Tempe Development Thread

[CB1]

Interesting to see this make it on yahoo.

https://news.yahoo.com/neighborhood-banning-cars-residents-offering-111500286.html

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by CB1

Interesting to see this make it on yahoo.

https://news.yahoo.com/neighborhood-banning-cars-residents-offering-111500286.html

Whoever is the PR person for the Cul-de-Sac should win an award, the amount of national and international news over this apartment complex that is doing NOTHING UNIQUE is absolutely incredible.

[GhostNotes]

Saying they are doing nothing unique is just factually incorrect (look at every other multifamily development in the Valley, or the country for that matter). But whether that is newsworthy is another story... agreed their PR team must be working overtime. I'm also very curious to see how well it leases, and what the demographic ends up being--if I'm a young working person in AZ, I'm going to want a car. Seem like these are destined to be for students, but we shall see.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by Obadno

Whoever is the PR person for the Cul-de-Sac should win an award, the amount of national and international news over this apartment complex that is doing NOTHING UNIQUE is absolutely incredible.

From a historical point of view, I agree. There are thousands of apartment buildings around the country without on-site resident parking. Most of them, however, were developed long ago, before misguided mandatory minimums were implemented. From a contemporary point of view, then, Culdesac is a departure from the norm because they've convinced Tempe to deviate from its usual parking requirements. For that reason, I'd say Culdesac is more of a return to a classic model than something revolutionary. I agree that they've got the hype machine turned up to 11, but I still hope they succeed.

[stutteringpunk]

Man, the European-inspired layout of Culdesac sounded kinda cool on paper, but seeing the finished product almost makes me uncomfortable. Looks way too claustrophobic and semi-dystopian with that much identical white.

[azsunsurfer]

Culdesac is giving me "you will own nothing and you will be happy with it" vibes...

I completely missed the rezoning proposal for the parcel that contains the Lodge and the Gonzalez house! It looks tall and dense but no renderings yet just a massing model.... but I do like the zero lot lines....also the neighborhood seems supportive of it so far...so that's good! It's the same developer behind most of the Farmer Ave developments...so there's a good chance it will turn out looking decent?

[combusean]

The problem I have with Culdesac is that it's not any denser than a 1970s apartment complex and it all looks more like a cult compound than an apartment complex with its forced social interactions. You don't pay any less to live there compared to a nearby place last I checked.

What I suspect is people are going to use the e-bikes, etc to get to their car parked somewhere else, thus pretty much externalizing the costs of provisioning parking and making it up for landscaping. We'll see how long they keep up the greenery.

[combusean]

Originally Posted by ASU Diablo

Thanks! RIP Devil's Advocate. Some awesome times there.

I notice that the applicant for this project is Aspirant... who always bites off more than they can chew.

[azsunsurfer]

https://azbex.com/local-projects/arizona-projects-08-18-23/

Looks like it's confirmed that Novus has started on the restaurant square.

Also Mill Creek has broken ground on that 7 story apartment building south of Rio Salado near Hardy.

[Mr.RE]

Two new proposed developments submitted for site plan review:
1. Verve Tempe apartments - Mixed use student housing at 1011 e orange street
2. 8-story student housing at SW corner of Rural & Apache (The Vine tempe) 328 units and 12k SF of retail.

[PHX31]

Originally Posted by Mr.RE

Two new proposed developments submitted for site plan review:
1. Verve Tempe apartments - Mixed use student housing at 1011 e orange street
2. 8-story student housing at SW corner of Rural & Apache (The Vine tempe) 328 units and 12k SF of retail.

It's just my own nostalgia, but I hate to see even these under-utilized minor old stand-bys of past days gone by get demolished. And aesthetically, I find it more interesting when the built environment has a mixture of old and new, and random uses. The mid-century apt building likely getting demolished at 1011 E Orange is nothing special and a 2-story building is not the best use of the land these days - but it has its details and appeal. This whole area is becoming just a sea of low to mid-rise schlock.

