Scottsdale Arizona Real Estate Blog

by Edward Gately – Aug. 23, 2010 10:39 AM
The Arizona Republic

The developer of Scottsdale Waterfront wants the city to modify its development standards for the vacant parcel immediately south of the Nordstrom parking garage to allow for a building or buildings that would rise nearly 150 feet.

The 4-acre site, called the Goldwater parcel, is on the east side of Goldwater Boulevard and the north side of the Arizona Canal. It is zoned downtown/regional commercial office type 2 planned block development downtown overlay.

The maximum height allowed on the parcel is 85 feet excluding rooftop mechanical, and the request is to increase that maximum to 149 feet including rooftop mechanical.

The applicant is Bret Sassenberg, CEO of Ground-Up Development Services. He manages the development and operations of Scottsdale Waterfront. Seven acres of the Waterfront, the Camelback parcel, have been developed, including 704,375 square feet.

Sassenberg did not return calls for comment.

Sassenberg’s request will require the Planning Commission’s recommendation and approval by the City Council.

Development of the Camelback parcel has been “a catalyst for the continuing revitalization of downtown Scottsdale, transforming it into a vibrant destination” and helping Scottsdale Fashion Square maintain its status as the Valley’s “premier shopping destination,” Sassenberg said in his application.

Sassenberg’s request is for the city to make the development standards for the Goldwater parcel consistent with approved heights and densities within the city’s Downtown Infill Incentive District. Last month, a divided council approved the district that Councilman Bob Littlefield warned could bring 150-foot-tall buildings into the downtown area.

Creation of the downtown district was quickly followed by Gray Development Group’s proposal to build a $200 million luxury apartment complex just east of Scottsdale Fashion Square. Citizen input led the developer to scale back the maximum height from 148 feet to 125 feet, and reduce the apartment unit count from 1,196 to 957.

“The Waterfront itself is in its own infill incentive district,” said Dan Symer, senior city planner. “They’re looking to amend the standards, which would be similar to the standards of the downtown infill incentive district.”

The downtown district establishes a height maximum of 150 feet in the downtown regional multiple-use area, north of the Arizona Canal, and the downtown medical type 2 area, surrounding Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center.

Sassenberg hasn’t yet submitted a specific plan or use for the Goldwater parcel, but his request does specify that the development would be set back from Goldwater Boulevard, and would include tiered building heights to appease nearby residents, Symer said.

Building heights would not exceed 54 feet including rooftop mechanical closest to Goldwater, and would gradually increase to no more than 96 feet and then 149 feet farther from the street.

“There is a development plan for the site and that’s what they’re amending,” Symer said. “Nobody knows what is going to be built there, but it gives them some flexibility.”

The tallest building in Scottsdale is the AmTrust Bank building at 69th Street and Camelback Road. The Waterfront condominium towers are just below that height and the maximum height Sassenberg is requesting for the Goldwater parcel is roughly equal to the towers, Symer said.

The city has drawn a horizontal line across the city from the top of the AmTrust Bank building and said no buildings will exceed that height, he said.

by Beth Duckett – Aug. 5, 2010 01:17 PM
The Arizona Republic

Photos of the work at McDowell Sonoran Preserve Gateway

Scottsdale is gearing up to acquire 2,000 acres of state trust land for its McDowell Sonoran Preserve, a move that would allow a future trailhead in the city’s northern reaches.

The land, appraised at $44.1 million, will be sold at auction in October.

Kroy Ekblaw, the city’s strategic projects and preserve director, said a grant from Arizona’s Growing Smarter conservation funds could reduce the cost by half.

“We think that is a good value,” Ekblaw said.

Barring other bidders, Scottsdale could spend about $22 million, or $11,000 an acre, to expand its preserve by nearly 13 percent, to 18,000 acres.

The 3 square miles of desert east of Pima Road has rock-covered washes and views of Pinnacle Peak, the ridge of Four Peaks and the McDowell Mountains.

A trailhead, tentatively dubbed the Alma School access point, would connect to existing trails north of Dynamite Boulevard, said Scott Hamilton, preserve trails planner.

More land, trailheads planned

If the city’s Gateway trailhead is an indication, residents want preserve access.

Scottsdale raised the curtain last year on the Gateway east of Thompson Peak Parkway between Bell Road and Union Hills Drive. Claire Miller, the city’s preserve manager, said the trailhead is “wildly popular, especially when the weather was nice.”

“Clearly, this year we were busting at the seams,” Miller said. “We would have folks parking around the perimeter of the parking lot.”

