By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
The booming development area near I-17 between Loop 101 and Carefree Highway has added another prospective project to its multifamily mix.
Developer Shelter Asset Management has submitted a Planned Unit Development application to the City of Phoenix to enable construction of a 226-unit townhome and apartment community it is calling Home at Happy Valley. The project is planned on 7.7 gross acres near the NEC of 17th Avenue and Happy Valley Road. The property consists of three parcels, but they will be developed as a single site once construction begins.
The planned unit mix, according to the submitted narrative, consists of three studios, 110 one-bedroom, 97 two-bedroom and 16 three-bedroom units. Based on unit counts, the parking plan calls for 347 reserved and 121 unreserved spaces.
On the northern side of the site, SAM has planned two-story, 30-foot townhomes to allow a natural transition to the single-family properties to the north. A 65-foot, five-story building is planned on the southwest side of the property. The three remaining buildings will be four stories with maximum heights of 55 feet.
Planned amenities include two dog parks, a clubhouse and pool area, fitness center, storage space, open areas and a “tot lot”.
One interesting difference between Home at Happy Valley and similarly sized multifamily developments is the choice of building materials. The submitted land use plan says: “Unlike the far majority of developments under six stories, all buildings will be built with concrete and steel and allow the development to create a sense of place that will outlast traditional building materials.”
We submitted a question list to officials at SAM. One of them asked if the choice of concrete and steel versus lumber was made because of the current volatility in lumber prices and availability or if the decision was primarily a differentiator between this and other developments in the area. We did not receive any responses before deadline.
Touching on Attainability
In the “Purpose and Intent” section of the submittal, SAM says: “The purpose of the requested rezoning to PUD is to allow for a quality multifamily development that will provide amenities and development standards beneficial to the overall community, as well as customers within walking distance of the commercial and future restaurant uses to the south of the Property. The resulting housing product will not only be of the highest quality but will also be a more attainable option, compared to surrounding planned multifamily developments, while still providing ample living space in each unit.”
Since “attainability” is a development marketing term that is seeing more frequent use in Valley multifamily project submittals, we asked about it in the emailed questions list. Specifically, we wanted to know if target rents had been set and how they compared to surrounding developments. Again, we did not receive a response before deadline.
For reference, according to Yardi Matrix information provided by ABI Multifamily Research, in the one-mile radius around 19th Avenue and Happy Valley Road one-bedroom rents currently average $1,688, and two-bedrooms are going for $2,317.
Attainability as a marketing point has gained increased exposure recently. As we pointed out in our recent 13th publishing year first half review, an Aug. 8 Independent Newsmedia article questioned the “attainable” billing a 286-unit development in Goodyear is using. An 828SF two-bedroom unit at that development has a targeted monthly rent of $1,804, prompting the question: “What does attainable actually mean in today’s market?” (AZBEX, Aug. 12)
N. Phoenix a Thriving Multifamily Area
Anyone who takes the issue of affordability seriously accepts as a fundamental truth that the only way to expand access to housing is to build more units. As a region – and prompted largely by the across-the-board boom in developments of all types fueled by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company plant centered at 43rd Avenue – greater north Phoenix is experiencing its share of planned unit additions.
A look at the DATABEX project map shows 26 other multifamily communities in various stages of production in the area bounded by Loop 101 to the south, Carefree Highway to the north, Cave Creek Road to the east and Lake Pleasant Parkway to the west. For purposes of this snapshot, we omitted canceled projects and those already completed from our search. We also left out master plans as individual listings but included the various projects announced within them.
There are currently seven projects in Design, four in Design/Plan Review, two Pending Procurements/In Negotiations, another two in Planning, three in Pre-construction, and eight actively Under Construction as of Aug. 17.
Viewed collectively, these 26 projects have an estimated unit count of 7,518 and construction values of more than $1.35B.
