

The amenity package — particularly the inclusion of coworking space, EV charging and a dedicated yoga and Pilates studio — reflects demand patterns that have become standard in upper-tier institutional multifamily product targeting professional renters in high-income suburban submarkets.

Mill Creek Residential's National Portfolio

Mill Creek Residential is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, and operates across major coastal and Sun Belt markets including Seattle, Portland, the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Southern California, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Denver, Dallas, Austin, Houston, South Florida, Tampa, Orlando, Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte, Raleigh, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, New York and Boston. As of March 31, 2026, the firm reported a portfolio of 150 communities comprising more than 42,700 rental homes either operating or under construction.

No development cost, projected rents or financing terms were disclosed in connection with the Modera City North groundbreaking.

Sources: PR Newswire, July 7, 2026; Mill Creek Residential, July 7, 2026