Valley development pioneer John F. Long dies at 87

John F. Long – responsible for the growth of west Phoenix

March 18, 2010

Feb 29, 2008, 2:28pm MST
Jan Buchholz
Phoenix Business Journal

One of the foremost personalities and developers of modern Phoenix has died. John F. Long, the founder of J.F. Long Properties and the creator of the master-planned Maryvale neighbhorhood in west Phoenix, died shortly after midnight Friday. He was 87.

Long had been in good health up until the past year. In the last couple of months his body started declining, though his mind remained sharp until the end, according to Jim Miller, director of real estate for J.F. Long Properties. Long had been in hospice care.

A simple tribute was posted on the company’s Web site.

“It is with utmost sadness we share the news of the passing of our Founder, John F. Long,” it stated.

Miller said a public memorial service will be held March 10, and details of that service will be posted on the company Web site, www.jflong.com, on March 3.

Speaking from the company’s offices at 5035 W. Camelback Road, Miller said Long’s productive and generous life was being celebrated among employees who were working Friday.

“John had a great sense of humor, so we’re finding solace in that,” Miller said.

Long was born on a dairy farm in Glendale in 1920. His parents had immigrated to the United States from Germany. Long was an aircraft mechanic in World War II and when he returned home to the Valley, he married and decided to build a home for his bride, Mary.

By the time the house was built, someone wanted to buy it for nearly double the price of what it cost to build. So, Long built another house next door. Someone wanted to purchase that one, too.

“I think it was the seventh or eighth house that he built that they actually moved into,” Miller said.

At that point, a homebuilding career was born.

In 1954, Long hired a prominant Los Angeles master-planed community consultant, Gruen & Associates, to design the post-War suburban community of Maryvale, which primarily is south of Camelback Road to Interstate 10, and from the Black Canyon Freeway west to 99th Avenue.

He built small homes that were affordable for war veterans.

Long is credited for making home ownership available for thousands of residents during the 1950s and 1960s.

“He created a community that had places for shopping, for medical services, school sites and parks,” Miller said. “He used that blueprint for the next 35 to 40 years.”

Former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson, also a Valley native, remembers Long well. He gave Johnson’s father his first job as a drywall contractor, which ultimately became the largest drywall operation in the state.

“He put my dad into business,” Johnson said.
Johnson, himself a home builder, remembers as a child asking Long why he built so many small homes.

“He said, ‘A fast nickel beats a slow dime,'” Johnson recalled.

But Long was not about making money just to make money, both Johnson and Miller said.

When Johnson was mayor in the early 1990s, Long donated 25 homes for Phoenicians who could not afford to buy. Through a unique agreement, the city sold those homes to deserving families without charging interest.

“He was a really good man, and he made a huge difference in the Valley,” Johnson said.

Miller, who went to work for Long in 1977, said Long’s generous spirit is legendary.

“I can’t tell you how generous he was. He gave to churches. He gave to hospitals, but kids and education were his real passions,” Miller said.

Long donated thousands to the YMCA, the Boys & Girls Clubs and other charities.

He also donated the land that eventually became the Glendale Airport.

“He had such a vision. He felt the West Valley needed an airpark,” Miller said.

J.F. Long Properties is still going strong, Miller said. The 1,000-acre Algodón Center master-planned business and commerce park currently is the company’s largest enterprise. The first phase, theAlgodón Medical Office Park, is at Thomas Road and the Agua Fria Freeway.