Tempe could see another three housing developments spring to life in the coming years, as the city’s infill areas continue to expand – mostly skyward – despite its landlocked borders.
A mix of condominiums, townhouses and single-family homes, the projects are part of a surge in development the city’s seen over the past 20 months, said Chris Anaradian, Tempe’s development services manager.
With about $1 billion in construction happening right now, "it’s like day and night" compared to a few years ago, Anaradian said.
Each of these latest projects is in very different stages of planning.
SOTELO: Multifamily housing developer Trammell Crow Residential hopes to break ground on a six-building, 170-unit condo complex in the second quarter 2007.
Located at the southeast corner of Weber Drive and College Avenue, the four-story buildings will sit across the street from Papago Park.
Fremont Investment & Loan provided a $38.8 million construction loan to Trammell Crow for the project, said Jeff Teetsel, Fremont’s vice president and regional manager.
With its proximity to Arizona State University, freeways and the airport, Sotelo will likely attract a number of young professionals, Teetsel said.
It’s conveniently located to downtown Phoenix and Tempe, but owners will also be able to enjoy the park, he said.
"You get a really nice blend," said Jason Ottman, managing director at
Trammell Crow. "You’re in the middle of everything, but you’re pretty much in a quiet little pocket of the city."
Starting from the high $200,000s, the condos will have one and two bedrooms and range in size from 900 square feet to roughly 2,200 square feet.
TOWN LAKE VILLAS: Commercial builder Tom Meissner’s first home project – an eight-home luxury development – is in planning stages.
Situated along First Street near Tempe Town Lake, the single-family houses would range in size from 4,500 square feet to 5,000 square feet. Each would have two stories, a third floor with one room and a basement, Meissner said.
The properties would include rooftop gardens and Jacuzzis, as well as underground parking garages, he said.
Meissner said he hopes to create an urban atmosphere with suburban-type amenities – room to park boats and have pets.
"We’re trying to do something that’s exceptional" he said.
He added that it’s too early to talk about home prices, but they would easily cost well over $1 million.
Meissner recently submitted a second draft of plans to the city and is working on marketing studies.
But he’s in no rush to build.
The longtime developer has owned the land since 2000 and said he’ll build "when the market’s right."
ZACHER HOMES: Phoenix-based Zacher Homes hopes to close a deal next week to buy five acres of land next door to Meissner’s property.
Located on the northwest corner of Roosevelt and First streets, the site is right across from the new Tempe Center for the Arts.
Preliminary plans for the property include four condo towers that could range in size from 10 stories to 25 stories, as well as a number of townhouses, said Patrick Burch, Zacher’s land acquisition manager.
The project doesn’t have a formal name yet and is still in the very early stages, he said.
Two focus points of Zacher’s plan would be leaving a lot of open space so the arts center wouldn’t be overshadowed and creating an art walk that would provide pedestrian access to the center, Burch said.
Zacher has had at least one informal meeting with neighbors in the area but has yet to submit any plans to the city.
"We don’t know exactly what they’re going to allow us to do," he said. "It’s really not a guaranteed anything."
There would need to be a good discussion about height before anything was approved, Anaradian said. The city has definite ideas about where tall buildings belong in downtown, he said.
The arts center was a huge investment, so whatever goes across the street will be looked at closely, he said.
"The sky is not the limit on all of these sites in Tempe," he said.
East Valley Tribune – Misty Williams
