The Grand · Surprise, Arizona
The Grand: fees, amenities, golf and market data
The Grand - long known as Sun City Grand - is a 9,800-home, age-restricted Del Webb community in Surprise, Arizona. This page answers the questions buyers and sellers actually ask, with figures pulled from the Community Association and dated third-party market reports rather than slogans.
Published September 4, 2026 · Last reviewed September 10, 2026 · Author: Jim Brebner, REALTOR®
The short answers
Figures above are published by The Grand Community Association at livegrandaz.com and were reviewed on September 10, 2026. The assessment is reviewed by the Board each fall and changes in July. Always reconfirm current amounts in the resale disclosure package before writing or accepting an offer.
What daily life in The Grand looks like
Community overview
The Grand sits in Surprise, in the northwest corner of the Phoenix metro, just south of Sun City West across Grand Avenue. It was developed by Del Webb as Sun City Grand - the third Del Webb active-adult community in the northwest valley - and homes were built from roughly 1996 through 2005, which is why it reads newer than the original Sun City. The Association reports 9,550 houses and 252 condos. Homes are predominantly single-story stucco with tile roofs on low-maintenance desert lots, and the community is not gated: it sits inside Surprise city limits and is served by the Surprise Police Department.
The community is still widely searched as "Sun City Grand." The subdivision name did not change; the entries and marketing were rebranded to The Grand. If you are searching listings or public records, expect both names.
Age qualification: the exact rules
This is the single most misunderstood item about The Grand. The Association's published rules are:
- 85% of homes must be occupied by a person age 55 or older.
- Up to 15% of homes may be occupied by owners ages 45–54.
- No children under age 19 may live in The Grand.
- An under-55 non-owner age 19+ may live in the home with a 45+ owner or renter, or with a 55+ occupant.
- Any person of any age may own a home, but an under-45 owner cannot occupy it unless a 45+ occupant lives there.
Source: The Grand - Information for Buyers. Because the 15% band is a community-wide cap, availability under it is not guaranteed at any moment; confirm status with Membership Services before you rely on it.
Fees: what you actually pay
Annual assessment
The Grand uses one annual assessment rather than a stack of monthly master and sub-association dues. For the assessment year July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027 it is $1,976 - about $165 per month equivalent. It funds operations and the amenities and includes up to two Resident Activity Cards per household; cards must be shown to use the facilities. If more than two qualified occupants live in the home, additional cards cost one-half of the annual assessment and are non-refundable. The Board sets the following year's assessment each fall, so it is subject to change every July.
One-time buyer fees at closing
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| CARE fee (Community and Resident Enhancement), one-time per new purchaser | $5,000 |
| Resale transfer fee | $100 |
| Architectural Review Committee fee (excludes La Solana condos) | $170 |
| Total | $5,270 |
| Resale disclosure statement fee (seller paid fee) | $130 |
The CARE fee funds community development and enhancements and is not credited toward your assessment. A buyer who owned a home in The Grand before January 1, 2008 and is still an owner may be entitled to a one-time CARE fee waiver when purchasing another home in the community.
Recreation centers, amenities and activities
The Association publishes the following amenity counts for members. Every link below goes to the Association's own page so you can verify hours, rules and current status:
| Amenity | Count / detail |
|---|---|
| Championship golf courses | 4 |
| Community pools | 4 (including indoor and outdoor lap lanes and leisure pools) |
| Hot tubs | 3 |
| Fitness centers | 2 (plus 100+ monthly group fitness classes) |
| Indoor air-conditioned walking track | 1 |
| Day spa | 1 |
| Pickleball courts | 22 (home of the largest pickleball club in the country) |
| Tennis courts | 11 |
| Bocce ball courts | 8 |
| Outdoor trails (trail map PDF) | 8 (from ½ mile to 4.7 miles) |
| Creative studio spaces | 6 (art, clay, glass, photo, stitchers, woodshop) |
| Restaurants with bars | 3 (plus snack bars and poolside service) |
| Performing arts stages | 2 (Sonoran Plaza Ballroom and Cimarron Club) |
| Dog parks | 2 (one large-dog, one small-dog) |
| Technology rooms | 2 (fully equipped) |
| Chartered clubs and interest groups | 65+ |
| Grand Learning courses | 75+ (enrichment courses per semester) |
| Also on site | Billiards room, fishing lake, lawn bowling green, softball stadium, outdoor model railroad train park, veterans monument |
Day-to-day programming lives on the Association's events calendar, and the full amenity list is at livegrandaz.com/amenities. Golf greens fees, dining and spa services are paid separately from the annual assessment.
