(Photo courtesy of Microsoft)

Bill Gates

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates bought a big piece of Valley real estate recently.

Gates owns a company that spent almost $80 million for a majority stake in almost 20,000 acres of land. The parcel sits about 20 minutes west of Buckeye. 

According to Business Real Estate Weekly, the end project could have tens of thousands of residential units and also thousands of acres of commercial and office space.

John Graham, president and CEO of the development company Sun Belt, wasn’t surprised at the price. What did surprised him was the buyer, because Gates isn’t known for real estate investment.

“I think with the magnitude of his wealth, [what] he looked at is portfolio diversification,” Graham said.

He called Gates a “very, very patient buyer” because though the site is close to the proposed Interstate 11 interstate highway,  that road is still several years away from being done.

This may also be a marketing boost for the yet-to-be-built project, according to David Evertsen, CEO of the consulting company Municipal Solutions.

“Having his name on a development project is gonna attract, I would suggest, significantly more investors than one that didn’t have a successful name behind it,” he said.