To handle the flood of visitors, the city is adding about 100 parking spaces and other enhancements this summer, she said.

The $500,000 cost will be paid with savings from the Gateway project along with city tax funds earmarked for preserve trails and access improvements, said Robin Rodgers, project manager.

Scottsdale has trailheads planned along the outer edges of future preserve lands, including the access point 1 1/4miles north of Alma School Parkway and Dynamite Boulevard, Hamilton said.

The trailhead would be smaller than the Gateway, with parking spaces and a possible ramada, he said. The city will maintain a portion of existing trails and clear away others.

“Historically, trails have resulted (from) people on mountain bikes, horses (and) lot of ATV access,” Hamilton said. “We asked (a group) to look at these maps and tell us which trails they couldn’t live without. We also asked them to cross out the ones that aren’t important.”

Scottsdale has acquired and protected about 16,000 acres of land so far within the McDowell Sonoran Preserve.

That includes 400 acres the city purchased last year for $6.5 million.

Scottsdale used a grant from the state’s Growing Smarter program to cover half of the cost. The rest was paid for by city tax funds collected for the preserve.

For the next 2,000 acres, Ekblaw said, Scottsdale submitted a Growing Smarter grant application in June. The grant likely will go before the Arizona State Parks Board for approval in September.

“We’re trying to move at a time when it’s best from a point of view of land prices,” said Gerald Miller, chairman of the city’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve Commission. “There are lots of other reasons, too. Some of the lands we’re looking at may be bid on by other people. And we want it for the preserve.”

Growing Smarter, adopted by voters in 1998, pours $20 million a year from the state’s general fund into the land-conservation fund to conserve land and shape growth in communities.

Long-term acquisitions eyed

Arizona State Parks manages the program, which ends in 2011. Ellen Bilbrey, state parks spokeswoman, said there is $124 million in the fund.

That could change if voters approve a ballot measure in the fall.

Proposition 301, designed to combat the state’s budget woes, seeks permission from voters to redirect money from the land-conservation program and use it for general purposes.

Scottsdale’s goal is to secure the matching funds before the 2,000 acres goes to auction, Ekblaw said. Future land acquisitions might be more difficult.

If the funds are diverted, “that simply is dollars that will have to come from the city’s funds,” Ekblaw said. “It doesn’t mean we won’t move forward.”

Miller said he hopes voters reject the proposition. “Beyond that, we have to live with what will happen,” he said.

Down the road, Scottsdale is eyeing another 1,940 acres of state trust land west of 136th Street, in the Dynamite Foothills area for the preserve.

In June, the City Council gave a thumbs-up to applying to acquire the land. An auction could be scheduled in fall 2011, Ekblaw said.

If Growing Smarter funds still are available, Scottsdale could apply for a grant in the spring or summer of next year.

Much of the land abuts McDowell Mountain Regional Park to the east, which would link the park with existing and future preserve lands in the city’s fringes.

If all goes well, Scottsdale could also attempt to purchase 1,425 acres east of Pima Road between Dixileta Drive and Legend Trail Parkway, Ekblaw said.

Estimated costs have not been determined. Miller said the McDowell Sonoran Preserve Commission will meet soon to discuss long-range planning and funding for the preserve

www.theholmgroupaz.com

by Krystal Klei – Jul. 13, 2010 02:18 PM
The Arizona Republic

Scottsdale is one of the best cities to call home. Just look at Parenting or Money magazine for confirmation.

Both magazines compiled a list of what they considered the top cities in the nation, and Scottsdale made an appearance in both. Parenting magazine, which focused on the family environment, ranked Scottsdale eighth, while Money magazine, which looked at the top small cities, ranked Scottsdale at No. 71.

Parenting’s top three cities for families were Arlington, Va., Austin, and Madison, Wis.

Money magazine’s top three places to live were Eden Prairie, Minn.; Columbia/Ellicott City, Md., and Newton, Mass.

Parenting created its “Best Cities for Families 2010″ list by surveying women who were members of the magazine’s MomConnection research panel, a nationwide group with 5,000 members, said Parenting magazine’s deputy editor, Stephanie Wood.

The women provided opinions on the most important factors for raising a family. In order of priority, they chose quality of schools, affordability and availability of quality housing, low crime rates, job availability and growth, number of registered sex offenders, recreational opportunities, quality and quantity of pediatricians and family physicians, commute time and distance, proximity to good children’s hospitals, quality and quantity of child-care facilities and preschools, and air quality.

The information led to rankings in five subcategories: economy, safety, health, recreation and education. Scottsdale ranked exceptionally high in safety and recreation.

