By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
We have recently spent a great deal of time and space in this magazine detailing the rise in opposition to dense, tall development around the Valley, particularly in Scottsdale (AZBEX Dec. 7, Dec. 3, Nov. 30). A recent article in Scottsdale Progress, however, shows one aspect of the fight we did not cover: The fact that Phoenix keeps approving high, dense projects right on Scottsdale’s border, particularly in the north Valley.
Over the past several months, Phoenix City Council approved RD Kierland (also known as Manor Kierland) – a 360-unit development near Greenway Parkway and Kierland Boulevard with a density of 50.42 units/acre – and Scottsdale and Bell Multifamily, which will deliver 255 units in a 14-story building with a density of nearly 100 units/acre.
The front page of this issue of AZBEX features another project proposal just starting the approval process. If approved and built as proposed, Icon Kierland will deliver 370 units with building heights of six stories and densities of around 60 units/acre.
In contrast, the Scottsdale General Plan 2035 recently approved by voters refers to 25 units/acre as “high density.” Anything denser is called “highest density” and only appears in the planning document’s glossary. Most, if not all, of the multifamily development under construction or planned in the area on the Phoenix side of the border would meet Scottsdale’s definition of “highest density.”
Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega expressed his displeasure over the Scottsdale and Bell Multifamily project in the Progress article, comparing it to the failed Southbridge 2.0 redevelopment proposal in Old Town Scottsdale that served as the genesis for the current wave of density and height opposition in the city. Ortega noted the Scottsdale City Council is currently working on a revised Old Town Scottsdale Character Plan that would limit development in the city core “to preserve our Scottsdale character.”
Scottsdale economic development officials noted there is nothing the City can do to prevent Phoenix-located projects.
Scottsdale Planning, Economic Development and Tourism Director Randy Grant noted projects of the scale currently proposed in north Phoenix are not particularly common and said the situation presents an opportunity for officials from both cities to discuss their stances.
Scottsdale and Bell Multifamily was unanimously recommended to Phoenix City Council for approval by the Phoenix Planning Commission. Planning staff at the time commented the development’s “close proximity to the nearby workforce will add to the sustainability of established office space and commercial uses built around the Desert Ridge/Kierland Major Employment Center.”
In presenting the case for approval of Scottsdale and Bell Multifamily to the Paradise Valley Village Planning Committee, project representative Nick Wood of Snell & Wilmer highlighted the Valley’s extreme rate of growth in recent years and pointed out the logical path to accommodate the influx of new residents is taller, denser development along major corridors, as it outlined in Phoenix’s development guidelines and supported by Scottsdale’s guidelines for the Airpark area. (AZBEX Oct. 15)
Opposition activists and some Scottsdale City Council members have decried Phoenix’s buildup on the Scottsdale border but noted they were powerless to stop it. Progress quoted Councilmember Kathy Littlefield as saying, “They’ve done a lot of those projects along the Scottsdale Road area because it’s such valuable property. I just wish they would develop more in line with what we want.”