Bill Gates Buys Land in Arizona in Order to Build a ‘Smart City’

The large plot of land cost $80 million.

November 14, 2017 11:44 am
Bill Gates on Why He Guest-Edited An Issue of 'Time'
Bill Gates. (Ida Mae Astute/ABC via Getty Images)

One of Bill Gates’ investment firms paid $80 million to start the development of a brand-new community in the far West Valley of Arizona. It is about 45 minutes west of downtown Phoenix, reports NBC 12 News

The proposed community, called Belmont, will be made up of close to 25,000 acres of land. A real estate investment group based in Arizona, Belmont Partners, wants to turn the land into its own “smart city,” reports NBC. 

“Belmont will create a forward-thinking community with a communication and infrastructure spine that embraces cutting-edge technology, designed around high-speed digital networks, data centers, new manufacturing technologies and distribution models, autonomous vehicles and autonomous logistics hubs,” said Belmont Partners in a news release, according to NBC. 

Ronald Schott, executive emeritus at the Arizona Technology Council, said the land is in a good spot because it will be right near the proposed I-11 freeway which will run through Belmont to Las Vegas.

“Bill Gates is known for innovation and those kind of things and I think he picked the right place. He’s coming to Arizona,” Schott said, according to NBC.

Belmont Partners said that 3,800 acres will go towards office, commercial and retail space, while 470 acres will be used for public schools. There will also be 80,000 residential units, reports NBC. 

There is no set date for construction to start.

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