I hope the tiny strip mall at the corner of Terrace and Lemon hangs on for many more decades. It's nothing special and has a garbage waste of space front parking lot; but there are tons of little shops that can go in there and serve this area that was once called the ASU Student Ghetto (currently there's a pizza place, an Indian restaurant (been there for at least 20 years), a barber shop, and a corner market).

[muertecaza]

Originally Posted by Mr.RE

Two new proposed developments submitted for site plan review:
1. Verve Tempe apartments - Mixed use student housing at 1011 e orange street
2. 8-story student housing at SW corner of Rural & Apache (The Vine tempe) 328 units and 12k SF of retail.

With the Verve one, that whole stretch of terrace will almost all be redeveloped and pretty dense. Hopefully X Tempe happens someday to cap it off.

[combusean]

I'm kind of torn about the Student Ghetto myself.

- I actually kind of like the mid-century modern design of the older complexes, but I think their time has just passed. Before all this development, it was just the Student Ghetto of older buildings that weren't really appreciated.

- To that end, I think somebody in 50 years from now is going to say the same thing I did 15 years ago as these midrises are replaced with high-rises... schlock is subjective.

- The buildings are well past their design life. I'm not that super well versed in 60 year old complexes but these are buildings that usually have things like pipes and electrical systems cycled out, and that gets very expensive. Seems that forces aligned and owners willing to sell and developers wanting to buy have cancelled these things out.

- I don't know of anyone that wasn't a college student would actually want to live here, but it's nice to actually have some semblance of an actual, dense, contiguous neighborhood. Would be very interesting to see the results of the 2030 census but I would bet that it's not all students. The smart developers would align co-living and probably turn this into a mixed-income, mixed-job neighborhood rather than just a massive block of dorms, which would be a massive improvement over the old Student Ghetto.

- I feel like "we ain't seen nothin' yet." I don't know if it will happen this cycle but the three properties on the south side of Lemon are contiguous and the Motel 6 finally closed. The LA developer slowly assembling the Lemon Street properties has been one of the better long-term plays I can remember and I anticipate what they'll eventually do.

- I'm surprised the Vine has turned around that fast while we're at it. Must be a motivated developer.

[PHX31]

/\Yeah. And the prime location should make the cycling out happen much more quickly.

Thinking back 20 years ago and looking at old aerials, there actually used to be large trailer park just east of Rural between Lemon and Terrace near the student ghetto area. Kind of hard to imagine now.

[urbanplandan]

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/loc...isplace-devils-advocate-bar/70681689007/


Aria Las Vegas feel will be hard to pull off in Tempe haha

[RichTempe]

Originally Posted by urbanplandan

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/loc...isplace-devils-advocate-bar/70681689007/


Aria Las Vegas feel will be hard to pull off in Tempe haha

Whatever this is, it's behind a paywall and I'm not subscribing to AZCentral to read it.

[CrestedSaguaro]

Originally Posted by RichTempe

Whatever this is, it's behind a paywall and I'm not subscribing to AZCentral to read it.

I'll post the renderings and the first few paragraphs, but don't want to tick off AZ Central by posting the whole article since I'm a subscriber. Aria, it is not

Corina Vanek
Arizona Republic

An apartment building aiming to be “the most luxurious in Tempe” will go before the City Council next month, with two towers proposed near Rural Road and University Drive.

Scottsdale-based Aspirant Development, a division of Empire Group, bought two parcels, totaling about 3.66 acres of land, for $16 million total, according to real estate database Vizzda.

The developer will combine the two parcels to build the 539-unit apartment complex, said Randy Grudzinski, partner and head of capital markets for Empire.

Plans for the site call for two apartment towers, one reaching 18 stories and the other reaching 15, with a mixture of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Most units in the complex will be studios and one-bedroom units. The ground floor will have 7,300 square feet of restaurant and retail space.

[CB1]

[CB1]

https://i.imgur.com/8a5T2vZ.jpg

[CB1]