The developers that for months have been preparing and fine-tuning plans for new condominium projects in central Phoenix and in central Scottsdale are going to end the year in high gear.
Portland Place LLC, made up of principals John Hill and Tim Sprague, has its construction fence in place and preliminary infrastructure work is under way on the 54-unit first phase of Portland Place. The $22 million Phoenix development is located west of Central Avenue and on the south side of Deck Park.
The first phase features two brownstone buildings, each with two stories, a six-story condominium building and underground parking. The Zeleznak Group, headed by the father-son team of Don and Ryan Zeleznak, is the sales team for Portland Place.
Meanwhile, Grace Communities planned a November 3 groundbreaking in Scottsdale at its Portales Place development, a $120 million luxury community with 140 residences on 11 acres. The property is west of Scottsdale Road and on the north side of the curve in Goldwater Boulevard. The price range is $900,000 to $4.5 million.
Grace Communities consists of the Zeleznaks and Jonathon Vento. Reservations on 70 percent of the Portales residences have been received by Ryan Zeleznak.
Vento and the Zeleznaks also plan to start their tallest project this month. Crews plan to start trenches for underground utilities by mid-November for a 34-story high-rise condo building called 44 Monroe at First Avenue and Monroe Street.
A tower crane for the project is scheduled to be in place by late December.
The 44 Monroe project has been delayed by paperwork issues at city hall and most recently by the architect’s resignation for personal health challenges. The new architect is Tucker Sadler Architects of San Diego.
City Square gets makeover
When The Shidler Group gets finished with its renovation of City Square, it should be much easier to find the three office buildings in the heart of Phoenix’s Central Corridor.
City Square has been plagued with unclear street addresses as well as confusing parking, said Matt Root, one of the four principals at San Diego-based Shidler.
The company bought the buildings for more than $60 million in August. The buildings’ addresses are 3800, 3838 and 4000 N. Central Ave., even though two of them are on Clarendon Avenue about a block west of Central.
The addresses and the buildings’ parking can pose difficulties for those unfamiliar with City Square, so Shidler plans new signage, Root said.
The new owners hosted a party for the buildings’ tenants in late October, with a jazz band and catering by The Hilton Garden Inn, to let the hotel operator and other tenants know about the upcoming improvements. Those include painting the exteriors of the 3800 and the 4000 N. Central Ave. buildings, modernizing the elevators in 3800, and updating the buildings’ mechanical and HVAC systems.
A water feature, a large canopy and visitor parking are part of the plans for the plaza between the buildings, Root said.
One theme Root found in meeting with tenants is their preference to be on Central but away from downtown Phoenix, where the additional office towers and the two sports arenas create heavier traffic.
Root said the company plans to have construction under way at City Square at the same time the city has crews busy with light rail work on Central, starting in about a month.
"That way, when we’re done, it’s all done and the access for tenants and visitors is better," Root said. "But we’re going to have a period of time during construction when everybody’s going to have to be patient and collectively work together to get things done."
The buildings have nearly 720,500 square feet of space. They are at 70 percent occupancy, and new leases for 140,000 square feet are in negotiations by Don Mudd and John Bonnell at Trammell Crow Co.
Building in Casa Grande
One of Casa Grande’s first new office condo projects in recent years is planned by UTAZ Development, which expects to start work in 2006.
UTAZ President and Chief Executive Craig Willett said the 36,000-square-foot Casa Grande Professional Village is designed for the southeast corner of Peart and Kortsen roads, near Interstate 10.
Willett’s office developments — which sell as office condos — cater to small-business owners in the medical, dental, real estate, mortgage, insurance, legal and financial service fields. He said the office condo ownership can cost 30 percent less than renting.
Filling in at Tramonto
A home builder specializing in infill projects is the newest company offering homes at Tramonto, a residential development in north Phoenix.
Monogram Cos. is starting Ponticello, its gated, 40-acre neighborhood with 24 custom homes on a hillside east of Interstate 10 and north of Carefree Highway. The home sites range from one to three acres. In Italian, Ponticello means "over the bridge," a reference to a 135-foot, two-lane stone bridge crossing a ravine into Ponticello.
Mike Padgett
The Business Journal
