"Our goal is to actually build something that looks like

Plans for a resort and Europeanstyle spa are changing the face of the
northwest Valley.
The northern-most tip of Peoria,
near Lake Pleasant, has long been
open space, but more developers are
eyeing the area as the hot spot for
Valley growth. Developer Princeton
Resorts Group will break ground on
its 20-acre Cibola Vista Resort &
Spa. The property will include an
8,000-square-foot European-style
spa, 240 timeshare units, 100 hotel
rooms and several recreational
amenities. It is expected to be
completed in 2010.
The developer expects sales of the
timeshare alone will total $300
million. Cibola Vista, near Jomax
and Lake Pleasant roads, eventually
will generate $40 million annually.
"Our goal is to actually build
something that looks like it has been
here for 50 years. That's the whole
emotional tone of the project," said
Neil Cumsky, Princeton Resorts
Group's chief executive officer. "We
want it to be really Arizona, not
California."
The project takes its name from the
mythical "Seven Cities of Cibola,"
thought to be rich in gold and silver,
which brought Spanish explorers to
what is now Arizona.
Princeton Resorts Group is looking
to Providence, R. I.-based Textron
Financial Corp., a national provider
of timeshare acquisition and
development funding, for the
construction and development loan.
Cumsky expects the financing to be
completed next month.
The resort is only part of the entire
Peoria Cibola Vista land-use plan
encompassing 241 acres and slated
to include 465 single-family homes
and 180,000-square-feet of retail,
according to the city's planning
department.
The Peoria City
Council approved the project in
2001, and the city has had this area
zoned for years.
The resort will have access to vast
hiking and mountain biking trails,
outfitted fishing trips to Lake
Pleasant, a horse corral and
educational features about the land's
history.
Unlike most Valley resorts, there
will be no on-site golf course,
because of the oversaturated market,
Cumsky said. The resort will offer a
golf concierge, who will arrange tee
times at other area courses.
The Arizona timeshare market can't
keep up with the demand. The
demand for timeshare units in
Arizona is one-third more than the
market can accommodate for 44 out
of 52 weeks of the year, Cumsky
said.
"The season is much bigger than
you would imagine," he said.
Princeton Resorts Group will use
Interval International to find
timeshare owners. The Miami-based
timeshare mammoth has already
designated Cibola Vista as a five-star
resort.
The developer expects the ripple
effect of the timeshare spending to
make its way throughout the
northwest Valley. The estimated
360,000 timeshare owners visiting
Arizona in 1999 spent about $294
million, the American Resort
Development Association said.
The Waters of Cibola Vista Spa
will use a seawater therapy dubbed
"thallassotherapy," touted by some
in Europe as having healthful
properties.
Still, Princeton Resorts wants
Cibola Vista to have a low-key, Old
Arizona feel.