By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
A new residential development in west Phoenix may be the next project to associate itself with The Grand Canal.
Devco Residential Group is proposing Residences at Grand Canal, a 112-unit development roughly 500 feet south of the SEC of 75th Avenue and Camelback Road. The vacant 6.5-acre site is bounded by The Grand Canal on the east, single-family residences and agricultural land to the west, vacant land and an animal hospital to the north and single-family residences to the south.
The developer is requesting a rezoning from R1-6 Single-family Residence District to R-3A Multifamily Residence District. The zoning would allow for a maximum of 150 units and a density of 23.1 units/acre. The proposal calls for 112 units with a density of 17.23 units/acre. Building heights are proposed at 33 feet with a lot coverage area of 34.3%.
The plan calls for six residential buildings with two fronting 75th Avenue and one fronting The Grand Canal, which will serve to activate both the canal and the street. The primary open space is in the center of the planned area and features a pool and ramada, as well as a single-story clubhouse and an outdoor barbeque area. Other planned amenities include space for a possible dog run and “tot lot,” according to the Phoenix planning staff report.
The Street Transportation Department has requested a dedicated right-of-way and a detached sidewalk along 75th Avenue, as well as an eight-foot-wide shared pedestrian path with access to the Grand Canal Path. Pedestrian pathways must be visually distinguishable from drive aisles where the two cross.
The planned unit mix is 48 one-bedroom, 36 two-bedroom and 28 three-bedroom floorplans. A total of 188 surface parking spaces will be provided, as will a maximum of 50 bicycle parking spaces.
Devco Residential Group is the developer. The design firm is Todd & Associates Architecture. The project is represented by Earl & Curley, P.C. Staff has recommended approval for the rezoning, and the Phoenix Planning Commission is scheduled to hear the request on Aug. 3.
Since Phoenix launched the Grand Canalscape project in 2015 to beautify and improve connectivity along the Grand Canal from central Phoenix to the Tempe border, several private and public projects have taken shape, particularly in the Midtown and Uptown neighborhoods. Notable projects in those areas have included the 210-unit Aura Coolidge (aka Aura Uptown) at 3rd Avenue and Coolidge Street, a hotel-to-residential adaptive reuse project at 2333 Thomas Road, and the Forty600 Mixed-Use development at 4600 N. Central Ave., which is also scheduled before the Planning Commission on Aug. 3.
While the West Valley has not seen the same degree of interest centered around The Grand Canal, specifically, the DATABEX project database does show nine multifamily communities in various stages of development between Camelback Road to the north, Thomas Road to the south, 75th Avenue to the west and 15th Avenue to the east, which was the western edge of the Grand Canalscape project.
