Mayfield Springs creating a future community based on current growth

Traveling southeast down Interstate 84 toward Mountain Home, drivers might just surmise that the area around Exit 71 is filled with a whole lot of nothing.

Due to some long-term planning and the growth within the Treasure Valley, that whole lot of nothing will soon be a lot of something thanks to many forthcoming developments, including Mayfield Springs, a planned community that will span 730 acres when complete.

The development broke ground in October of 2024 after years of planning and discussions. Greg Johnson, the founder and president of Mayfield’s parent organization Westpark Companies, had the foresight to plan ahead of the region’s growth. He conceptualized Mayfield Springs in the early 2000s, when he began acquiring land in the northeast region on the border of Ada and Elmore counties.

After the housing market crash and recession in 2008, Johnson retooled his plan and came at it from another angle, working with Elmore County officials to move forward with the development, said Taylor Merrill, project manager with Westpark.

“[Greg has] been working on this for 20 years,” Merrill said on a recent tour of the first phase of the development. “Greg has been developing real estate, residentially, in the Treasure Valley for 35 years. He caused a lot of development to happen in Meridian south of I-84. Tuscany, Bear Creek were two that he did. He did a little bit of the same in west Meridian with a project called Paramount.”

Merrill pointed out that Westpark will find property that can be purchased for less and then bring the necessary infrastructure to it in order to develop the project.

“[Mayfield Springs] is very much expanded on that model. Greg has always been a little bit of a pioneer in his development and reaching out,” he said.

Other developments are planned for the area, as well, taking advantage of the ongoing growth.

The project, to be finished in several stages over the course of several years, will include around 2,325 homes. Of those, 1,900 or so will be free-standing single-family homes and another 400 or so will be multifamily homes, which will likely be townhomes.

Currently, phase one has just gotten underway. It holds 149 lots which is broken into three residential properties, “an alley load product, what we call a village, which is a middle or entry-level product, and then we have the ridges product,” Merrill said.

The alley load units will sit on approximately 40-foot by 105-foot lots or .096 of an acre. Village units will be on .14 of an acre. Ridges lots will range from around .19 of an acre to about a quarter of an acre. Rounding out the overall project will be estates lots which will be half-acre lots and up.

Eight units have been approved, 28 are in the design, zoning and review process, and construction on four alley load units is slated to begin this week. However, one portion of the community that was necessary to have in place before any homes or other facilities could be built was the emergency services building. Featuring three bays for firetrucks, law enforcement offices and holding cells for the Elmore County Sheriff, and a community room, the structure will serve the forthcoming residents.

The fire department itself will be run by Rural Metro Fire, a private firefighting company that provides services at a fee. Those costs will be factored into the Mayfield Springs homeowner’s association fees.

Though water and wastewater facilities were the first things developed in the community, that infrastructure needed to be in place before the emergency services facility could be built.

“We have worked with Elmore County on this, and they have been very, very good to work with,” Merrill said. Ambulances will be provided by Elmore Ambulance Services.

Future plans for the development include plenty of open spaces and trails, commercial spaces, an adjacent business park, a 10-acre school site and a community, athletic and aquatics center.

The free public kindergarten through 12th grade charter school in the development will be provided by Gem Prep, and Idaho-based company with schools in Meridian, Nampa, Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Rexburg and Twin Falls, as well as online offerings.

“Gem Prep has some specific requirements of [student] counts,” Merrill said. “We hope to assist them with that. … Currently, there’s about 1,200 square feet of classroom in [the emergency services building] that kids will be able to go in daily, if they’d like, for tutorial.”

With several builders in rotation to construct the homes, Merrill said many lots are already sold in phase one. Demand will dictate additional phases, with an additional 75 lots in phase two. The entire development could take upwards of 10 years to complete, but that, again, depends upon market demand.

It’s not just builders that Mayfield Springs has partnered with. Other companies have seen the value in getting in on such an opportunity.

“New community developments are great opportunities for us to jump on,” said Christian Nelson, public relations specialist with SilverLight Fiber Network, the company provided the internet connectivity infrastructure. “Building before anyone moves into the development allows us to set up infrastructure without interrupting anyone’s day or disturbing any well-manicured landscapes.

We actively engage with multiple developers and community pillars on these initiatives.”

SilverLight is an open-access network, Nelson pointed out, and allows other internet service providers to operate on the network. But having that system in place is an added benefit for the residents who are making the development their new home.

“We work with contractors, real estate agents and homeowners to ensure service is ready and available upon moving in,” he said.

One of the unexpected perks that homebuyers might not think about when purchasing a home in a development east of a rapidly growing commuter hub: The sun.

“The Treasure Valley is designed in reverse from a typical commuter metropolitan [location],” Merrill said. “Generally, you live on the east and drive with the sun at your back to work, and then drive home with the sun at your back on the way home.”

For commuters driving into Boise from Meridian, Nampa and other more western located municipalities, they have the sun in their eyes to and from work.

“But our thought is, not to mention the congestion that’s been created, but you have a flow out here,” he said. From about Gowen Road to the new development is a 15-minute drive. “So, we think you’ve got an easier commute out here.”