The one-acre site at 325 N. Third Ave. originally was going to boast two high-rise towers with 500 units when the developers bought the land abou 1.5 years ago. But, Cal DeSouza, partner with Belleview Communities of Scottsdale, says the condo market crash took the wind out of that idea.
"We pulled the plans back and decided to retool," DeSouza says. "It's definitely a challenging market for condos and we want to do it right."
Doing it right means scaling back to six stories and building a sales center on the site, which will open in late summer. DeSouza says building the center allows potential buyers to come in and take a look at the units, which will range from 625 sf to 1,200 sf.
Doing it right also means pricing the units in the $325-per-sf range. "Other condos developers in the area are asking between $475 per sf to $500 per sf," DeSouza explains. "At the price point we're offering, we think we can appeal to the city workers and other Downtown workers that are only a few minutes' walk from their work."
DeSouza tells GlobeSt.com that Pointe of View Developments of Calgary, Canada, will begin construction when 50 units have been sold, but acknowledges that banks and lenders might want up to 60 sold before agreeing to finance the project. DeSouza says he'll see where sales are trending for a six-month period and then make a decision. "If there isn't a demand for this, there's no sense in building it," he says.
DeSouza says there is interest in the condos because of their affordability. In addition, Downtown Phoenix is experiencing positive growth.
"The city has made this monumental investment in the light rail, has given over a lot to the ASU campus and has spent $300 million on the convention center to triple its size," DeSouza says. "Downtown Phoenix is one of the few areas of Arizona that has actually gone up in value."
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
