By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
A pair of planned multifamily developments will, if built, deliver another 508 apartments in Phoenix.
A Planned Unit Development has been submitted for the 300-unit Thomas + 34th Street community at the SEC of 34th Street and Thomas Road, and the Phoenix Planning Commission will hear plans for the 208-unit Camelback Apartments near the SWC of Camelback Road and 39th Avenue on April 13.
34th Street + Thomas
Aspirant Development (The Empire Group) submitted its PUD narrative for a project with 300 apartments and 6KSF of restaurant/retail uses to the Phoenix Planning and Development Department late last month.
Planned for the south side of Thomas Road between 34th and 35th streets, the upscale infill project would replace two commercial buildings from the 1960s, a surface parking lot and two single-family homes.
According to the submittal, “A main goal of the Development is to elevate the Thomas Road corridor by bringing to the community a significant investment in the form of an up-scale multi-family development. Future residents will be closer to their daily needs, including existing and planned retail and office employment opportunities along the Thomas Road corridor. Additionally, the Development will improve an area that has not seen significant new investment in recent memory. The resulting improvements to the abutting public roads will include enhanced landscaping, pedestrian infrastructure improvements (including detached sidewalks, shading, custom paving, etc.) and a proposed much-needed traffic signal at 34th Place and Thomas (at the Development’s primary entryway), helping to support a walkable environment for existing and future residents, as well as by providing traffic control in a portion of Thomas Road currently lacking signalization.”
The north side of the development would feature the tallest buildings at 58 feet. Building heights would then step down as the project moves southward, reaching a low of 24 feet where it abuts existing single-family residences.
The planned unit mix is comprised of 56 studio, 187 one-bedroom and 57 two-bedroom apartments. In addition to the 6KSF of retail and restaurant uses, planned amenities include a fitness center, dog run, two courtyards, a pool and spa area, outdoor seating, cooking and dining spaces and an activity lawn. The two courtyards will consist of a 17KSF active center courtyard and a 5KSF quiet meditative space.
The project will be developed by Aspirant Development. Gensler is the architect. Landscape design is by Colwell Shelor. Dibble is the civil and traffic engineer, and the project is represented by Snell & Wilmer, LLP.
No hearing dates have been scheduled.
Camelback Apartments
A thousand feet west of the SWC of 39th Avenue and Camelback Road, developer J. Jacob Enterprises is looking to rezone a 4.97-acre site from a mix of single- and multifamily uses to all multifamily to build 208 new apartments.
The subject site is currently divided between vacant land and a single-family residence with outbuildings. Surrounding uses include single-family, multifamily, commercial and storage. Nearby points of interest include nearby Alhambra High School, 35th Avenue Bus Rapid Transit, Cielito Park, and Grand Canyon University.
According to the planning staff report, “The proposal is for 208 units with 120 being one-bedroom/one-bathroom and 88 being two-bedrooms/two-bathrooms. The conceptual site plan… depicts four buildings configured along a central amenity area that extends, uninterrupted, to Camelback Road. The site will have two points of ingress/egress from Camelback Road with parking situated around the perimeter of the site.”
Planned amenities on the site include a bicycle repair station and parking, and more than 11KSF of open space with shaded seating.
According to the submitted site plan, J. Jacob Enterprises is the owner/developer. VIDA Architects is the design firm. The structural engineer is BDS Structural, and the civil engineer is Watson Civil Engineering. Geotechnical Engineering is by Speedie and Associates.
The Phoenix Planning Commission will hear the requests April 13.
