When winter’s frigid grasp arrives, snowbirds head south to second home enclaves in Florida, southern California and Arizona to thaw out. Scottsdale, a resort community just north of sprawling Phoenix, has boomed, no doubt due in part to its affinity for attracting vacation home-buyers looking for a warm escape and comfortable desert living. Scottsdale is framed by Camelback Mountain, dramatic rock outcroppings, challenging golf courses and a host of high-end vacation homes including private residence clubs.

This month, a new golf-side fractional development, Luxian Scottsdale, was announced. The development offers buyers more weeks of use a year than the typical fractional in the area, but also carries a considerably larger price tag.

What’s For Sale

Shared ownership of three homes adjacent to the golf course at the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale. Fractional shares are $1.75 million and secure buyers either eight weeks of use in the winter or six months of use in the late spring and summer.

What You Get

Each 6,000 square foot, two-level house faces a championship golf course and features a swimming pool. The developers are currently working on striking deals with area resorts to secure owners access to discounted spa services and preferred tee times.

Fractional buyers can use their time in either the fall and winter or during the toasty summer months, and each year owners will choose different times to visit via a rotating selection system.

In the winter, owners get two four-week blocks of use. They can book the house for one month in late fall (October, November or December) and one month in the winter (January, February or March). Alternatively, there is a summer fractional share that gives buyers use of the home from April through September. The homes, which will be located in a gated enclave, will begin construction in late summer, depending on design and permit schedules, and are set to be completed in the fall of 2009.

Unlike other fractional or private residence club communities, Luxian Scottsdale owners will not pay an annual association fee for taxes and maintenance for the first five years. After five years, a Luxian owners’ association will assume responsibility for those fees and determine whether to assess the fractional owners monthly or once a year.

The Helium Report Take

The developers of the Luxian Scottsdale have coined their sales offering “equity resort ownership.” But beyond the real estate jargon, this is truly a fractional home development. No matter what you call it, a nearly $2 million price tag puts this fractional squarely at the top of the luxury pile. With that asking price, buyers get a greater number of guaranteed weeks each year than other fractional developments in the area, and that alone moves the development closer to a true second home replacement. That said, buyers should also be ready to take the heat, as the sizzling six month summer share will be rotated among owners each year.

Real estate market watchers know that the greater Phoenix area, including Scottsdale, saw some of the biggest home price appreciations in the recent boom. Now the area is weathering the slowdown like much of the country, and home prices have flat-lined. Given the almost $2 million price tag, potential buyers at Luxian may also want to look at whole ownership options in the area, if they can do without the built-in conveniences like property management that come with private residence club membership. There are also several destination clubs with homes in Scottsdale though this is not an option for those buyers who need to spend multiple months of the year in the desert. Exclusive Resorts, Quintess and Lusso Collection all have homes in Scottsdale, and there are fractional developments from the Phoenician and The Rocks that offer buyers smaller blocks of time. Residences at the Rocks, for instance, are sold in one-seventh shares that get buyers four weeks of use a year for around $335,000.