This is a coming of age story. A story about a place that, throughout most of its relatively short lifetime, has been firmly grounded in the virtues of single-family homeownership and suburbia, not to mention the trappings associated with them.
But with growth comes change. And in this case, housing experts and homeowners agree that metro Phoenix is undergoing an enormous shift. A rite of passage, of sorts. The area is growing up. Literally.
It's a fact that is not lost on Ed Ritter, a suburban Chicago transplant who considers himself an "urban pioneer."...
..."Chicago is a grown-up city. They're already there," says Ritter, 38, who represents a newer breed of Valley homeowners who crave the community living and buzz of a vibrant downtown, rather than the relative tranquility of the 'burbs. "Phoenix needs to catch up, but we're moving in the right direction."...
This is a coming of age story. A story about a place that, throughout most of its relatively short lifetime, has been firmly grounded in the virtues of single-family homeownership and suburbia, not to mention the trappings associated with them.
But with growth comes change. And in this case, housing experts and homeowners agree that metro Phoenix is undergoing an enormous shift. A rite of passage, of sorts. The area is growing up. Literally.
It's a fact that is not lost on Ed Ritter, a suburban Chicago transplant who considers himself an "urban pioneer."...
..."Chicago is a grown-up city. They're already there," says Ritter, 38, who represents a newer bred of Valley homeowners who crave the community living and buzz of a vibrant downtown, rather than the relative tranquility of the 'burbs. "Phoenix needs to catch up, but we're moving in the right direction."...
...Location, location, location
While not everyone agrees about the relative health of the condo market, and whether every project that's on the drawing board will, and should, move forward, developers concede that the first law of real estate success—location, location, location—definitely applies here. The thing that determines whether a project, especially an urban living project, will rise or fall is where it is located...
...But as the area has matured, the thing that has made urban living a success there is its access to surrounding amenities.
Urbanites,...relish the convenience of stepping outside their building lobby and walking to the local Starbucks each morning to grab their caffeine fix. They want to stroll to the movies and dine in their favorite neighborhood Italian restaurant, where the server knows their name and their order before they even utter it.
In an area like metro Phoenix, where most residents are wedded to their automobiles and sprawl has become as integral to the local landscape as the saguaro cactus, the concept is quite a novelty.
"The buyer wants all the amenities on site or within walking distance," says David Hovey, an award-winning architect and president of Chicago-based Optima Inc., which is developing the 230-unit Optima Biltmore Towers at 24th Street and Camelback and the 700-unit Optima Camelview, next door to Scottsdale Fashion Square on Scottsdale Road.
Hovey says the resident profiles in both of his projects, whose units range in size from 800 to 5,000 square feet and in price from $300,000 to $5 million, skew heavily toward young, single professionals and empty nesters.
"Young professionals, especially, like to be closer to where the action is," he says. "They don't want to have to drive from the middle of nowhere to get to the night life."
Biltmore Towers saw its first move-ins in December 2005. When Optima Camelview Village opens this fall, it will be among 3,000 new Scottsdale condos—including those at the long-awaited Scottsdale Waterfront development—flooding the city over the next year or so. Despite the fact that the units are coming on line in a cooling market, Hovey says Optima Camelview Village, which has sold 540 of its 700 units by late summer, is approximately a year ahead of schedule.
"There is a real need in Phoenix and Scottsdale for this kind of housing, and it will be more so in the next 10 years," he says...
...Sharon Kindred, a partner with the interior design firm K2 Design Inc...firmly believes a project's success hinges on the total package. "Urban living is for people who want more than a home," she says.
Nearly every condo project in town features the standard fitness room, swimming pool and community center. But what really distinguishes an outstanding building or unit from an ordinary one is the care taken in selecting luxury interior finishes and the foresight to situate the development in the center of a high-energy environment, says Kindred.
It's also the pool that someone else takes care of, the exercise center and the concierge services," she says. "We're all so busy. What's not to love about having so many of the home responsibilities taken care of?"
Indeed, many condo owners feel the same way. Alice Saland, who moved into the Optima Biltmore Towers high-rise condominium project at 24th Street and Camelback Road in April, says the building's upscale amenities played a large role in her purchase decision.
"I love swimming on the rooftop, especially at night under the stars and the city lights," says Saland, who is single and in her 60s. "It's the best. Very romantic."...
...Native New Yorker Alice Saland is intimately familiar with urban living—after all, she was born in the Bronx and lived on Long Island and in Manhattan for years.
Perhaps that's why, after a divorce two years ago, she decided to sell her 2,000-square-foot rural Sante Fe, N.M., home and return to her roots. Rather than heading back East, however, Saland pointed her car toward Phoenix and an 874-square-foot condo at Optima Biltmore Towers, 24th Street and Camelback Road.
"I wanted a Southwest/ urban living combo," says Saland, a licensed speech pathologist and certified personal fitness trainer who is using her background to launch a wellness-video production company." Manhattan just isn't affordable. But I could see the potential in the Biltmore area. It's walking distance to everything—shopping, 14 movie screens, cleaners, grocery stores and restaurants."
Saland, a young 60-ish woman with no children, says the moment she saw Optima Biltmore Towers, she knew it was the place for her.
"A Realtor friend showed me the condo model and I bought in about 10 minutes," she says. "My family thought I was crazy."
She then found herself an apartment nearby and leased it for two years so she could watch the condominium community being built and learn the neighborhood.
Since moving in last spring, she hasn't been disappointed. Her eighth-floor one-bedroom, one-bath unit, with its hardwood floors, full-length windows, eclectic mix of Asian and shabby-chic decorating influences, and views of Camelback Mountain and The Esplanade, is everything she'd imagined.
In fact, she says her new urban lifestyle—filled with frequent trips to the building's 24-hour fitness center, rooftop swimming pool and neighborhood restaurants and shops—is perfectly suited to her busy, single status.
Perhaps best of all: If something breaks, there's always someone there to promptly fix it. "I just pick up the phone and call," Saland says. "If you're single, it's the only way to live. It's not for everyone, but I couldn't be happier."
http://www.optimaweb.com/MediaCenter/news_article.html?community=camelview&article=business_journal_1206.html&site=Y
