A 20-story residential building is proposed south of Third Street and Indian School Road by Kevin O’Neill, who hired noted architect Will Bruder to create the design.
The goal, O’Neill said, is "a modern urban condominium community" with about 250 residences, a restaurant and several live-work units on the 70,000-square-foot property. The location is on the west side of Third, about a block south of Indian School Road.
O’Neill plans to submit his first round of paperwork to Phoenix planners in about 30 days. Construction could start in a year. The size range of each condo unit is from 650 to 2,400 square feet, with prices starting at $300 a square foot.
O’Neill and Bruder were in San Diego earlier this month collecting design ideas.
"Being right there at the entrance to Steele Indian School Park, I think we’ll all see Third Street continue to grow and development around the park over the coming years," O’Neill said.
O’Neill bought the Third Street property earlier this month from Terrance Plas, who had proposed a 27-unit, three-story townhome development on the site. The transaction included a list of more than 600 names of interested buyers who had called Plas.
"There’s a lot of interested people who want to live in the central area," Plas said. "There is not enough viable (urban residential) product on the market to satisfy the number of people who want to live there."
O’Neill said Bruder has started work on a 10-unit residential development at the southwest corner of 12th Street and Whitton Avenue, just north of Osborn Road. Two existing homes on the property will be demolished to make way for the new project. Construction could start in late 2006.
Unique infill residential properties have become O’Neill’s specialty. One is called Project Miller, a 16-unit condo project designed by Peter Koliopoulos at Circle West Architects and built by The Construction Zone. That project is in Scottsdale at 1501 N. Miller Road.
In the late 1990s, O’Neill was with Monarch Properties, where he partnered with developer Garth Wieger in the luxury development The Rocks in northeast Scottsdale.
Plas said he is proposing a 60-unit, four-story townhome development at the northeast corner of Apache Boulevard and Rural Road in Tempe.
Plas’ earlier project was an 11-story building with 52 residences at the northeast corner of First Avenue and Monroe Street. He later sold his interest in the property to Grace Communities, which today is developing the site into 44 Monroe, a 34-story building with 202 residences. The contractor is The Weitz Co., which is preparing to start work.
Mike Padgett – The Business Journal
