Photos from Phoenix High Rise and Loft Condo Expert, Will Daly at www.WeKnowUrban.com
Southernly shot of Hayden Ferry (in foreground) from the freeway, Tempe, AZLocated in: Hayden Ferry High Rise Condominiums (Tempe, AZ)
Yes. Fuel slightly went down in the last few months, but alternative transportation is rapidly growing in popularity right here in the desert sprawl city. In this past week's Business Journal, an article explained that while gas grew over a dollar since July of last year, the number of Valley workers riding the bus, biking, walking or carpooling nearly doubled. According to the study conducted by Valley Metro, 43 percent of workers are using alternative transportation, up from 24 percent a year ago.
When alternative transportation increases, property values start to increase near urban connected cores. Even though many projects near the Light Rail and in downtown cores are struggling, this is a great sign that soon Phoenix will become a best of both worlds city. With gasoline being a major expense, walkable, mixed-use, dense environments are highly desirable areas to live. Prices in the overall residential market will take a to while to recover, but the urban condos will see the quickest increase. 
A great new feature on the WKU website will actually rate each project in terms of walkability. The Walk Score, found on each projects' main page, calculates how many amenities are nearby and determines how easy it would be for you to walk to these daily visits instead of driving.
Click the link to read the article - http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2008/08/18/story18.html
Believe it or not a developer is looking to move forward with construction of another high rise condo community in the Valley.
WestStone Communities recently announced the opening of its "virtual sales office" (meaning everything will be computer generated "virtual" photos and videos) to promote its proposed Onyx Tower.
Plans for Onyx Tower call for a 22 story building located at the north east corner of Scottsdale Road and the north shore of Tempe Town Lake with 196 luxury condominiums ranging from 711 to 2364 squre feet.
The question of course will be what kind of sales to expect with approximately 350 condos still for sale at Center Point, approximately 80 condos (both resale and new) at Bridgeview and Edgewater at Hayden Ferry, and approximately 20 condos for sale next door at North Shore.
Of course this glut of inventory is only temporary (in our opinion). Tempe Town Lake and the Mill Avenue District are destined for hot-ness (thanks Paris) with the light rail, a useable body of water, the new Tempe Center for the Arts, ASU, and all the great architecture in the area. We are definitely fans of Tempe. We just question the timing of launching a new high rise condo tower. Stay tuned....
The 77 acre mixed use project called CBD 101, at Bethany Home and the 101 in Glendale is closer to reality with initial grading, and installation of water and sewer lines scheduled for later this year.
Currently Phase 1 is scheduled to be completed in Fall 2010. At this point it is our guess that the developer will elect to build 150 residential apartments in Phase 1, rather than condominiums (the property is zoned to allow either one) given the state of the real estate market today.
Ultimately, the plans call for a total of 850 residential units. We at WKU are hopeful that a majority of those are AFFORDABLE mid to high rise condominiums.
John Lupypciw, President of Continental Group, is frustrated by the interference and micromanagement by Scottsdale City Planners in respect to his $22 million development of the northwest corner of Miller Road and Osborn into one hundred condominiums.
The funny thing is that often times its the developer who fights for permission to build taller buildings but in this case its the city pushing for greater height. Not suprisingly, the taller buildings that Scottsdale wants would result in higher priced condominiums.
Hey, we at WeKnowUrban are all for cool, edgy, lofts and high rises but we also believe economic diversity adds to the viability and vibrancy of the urban landscape. Less expensive residents will allow a wider demographic to enjoy the area than would otherwise be possible with more expensive residences. (Note: when we say more affordable please know that Toscana is still expected to sell for $500 to 550 per square foot...hardly inexpensive).
There are plenty of high end condominiums in Scottsdale with Scottsdale Waterfront, Optima Camelview, W Hotel and Residences, Main Street Plaza, Safari Drive and others.
Scottsdale, let Toscana move forward for heaven's sake.
I just got a call from a woman who is in escrow for a condo at Century Plaza High Rise. She claims that the developer does not have permanent Certificates of Occupancy but rather Temporary Certificates of Occupancy. This makes sense to me as I wondered how the City of Phoenix could issue permanent Certificates of Occupancy when the exterior glass curtain wall is incomplete (meaning that some of the exterior walls to the building are literally missing and someone could fall and get seriously injured or die).
Anyway the caller claims that she spoke to a representative for the City of Phoenix and he told her that the temporary Certificate of Occupancy that was issued does NOT permit a person from living on the premises. Instead the permit only allows someone to move furniture and personal belongings into the condo.
HAS ANYONE EVER HEARD OF SUCH A THING? WHY WOULD THE CITY OF PHOENIX ALLOW SOMEONE TO MOVE STUFF INTO A PROPERTY BUT NOT LIVE THERE? DOES THIS MAKE SENSE?
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WeKnowUrban specializes in the high rise & loft condo market in Phoenix, Tempe, Scottsdale & more. It's agents have been the number one resale agents of high rise & loft condos in Phoenix since 2003.
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