The four golf courses
The Association describes the courses as Billy Casper and Greg Nash signature championship designs. Residents book resident-rate tee times through the community reservation system; the courses also take public play.
| Course | Yardage | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Cimarron | 6,809 | Greg Nash design opened January 2003; water in play off the tee or near the green on most holes, palm groves with a Coachella Valley feel. Voted 12th in the Top 25 Public Courses in Arizona by the GolfPass Golfer's Choice Awards for 2025. Pro shop: 17100 W. Clearview Blvd, Surprise, AZ 85387, (623) 975-5654. |
| Desert Springs | 7,006 | The longest of the four. Generous fairways and large greens, but 75+ bunkers and numerous lakes; White Tank and Bradshaw Mountain views. Pro shop: 19900 N Remington Drive, (623) 546-7401. |
| Granite Falls North | 6,720 | Considered the most challenging of the four by the Association. Part of the 36-hole Granite Falls facility with rolling fairways and large undulating greens. Pro shop: 15949 W Clearview Blvd, Surprise, AZ 85374, (623) 546-7580. |
| Granite Falls South | 6,839 | The other half of Granite Falls, with multiple tee boxes for all levels. Pro shop: 15949 W Clearview Blvd, (623) 546-7580. |
Scorecards, current rate sheets, conversion tables and the dress code are published on the Association's golf page. There is no separate mandatory golf membership tied to owning a home - greens fees are paid per round at resident rates.
This matters for pricing a listing: a home on a fairway or with a course view is not simply worth more than a comparable interior-lot home in the same series. Which course, which hole, which direction the home faces and whether there is errant-ball exposure all move the number, and buyers who golf know the difference.
Home types and floor plans
The Grand is resale-only. Del Webb built the community in a 9100 series and a 9200 series, and every model falls into one of four size tiers:
| Series | Approximate size range | Example models |
|---|---|---|
| Cottage | ~1,150–1,400 sq ft | Celebration, Legacy, Heritage |
| Classic | ~1,100–1,850 sq ft | Willow, Iris, Kiva, Acacia, Madera, Desert Rose |
| Premier | ~1,400–2,350 sq ft | Sonoma, Manzanita, Cholla, Hacienda, Verano |
| Estate | ~2,250–3,400 sq ft | Saguaro, Ironwood, Hampton, Kensington, Windsor, Oakmont |
Individual floor-plan PDFs for every model are published on the Association's buyer page. La Solana is the condominium subsection and is treated differently for the ARC fee. When I price a listing, I compare like-for-like at the model level first - a 1,934 sq ft Premier is not comparable to a 1,920 sq ft Premier on a different lot type just because the square footage matches.
For current pricing and market activity in The Grand, see my monthly market reports, pulled directly from the MLS.
If you're selling here
Most of my sellers have been in their home for years and are right-sizing, moving closer to family, or simplifying. The work is the same in every case: price it against real current competition inside the community at the model and lot level, prepare it so it shows better than the homes it competes with, order the resale disclosure package early so escrow doesn't stall, and read the financing behind every offer. That last piece is where my lending background does real work.
I do all of that for one flat fee rather than a percentage of your equity. The flat-fee program page lays out exactly what's included, and the seller page covers the process step by step. Also read negotiating a sale in The Grand.
If you're buying here
Buyers usually arrive with three questions: what does the assessment cover, what can I actually do with the property under the rules, and what will the total monthly cost be once the assessment, taxes and insurance are added to the loan payment. On that third one: budget the assessment at roughly $165 per month equivalent, add the $5,270 in one-time buyer fees to your cash-to-close, and add the maintained-property fee if the home is a Courtyard or GardenVilla. I answer the financing side with numbers because I spent nine years in lending - start with which loan type makes sense in The Grand and the buyer page. For daily rhythm and club life, read what life is actually like in The Grand.
One note on expectations: this site is not a listings portal. There is no MLS search here on purpose. What I offer is judgment about the specific home and the specific offer.
My experience in The Grand
I don't only work in The Grand - I live here. My wife Stacy and I are residents, so the details on this page aren't researched from a distance: they're the things I notice walking the trails, booking tee times, and spending time at the recreation center. That resident's eye is what helps me answer the questions buyers ask when they're trying to picture daily life here - which neighborhoods are quietest at sunset, where the morning pickleball wait is shortest, how a golf-course lot actually changes the back-yard experience, and the small nuances that distinguish one village from the next. It's the difference between describing The Grand and knowing it.
Sources
- The Grand Community Association - Information for Buyers (assessment, buyer fees, age rules, floor plans)
- The Grand - Amenities (amenity counts)
- The Grand - Golf (course detail, yardages, pro shops)
- Jim Brebner's monthly market reports for The Grand (pricing and sales activity, from the ARMLS multiple listing service)