By Tasha Anderson for AZBEX
A new assisted living facility is being proposed for a vacant, undeveloped 5.1-acre site at the NWC of 10th Street and Baseline Road in Phoenix, near the Western Canal.
Owner, Vermilion Acquisitions, LLC recently submitted conceptual plans to the City of Phoenix and is requesting to rezone the property from Single-Family Residence, Baseline Area Overlay District, to Multifamily Residence, Baseline Area Overlay District.
The project, known as Silver-Birch of South Mountain, is proposed to include a single, two-story building housing a total of 124 beds. The building will have a maximum height of 30 feet and is anticipated to be built around a courtyard to give residents an open space area close to their living quarters.
“The conceptual building elevations depict…architectural features such as a flat roof, recessed patios, sunshades, stucco plus metal exterior materials and four-sided architecture,” according to the project documents. A stipulation on the staff report requires at least 25 percent of the elevations that are adjacent to and face public streets, “provide accent materials that exhibit quality and durability in order to ensure that the buildings on this site remain visually appealing, and that all sides of the building/s include architectural establishments.”
Other than the open courtyard, other amenities will include shaded seating areas, one of which will be close to the Western Canal, a tree orchard and/or community garden, bicycle parking and a bicycle repair station that will be located along the Canal. Pedestrian connections are anticipated to be connected along 10th Street, as well as connected from the building to the amenity area.
Access to the property will be from 10th Street. One stipulation requires an enhanced entryway including, “landscaped accent areas on both sides of the driveway that incorporate annuals and citrus trees in conformance with the Baseline Area Master Plan plant list, and alternative driveway surface materials to accentuate the entryway,” the documents state. The development will provide for a total of 62 parking spaces.
The project was reviewed at the City of Phoenix South Mountain Village Planning Meeting on May 11th. It is expected to go before the city’s Planning Commission on June 3rd.
Vermilion Acquisitions, LLC is the owner of the Silver-Birch of South Mountain project and Architectural Resource Team is the design firm. A request for the general contractor has not been returned by press time.