The plan had been to build 126 high rise condos, to be named Portales Place, on the site but that failed with the real estate bust.

Although I would have loved to have seen more condominiums in the area the market just won’t support them at this time.  Given that, I’m all for increased density even if apartments.  Couple Portales Apartments with approximately 700 apartments planned forBlue Sky Project, the vacant lot immediately west of Safari Drive, and we’re looking at approximately 1300 new residents to the area.  I love it!

Buildings such as One Lexington (formerly Century Plaza) just celebrated their 1-year anniversary since they started selling again and are currently 75% sold out.  ST Residential, new owners of 44 Monroe were initially going to restart sales in late 2010, but switched to luxury rentals in January, and has been filling up quickly ever since.  ST’s other recently acquired properties include 3rd Avenue Palms in midtown Phoenix and Safari Drive in downtown Scottsdale, both of which are selling at a good steady pace.  Optima Camelview is merely months from completion of it’s final phase (Phase 3) which will bring the total development to 700+ units.  Another iconic Scottsdale project, The Mark is selling very well with only 30% units remaining.

A lot of urban fans are excited to see West 6th (formerly Centerpoint) in downtown Tempe finish construction and potentially change the face of Mill Avenue…for better or worse?  Originally planned as luxury condos, selling at the peak for $700+/SF, West 6th has finally found a new owner who has decided to lease the building for now.

Not all fractured condo buildings have been blessed with new ownership.  Summit at Copper Square is “controlled” by Stearns Bank, the buyer of the original construction loan and owner of approximately 70 of the original 165 units.  I put the word controlled in parenthesis because in my opinion Stearns is kind of stuck.  It’s stuck because we believe most prospective buyers of the 70 unit package would want to rent those units out while waiting for the condos sales market to improve.  Unfortunately, we believe that renting of the units may be prohibited by the CC&R’s and the law.  Oh, and to make matters worse lenders will not make loans in the building.

Several other buildings around town are facing similar problems, which is hardly a great thing, but opens up one-of-a-kind opportunities for cash buyers to scoop up great condos at historically low prices.  First time homebuyers, investors and second home seekers have a solid array of choices, matched with interest rates that are still very low.  More and more people are buying which leads us to wonder, have we hit the bottom?

Coming sooner that later developments:

While a chunk of the once planned luxury fleet of high-rises in the urban valley have vanished, a few are hovering on the horizon and surprisingly a few new developments are picking up steam and filling up city council schedules.  Safari Drive was originally planned to encompass nearly the entire Northeast corner of Scottsdale and Camelback roads, minus the Triyar development along Scottsdale with Chipotle and Sprinkles.  Now, that vacant lot has a “next generation” vision according to Gray Development, the potential developers, with plans for a 750 unit, 3 building complex over 4.3 acres. The project is currently battling opposition from the local community and is in and out of council hearings with an undetermined completion date.  Ownership is another hurdle for the developer, as ST Residential (Owner of Safari Drive) and Triyar Properties (owner of that retail along Scottsdale Rd) jointly own that parcel and the project is contingent on the sale of the land, among other obstacles.

It is great to see a little life in the development industry, as it was hibernating for nearly 2 years.  Unfortunately, many grand visions during the latter half of the boom will never come to fruition, but in time, cranes will return to the urban cores.

Other notable development updates:

• The W Residences, comprised of 18 new penthouses on the top two levels of the hotel have re-opened sales, with starting prices of $800+/SF, yes I said 800.
• The unique 5-story, 21 unit Chateaux on Central found a new owner and relaunched sales at the beginning of the year.  With units ranging from 5000-8000+ SF and prices STARTING at $1.3M, they are still waiting for their sale as of May 1st.
• Portland 38, Evergreen 9 and Roosevelt 11, (Jag Development) all have builder units still available although Portland 38 had very strong sales in 2010 and is almost sold out.
• Sage Scottsdale, a 50 unit townhome/condo community on the canal off Chaparral is steadily selling after a opening earlier this year.
• Corriente, on the outskirts of downtown Scottsdale, just off Indian Bend is actually building their last phase, with construction on the first building set to open later this year.
• Cityscape in downtown Phoenix opened its office and retail sections, with an eclectic array of shops, restaurants, grocery and drug store, bowling alley and full service gym.
• Scottsdale Quarter, a mixed-use complex just east of Kierland Commons opened last year and is continuing to expand with a great variety of shops and restaurants and appears to be quite popular.  iPIC is definitely worth checking out.

The pool is literally being jack hammered up and will be completely redone by the end of May.  It’s getting all new “green” landscaping and has all new fitness equipment.

