thoughts of the Optima Biltmore towers PHX, AZ

[alexico]

What are your thoughts on the Optima Biltmore towers? now the crash has happened, pricing in the building is reasonable for a purchase. its funny a 1 bdrm rented for $1500-1700 in the 2006 and still rents for that but pricing has fallen more than 50%


the biggest 2 cons I see I have with the building,

1. about 30% of the units have a horrible view of a large concrete parking structure (West units) the north and the east units have the best views

2. several of the units have a bad floor plan

since several of the units have a bad view, bad floor plan or are under the 6th floor (who wants to live on the 3rd floor of a highrise??) it makes finding a nice unit hard!

the building is in a great location, roof top pool, on 24th/camelback and 15-20 minutes to about anywhere in the valley Id normally go/be


tons of pictures on their site

http://www.optimaweb.com/OptimaRealty/search_bedrooms.html?bedrooms=3

[nickw252]

In my opinion its the second best looking condo building in the valley (after Portland Place). Go for it, now is the time to buy.

[Vicelord John]

It's an urban feeling building an a suburban location.

Intrepret that comment as you wish.

[alexico]

opinions welcomed!

I would say no where in Phoenix feels all that urban which I am fine with. I lived there from 2006-2009 and the area was nice as I could walk to the main points in my life

walk to
-work
-gym
-trader joes
-biltmore mall for any needs
-movie theatre
-dinner/drinks
-several lunch places

I just hate how much of the building I am not interested in due to views/floor plan/floor level. the other 2 high rise condo buildings are out of my price range so I if I want live on the corner its my only choice

[HX_Guy]

While it is somewhat more urban than other parts of the valley, it is about the same as saying living across the street from Arrowhead Mall makes it "urban". Urban would be downtown Phoenix...light rail...that's urban Phoenix.

Living at Biltmore would be nice though, very central to Phoenix and close to south Scottsdale and a lot of nice places in the area. If you're not quite ready for real urban, this is a nice middle point plus you said it's walking distance to work so that's a huge plus.

[HooverDam]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

While it is somewhat more urban than other parts of the valley, it is about the same as saying living across the street from Arrowhead Mall makes it "urban". Urban would be downtown Phoenix...light rail...that's urban Phoenix.

I think thats a bit of a stretch. Arrowhead is an entirely indoor mall, while Biltmore is outdoor. Biltmore does have a parking lot fronting the street but its much shallower than the sea of parking you'd see at a typical mall like Arrowhead. The Biltmore area also has the Esplanade on the South side of the street connected by the underpass, which is nice. Town and Country is nearby and while its certainly not urban, its a nice outdoor space thats shady and pleasant.

Most importantly though, the 24th/Camelback intersection is at least theoretically in the future path of LRT. Any sensible LRT plan will connect at least over to 44th St and Camelback, so the area will get more urban as time passes. Walkscore rates 24th/Camelback as a 74, "Very Walkable" (which seems a touch low to me) and 75th Ave and Bell as a 64, "Somewhat Walkable" for whatever thats worth.

If someday if that parking lot in front of Biltmore was removed (that parking being replaced in additional garages behind the mall) and replaced with a park and maybe another midrise tower, it would be a pretty urban place. I don't imagine thats too far out of left field idea either as the area in which developers can build at that midrise scale in the area is running out.

[alexico]

Originally Posted by HooverDam

on the South side of the street connected by the underpass, which is nice. Town and Country is nearby .

even though TC is nothing special in terms of looks and what is there, it was nice walking to get a hair cut, the LA Fitness, Trader Joes though. I was just there yesterday, place has needs some work.

I remember reading an article that they put a mid rise building 7-9 office building where the Angus Steakhouse was/Greek place.

Anyone have an idea how 2th Camelback II is doing for occupancy?

here is the floor plan for the building. the units on our left all look at the parking lot - its giant and ugly. I would be upset if I bought before it went up. and no one wants an interior unit

[Leo the Dog]

Agree with you Hoover.

Biltmore remains busy 7 days a week and will continue to attract business and residential projects due to its great location to upper-income 'hoods, airport, OT Scottsdale and great views of Phx Mountain Preserve and lush Arcadia.

