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The new Biosphere 2 ownership group expects to start construction of a housing development within two to three years and remains in negotiations with the University of Arizona to lease the unique 3.1-acre miniworld for environmental research.

The $50 million sale, finalized Monday, puts the facility and 1,658 surrounding acres in the hands of CDO Ranching & Development L.P. The company's partners include Tucson developer Peter G. Backus and Martin C. Bowen, who was vice president of Bio-sphere seller Decisions Investment Corp.

The change in ownership, more than two years after Biosphere 2 was put up for sale and eight months after another deal fizzled, won't create any immediate changes for the property, said Jerry A. Hawkins, vice president of CB Richard Ellis Tucson, which brokered the deal.

The time frame, Hawkins said, will be "24 to 36 months before you'll see any dirt moving."

"We're in the early planning stages," he said. "We're working on a land plan now and we'll see a bunch of different versions of it before we start on something."

Backus said plans for 1,500 homes amount to just an early ballpark estimate based on what is approved under Pinal County zoning.

"It's a gorgeous piece of property, it's got spectacular views. and we don't envision a high-density subdivision," Backus said. "We'll plan it so there's a lot of integrity as far as the views, and the homes, too."

The next step for the development is the tentative and final subdivision process, said David Kuhl, Pinal County director of Planning and Development Services.

Also in the mix is a potential resort hotel, which could tie in with the Biosphere 2, and some commercial presence.

"We're excited about the resort possibility," Hawkins said. "The other commercial-related uses will be dependent upon the Biosphere and surrounding buildings and their influence. Over time we'll have commercial activity, but it's probably not a site where you'll ever see a shopping center."

The ownership group and the UA are negotiating a lease agreement that would put UA researchers in charge of the Biosphere 2 facility, both sides said.

"I want to make sure the Biosphere stays as it is," Backus said.

Joaquin Ruiz, dean of the UA College of Science, said the UA is the only university or institution negotiating for Biosphere 2.

"We're working diligently to try and come up with an arrangement with the new buyer so the university can use this extraordinary facility," said Ruiz, who wouldn't comment on any details of a potential agreement, including the cost to the university or duration of a lease.

Ruiz said Biosphere 2 is a one-of-a-kind laboratory for research into environmental changes as a function of global climate change.

"The scale of it is what makes it so unique," Ruiz said. "At the moment there are two kinds of ways of doing research on the environment. One is in small, highly monitored containers and the other is in the field. Moving observations from one to the other is very difficult, and the Biosphere is right in the middle of the scale."