Bill Gates' investment group, Cascade Investment LLC, recently bought a piece of land in Arizona to build a "city of the future," UPI reported.

The group paid around $80 million for a piece of Belmont, a 24,800-acre development in the desert, about 45 minutes outside of Phoenix. The area is almost completely unpopulated, but project developers Belmont Partners said they envision building a "smart city."

"Belmont will create a forward-thinking community with a communication and infrastructure spine that embraces cutting-edge technology, designed around high-speed digital networks, data centers, new manufacturing technologies and distribution models, autonomous vehicles and autonomous logistics hubs," said Belmont Partners in a press release.

Belmont Properties weighed in as well, saying, "Comparable in square miles and projected population to Tempe, Ariz., Belmont will transform a raw, blank slate into a purpose-built edge city built around a flexible infrastructure model."

According to Belmont Partners, the city will include:

• 80,000 living units;
• 3,800 acres of office, commercial and retail space; and
• 470 acres slated for public schools.

However, Business Real Estate Weekly of Arizona reported that the development will rely on the construction of Interstate 11 to make it work. The highway is slated to run right through the proposed city, and will link it to both Phoenix and Las Vegas, UPI reported. Phase One of Interstate 11's construction should be completed in 2018.

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