Egyptians and mayans

Putting things on top of other things:haha:

In other news that link has webcams for Envy in Scottsdale and Portland (and some generic suburban hotels)

Hahah thanks for the laugh. :cheers:

Anyone know what's going on with the Westward Ho? Drove by today and saw a big construction sign that said "Westward Ho Apartment" along with a bunch of different contractor and builders logo/info.

I've just been assuming it's a leasing office

I thought it was like an ASU clinic they were putting in on the ground floor.

ASU is taking over part of the first floor for classrooms. However, I'm curious as to why the sign was advertising for apartments. I'm not aware of any plans for the residential portion of the building.

I saw the sign too, and it definitely says Westward Ho Apartments in large letters. The east entrance of the building is also blocked with large plywood.

That could be good news. The building is being underutilized now and falling into disrepair. Hopefully market-rate apartments go in.

That's doubtful (market rate apartments) right now, but I agree it would be nice.

More on the parcel just south of the Camelback and Central light rail triangle lot.

Omninet looking to develop mixed-use multifamily retail project on Central Avenue

http://www.brewaz.com/content/index_...ssue_date=July

That's great news. I wish it was a little taller though as it seems that everything under development is a mid-rise. Nonetheless, it'll be great to have one fewer empty lot and there's still plenty of room for highrise development. It'd be nice to have a highrise on the triangle lot just to the north of this to put a "cap" on the midtown business district.

With all the residential development along the light rail, I'd like to know how it's effected the ridership numbers.

There's a lot of advantages to these low-rise structures:

- NIMBY opposition is practically none. No complicated rezonings that need high-priced zoning attorneys and PR campaigns that are fought tooth and nail by bored Chicken Little retirees.
- Easy to finance. Woodframe is cheap.
- Easy to build. Any construction company can throw these up, whereas there are only a few companies that have high-rise experience in the Valley.
- Probably won't run out of financing part-way through like what killed the Centerpoint towers.
- Accordingly, easy to rent: The cheaper the building is, the cheaper it is to rent out. I doubt the depths of the luxury market in Central Phoenix.
- These structures are perfect for younger folks just starting their careers that still like to go out and get blitzed downtown and eat fine food.
- They'll put enough people on the ground to build up demand and drive up property values so that ultimately we do see high-rises pop up and some older office towers that aren't getting leased turn into apartments.

In fact, I'm happier these are getting built rather than the last boom which was condo-mania. Condomania is good for empty-nesters, not so much for the area we want to create.

Glad something is being done with that lot. I hope there's a proposal soon for the old AJ Bayless lot on the north side of Indian School between Central and 3rd Avenue. I think that where the Brophy Towers development was proposed prior to the recession. It would be nice to see that filled in.

I thought the Brophy Towers were proposed for the lot where Elevation is being built.

The luxury market downtown and midtown is actually more saturated and the prices have come down from where they were last year. I have some 2 bedroom 1 bath apartments that people were knocking the doors down to get at $1100 last summer, but this summer we are having a great deal of difficulty getting that number.

Roosevelt Square has 2/2 units for under that price and includes garage parking, a pool, fitness center, has on site restaurants, and is a couple of blocks closer to the light rail. Last summer they were at $1,500 and that's where we based our pricing.

I'm not saying the market is sinking, rather that as the area becomes more saturated, it will necessitate more competitive pricing and the large communities like this are able to do many things to compete with each other. These types of buildings are also very easy to finance right now, so developers are able to take a bath on the building for a few years then try to flip it once they see the CAP rate they want, which is what you'll see in a few years when the current crop of construction has subsided; lots of apartment building sales to come.

That's a really good point. Although they don't really do much for the skyline, they do a lot for the density and the urban fabric (which is much more important anyway).

Really? Less than $1,100 at Roosevelt Square for a 2/2? My co-worker has lived there for at least 7 years now and they just raised her rent again (they also have the last couple of lease renewals). I want to say it's just less than $1,000 for her 1/1.

I saw this, which I think is awesome.
http://azbigmedia.com/featured/abi-s...-reuse-project

I've always loved that building but for some reason never thought it was originally apartments historically. The existing modern silver oval sign on the side of it has always been very off-putting and maybe contributes to my thinking that it has always been offices. Either way, I love the fact that there will be another historic apartment building in Roosevelt.

Check out the Tucson Development Page for three proposed projects that are much more imaginative that the ones we're seeing up here. They're kinda cool. Scroll down...
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...87835&page=277