[combusean]

Random thoughts:

The building has the best curb appeal of any highrise in the city.

The rooftep deck is freaking amazing and will remind you of why you live there.

The units themselves felt short and claustrophobic, but I'm used to 9' 6" ceilings.

I could be wrong but the HOA fees are probably the real killer. I would very much compare what you get with that across various buildings (electric or no electric? etc)

The view premium, or lack thereof, should be taken into account on an individual basis and no unit should be that outright discounted. That immediate area is a bit more built up, but who knows, a 3rd floor view may not be that bad unless it's nothing but that western parking structure.

A highrise condo in the Biltmore isn't as hard a sell as it is in Downtown Phoenix or Midtown. That being said, the immediate area is nothing but shopping and a little bit of recreation. It has no access to the artistic, cultural, and sporting stuff downtown--you're going to fight central Phoenix traffic getting to anything and pay for parking like any other suburbanite.

Light rail through the area is probably two decades away. Maybe you might find yourself using the Central and Camelback park and ride in the meantime, who knows.

[soleri]

http://www.optimaweb.com/Company/corporate_profile.html

Optima is not known for doing anything intensely urban. Indeed, there's a kind of Le Corbusier element of a city within a park vibe to just about everything architect/CEO David Hovey designs. Most of his developments have been in suburban Chicago, which by our standards can feel very urban but is still far removed from the big city excitement/scariness of the Loop.

The Biltmore area is analogous to LA's Century City, which is to say it's both dense and autocentric. Optima Camelback is correctly scaled to the area but suffers from the sense that it's not exactly in a city worth caring about. Still, for Phoenix, this is probably as good as it gets. There's a Top This quality to Optima that can be exciting even if it's a bit off-putting and sterile. Portland Place is clearly the architectural champ for condos but at six floors, only a mid-rise. In the middle-to heavyweight category, Optima Camelback wins going away.

[Vicelord John]

Originally Posted by combusean

Random thoughts:

The building has the best curb appeal of any highrise in the city.

The rooftep deck is freaking amazing and will remind you of why you live there.

The units themselves felt short and claustrophobic, but I'm used to 9' 6" ceilings.

I could be wrong but the HOA fees are probably the real killer. I would very much compare what you get with that across various buildings (electric or no electric? etc)

The view premium, or lack thereof, should be taken into account on an individual basis and no unit should be that outright discounted. That immediate area is a bit more built up, but who knows, a 3rd floor view may not be that bad unless it's nothing but that western parking structure.

A highrise condo in the Biltmore isn't as hard a sell as it is in Downtown Phoenix or Midtown. That being said, the immediate area is nothing but shopping and a little bit of recreation. It has no access to the artistic, cultural, and sporting stuff downtown--you're going to fight central Phoenix traffic getting to anything and pay for parking like any other suburbanite.

Light rail through the area is probably two decades away. Maybe you might find yourself using the Central and Camelback park and ride in the meantime, who knows.

you just listed most of the reasons I have a half-dozen neighbors who moved into my complex from Biltmore. They moved to biltmore thinking it was an urban walkable environment, but 6 months there taught them otherwise. Yeah, it's great if you want to shop at BMFP every day, or don't go to any bars or restaurants other than Armadillo Grill and the crap at the mall, but if you want any culture, you're straight fucked.

[HX_Guy]

Originally Posted by HooverDam

I think thats a bit of a stretch. Arrowhead is an entirely indoor mall, while Biltmore is outdoor.

Oops...should I have said Desert Ridge Marketplace instead

All kidding aside, the area is clearly more urban than your average suburban mall but I still don't see it in anyway as a downtown is urban, even Phoenix. Just because you can walk to a movie theatre or som clothing stores does not make it urban. Again you could do that if you lived across the street from Desert Ridge, hell they even have a grocery store (Albertsons). Optima itself is urban in design no doubt but the area around is not walkable in the same sense as having narrow streets and sidewalk facing retail as well as sports and cultural venues.

[PhxDowntowner]

By these standards, living in a one-story detached home behind Ra Sushi in Ahwatukee would be considered "urban". We've got a lot of educating to do in Phoenix.