Cascade Investment LLC, an investment group led by Bill Gates, has purchased a large amount of land in Arizona. The city of Buckeye, which has planning zones running adjacent to the recently-purchased 24,800-acre development, confirmed the purchase.

For a sense of scale, the purchased Belmont development near the White Tank Mountains comes out to be the about the same size as Tempe, Arizona, which is home to over 161,719 residents. This means that the land is large enough to hold as many as 80,000 homes, along with plenty of room for commercial real estate. The land could also be used to house solar power infrastructure.

The land, purchased for $80 million according to the Phoenix Business Journal, could have its fate determined by the construction of Interstate 11 – an interstate highway which would connect Phoenix and Las Vegas.

The first phase of construction of Interstate 11 should come to an end in early 2018. The second phase is projected to be complete in June 2018. Eventually, Interstate 11 will run through Buckeye, giving their new neighbors in the Belmont development quick access to a major road.

Grady Gammage, who played a part in the land purchase, had this to say regarding the investment.

“Envisioning future infrastructure from scratch is far easier and more cost efficient than retrofitting an existing urban fabric. Belmont presents such an opportunity. We know of virtually no other property in the United States so strategically positioned, already entitled, and yet presenting a nearly blank slate of opportunity.”