The tour handout material included Price Analysis of both properties.  We looked at how resale prices have moved since the beginning.  Here are a couple pages of the material provided on the tour:

Price Analysis of Optima Biltmore Towers (2006 to Present)

Price Analysis of Optima Camelview Village (2007 to Present)

You’ll notice that we have added two new buttons at the top right portion of the page, one FOR SALE and one FOR RENT.  If you’re looking to rent or buy along the light rail and want to see only high rise and loft condos no further than a short biking distance to the rail then you’ll definitely want to check these out.  The two buttons use actual MLS data feeds and provide the most current and accurate information available.  The feeds are updated nightly.

And since so many people interested in living on the light rail are also interested in gasoline prices we have added two new features along that line as well.  You’ll find a button that show you the current high and low prices for a gallon of gasoline in the Phoenix area as well as a graph showing the average cost of a gallon of gas and a barrel of oil for the last six years.  Neither one of these tools is directly related to real estate but I hope that you find them interesting and relevant nonetheless.

Finally, don’t miss the Google Map that we built showing where all the “light rail condos” are.  Click on one of the colored place markers to see additional info and links on each high rise or loft community.

At WeKnowUrban we are constantly adding what we believe are valuable features that our audience will appreciate.  Please send us your suggestions and maybe we can incorporate them into the site.

Since few people seem to be buying anything but bank owned properties it only makes sense.  If you’re interested in learning more or registering for the tour please go to our urban tour page and then e-mail any questions you might have.  See you in a couple weeks.

Under Construction and still on track to finish:

27-Story Office Tower with Wachovia as anchor tenant.  Well Fargo is in talks to buy the bank, but already has a tower in downtown Phoenix.

34-Story Hotel and Condo Tower: 250-room Hotel Palomar & 165 Luxury Condominiums

Retail Plaza with tenants: A.J.’s Fine Foods Grocery, Urban Outfitters, Golds Gym, and potentially a drug store.  A steakhouse by Fox Restaurant Concepts will replace the P.F. Chang’s, but P.F.’s could be added on to the project down the road.

Put on hold until the market recovers:

Two towers consisting of 1000 condominiums and a 150-room boutique TWELVE hotel.  This was planned for the eastern block between 1st & 2nd streets.

The 65 apartments units above the retail plaza on the western block between Central Ave & 1st Ave have been halted as well.

Above is a site plan from earlier this year.

As this news does come at an unfortunate time, the Cities of Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa are all ready for the Light Rail opening this weekend and expecting very large numbers to be out.  Go check it out everyone, it is the future of travel not only here, but in every major metropolitan area.  Phoenix is a little late to get it, but it is better now rather than 10 years from now when we are projected to grow by a couple million.  Not only will it be great way to experience the jewel of public transit, but you will also get to be a part of a major transition in the shaping of our future.

As oil and other resources rise in price for a particular society, they are more or less forced to grow in denser environments, with an emphasis on mass-transit.  In most urban environments, rail (subway or light rail) acts as the nervous system of the city and also serves as a catalyst for urban, mixed-use, transit-oriented developments.  As you can see, many quality projects in Phoenix are unfortunately scaling back and even canceling completely.   However, that doesn’t mean something great won’t replace it in the future.  The land near the Light Rail line is too valuable to not utilize the new zoning standards (TOD Overlays and Form-Based Code: more information on that in previous posts) to their fullest extent.  I believe it is inevitable that the LR will spur mixed-use developments all along the starter line and even the future extension areas will see some vertical growth in the coming years.  As for Cityscape, the project will soon glow on the southern edge of the skyline, but not as quickly as previously hoped.

They’re holding a grand opening event in a couple weeks but we get a chance to check it out tomorrow. If you join us be sure to wear long pants and closed toe shoes as there’s a good chance that we will get a “hard hat” tour of the condominiums. Yeah!!!

If you want to join us visit www.WeKnowUrban.com/Tour/ for more information. Be sure to register and pay soon so that your seat is reserve. Hope to see you tomorrow. W

At 10:00am, Saturday, October 18th, we’ll board a bus for our first tour of urban living in North Scottsdale. I know it sounds like an oxymoron but believe it or not there are a number of very cool and very dense communities in the North Valley.

Join us as we visit Astragal, Plaza Lofts at Kierland, and Kierland Landmark while discussing other hot properties like The Quater, One Scottsdale, and more. You’ll see a lot of fantastic properties, learn a lot, have a great time, AND it’s cheap. To learn more go to our condo tour page. Be sure to register soon if you want to come as we really do sell out. W

Each month a bus load of urban enthusiasts and the WeKnowUrban team board a bus and check out the hottest high rise condos and coolest lofts in various areas around Phoenix, Tempe and Scottsdale. During the next North Scottsdale Tour we will visit Plaza Lofts at Kierland, Kierland Landmark, Astragal and other fantastic communities. While touring we discuss current market conditions, what is going on in the high rise and loft condo market specifically, and what new projects are in the works.

To learn more about the North Scottsdale tour visit our condo tour page. If you wish to join us be sure to register and pay soon as we do sell out. Hope to see you October 18th.

Currently we are scheduled to visit Plaza Lofts at Kierland, Kierland Landmark, and Astragal. We will also discuss current status of Scottsdale Quarter, One Scottsdale, Palisene, and City North. (Note: yes we know that several of these communities are actually located in Phoenix but for the sake of simplicity we had to pick a direction so we’re calling it the North Scottsdale Tour .

To learn more about the tour and/or to register visit our Condo Tour page. We hope to see you October 18th.

If you would like to register now for October’s tour of North Scottsdale then you may want to register and pay now and guarantee your seat. To do so, visit www.WeKnowUrban.com/Tour/ and click the “Register Now” button near the upper right section of the page.

We have NOT yet posted any details of the north Scottsdale tour and will not have any details available until approximately September 15th. However, we expect to visit communities like Plaza Lofts at Kierland, Astragal, Landmark at Kierland or one of the other fantastic high rise or loft communitites in that part of town. Hope to see you in October.