Condos are being built-out with wonderful finishes like gorgeous four-inch wood floors, upgraded granite, stainless appliances, upgraded cabinets and WINE CHILLERS.

We think that the floor plans in general are very open, very large, and flow nicely.  Each two bedroom condo comes with two underground parking spaces and storage.

Ten Wine Lofts is walking distance to a lot of great restaurants and bars and is being very well received by Scottsdale renter.

To learn more, call 480 510-8755 ext. 2 and we’ll schedule a tour.  It’s definitely worth checking out.

Ten Wine Lofts, the urban condo community at roughly Osborn and Scottsdale Road has been converted to apartment rentals and is expected to be on the market in early 2011.  An investor purchased the community after the original developer and original construction lender went under and has elected to go rental vs. selling the condos.  We don’t have prices yet but hope to have those and other details soon.  If you’re interested in learning more or if you’d like to reserve one of the condo rentals then contact us now at 480 510-8755 ext 2 and leave a message.

“Not all cities are created equal:

2008 (12/17) 2009 (12/17)
All counties 56,434 88,478
Phoenix 12,285 24,346
Scottsdale 4,309 5,459
Paradise Valley 174 255

This is just MLS and does not include Trustee sales,
Auctions or FISBOS.

Phoenix MLS had 25,773 in 2004 and 26,615 in 2005.”

As I understand them, his numbers essentially show sales (actual closed real estate transactions) for the two periods of 1/1/08 to 12/17/08 amd 1/1/09 to 12/17/09 for the various areas.

I don’t know Joseph but I love that he took the time to share some statistics.  Now, we all know that stats can be manipulated however the gatherer wants.  And I’m sure some of our readers questioned the stats that I shared in the blog post.  And of course some of you will question Joseph’s numbers as well.  Nonetheless, I’m happy to see that at least one other person has numbers that are reasonably close to mine. You’ll note that his 2009 sales in Phoenix are really close to the sales numbers in 204 and 2005 just as my data suggested.

Whether my numbers are 100% spot on or not, I’m telling you that sales are happening here in Phoenix (yes, many many of them are foreclosures) and we believe that more are to come in 2010.  Now if only FHA, Fannie and Freddie would loosen up underwriting guidelines a bit we might see a real recovery.

I will be very anxious to see how another 750 +/- residents and cars will affect traffic in the area. Traffic in and around Scottsdale Fashion Square is already busy so what happens if these condos get built? We will see….

There are a handful of 3 story, 3 bedroom, 4 bathroom, 3,000+ square foot town homes zoned for both light commercial and residential use located minutes from downtown Scottsdale about to go to auction.  The official “public” announcement won’t go out until Wednesday so if you want the jump on everyone else then contact us now.

Because high rise living is so relatively new to Phoenix one way to get a perspective on values is to look at what’s going on in other markets.

The San Diego high rise boom began several years before our boom in Phoenix AND the number of condos built there dwarfs what’s happening here.  Because of this San Diego MAY be a great indicator of where our market is heading.

The Legend is an A-Class building in downtown San Diego overlooking the Padres Ball Park.  Prices are advertised at about $550 per foot plus discounted interest rates and 3 years of HOA fees.  How much you want to bet that the $550 per foot is soft at that?

Now, I love Phoenix, but I don’t think that the average buyer would consider downtown or midtown Phoenix to be “comparable” to San Diego.  So, is it reasonable that someone pay as much to live in Phoenix as San Diego?  Probably not.  Century Plaza recently advertised prices in the $480 to 500 per foot range.  And even though Century Plaza is a really good looking building it is not comparable to The Legend and even though Century Plaza is on the Phoenix Light Rail that is not comparable to The Legend location.  Gang, IF The Legend sells at $550 per foot (again IF) then there is no way that Century Plaza is worth anywhere close to that number.

But now here’s where things get really subjective.  Compared to downtown San Diego what are high rise condos in midtown or downtown Phoenix worth?  Ten percent less?  Twenty percent less?  Fifty percent less?  What do you think?  Should prices for a high rise condo in downtown Scottsdale be about the same as downtown San Diego?  MAYBE.  But wouldn’t most of you take a condo in downtown San Diego over a comparable condo in Scottsdale.  I would.  I believe that San Diego prices should be about double what a comparable place in midtown or downtown Phoenix and maybe as much as 50% more than the same unit in downtown Scottsdale.  Thoughts?

I can’t imagine that anyone will think that Century Plaza prices make sense in this light.  Fortunately prices at Century Plaza are about to come down; way down.