Next, the magazine created a list of the top 100 most populated cities, according to the Census Bureau. Cities near other large cities that would display similar data were removed from the list, and smaller but widely known cities were added.

Scottsdale was considered the safest city in America based off its low number of violent crimes in 2008 and low number of registered sex offenders according to the state sex offender’s registry.

Becky Hornack, marketing and public relations specialist for Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale, said she believes Scottsdale has become more family-oriented as people who grew up in the area have begun to settle there. In response, the Boys & Girls Clubs have expanded and developed outreach programs, she added.

“It’s our goal to develop our members into productive future citizens,” Hornack said.

The magazine ranked Scottsdale third in the nation for recreation, a ranking that Scottsdale Parks and Recreation manager Terry Erickson said makes sense.

Erickson said Scottsdale has 27 neighborhood parks and a little less than 1,000 acres of parkland. In addition, the magazine looked at the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, which covers about 14,000 acres.

“The parks are really accessible to a lot of Scottsdale residents,” Erickson said. “I’ve always thought the parks were something that made us special.”

Scottsdale ranked 46th in education, 59th in economy, and 82nd in health. Other cities that made Parenting’s list were Phoenix, 44;, Tucson, 52; and Mesa, 62.

Money magazine looked at crime, schooling and the local economy, when creating their best cities list, which is in the August issue.

Money praised Scottsdale for its dining, shopping, resort spas, and “zillions of golf courses.” The magazine also recognized Scottsdale’s many hiking opportunities in the Sonoran Desert and McDowell mountains and considered Scottsdale’s one downfall the severely hit real-estate market.

Gilbert also made Money’s list, ranking 36.

“It’s an honor to be on both lists,” Scottsdale’s Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Rick Kidder said.

He said that, in his opinion, Scottsdale is a “wonderful and safe community” that should have ranked even higher on each list.

by Edward Gately – Jul. 8, 2010 09:02 AM
The Arizona Republic

Future expansion and improvement at Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center and a multilevel luxury-condominium project on the southeastern corner of Camelback Road and 68th Street were given the green light by the Scottsdale City Council.

Both requests originally were among items on the council’s Tuesday consent agenda, which required a single vote for approval. The Scottsdale Healthcare request remained on the consent agenda, and the council unanimously supported it.

The condominium request, however, was moved to the regular agenda, and Councilwoman Marg Nelssen cast the only vote against it. She questioned the effect of the project on the adjacent residential area.

Scottsdale Healthcare’s long-term plans include the construction of two patient towers. The expansion could add more than 240 beds to the Osborn Medical Center, bringing the total to more than 630.

The medical campus, on the northwestern corner of Osborn Road and Drinkwater Boulevard, was established in the mid-1960s.

The council’s approval allows Scottsdale Healthcare to move forward with development plans over the next 20 to 25 years. Plans call for expanded inpatient and outpatient surgical services, more private patient rooms and additional intensive-care beds.

Plans also include developing a new main entry, more parking, a neurosciences center and a conference center.

“Scottsdale Healthcare can now move forward planning for the future . . . with a campus that is well planned, well thought out and will hopefully serve the future needs of the community for decades to come,” said John Berry, a zoning attorney for Scottsdale Healthcare.

It also operates two other hospital campuses and is the city’s largest employer.

The council also approved zoning changes to allow the high-end condominium complex on the site of the abandoned Orchidtree apartment complex.

Optima,, which is developing the Optima Camelview Village condominium complex at Scottsdale Road and Rancho Vista Drive, purchased the property last year and requested the zoning changes.

Optima Sonoran Village will include 493 residential units and 40,000 square feet of commercial, retail and amenity space, for a total of about 726,700 square feet of floor space. Five buildings will be arranged around two courtyards.

Four of the buildings will be seven stories in height, while the fifth building will have five floors on its north side and fewer floors on its south side.

Rick Robertson, a nearby homeowner, spoke in support of the project and asked Optima to maintain a wall to keep people from walking from the complex into the adjacent neighborhood.

Cathy Kent Croom, another nearby homeowner, spoke in opposition to the project, saying its height and density are inappropriate for the area.

“It’s going to have more than double the number of units than were previously there and two levels of parking underneath the unit that are going to bring twice as much traffic to the area,” she said. “The main entrance for the residents is about a half a block from my street.”

She said area residents weren’t properly notified of the plans.

“It’s a massive thing … there’s going to be more vibration with more cars, these people who live up high are going to have lights on, they’re going to have balconies and they’re going to look over (into the neighborhoods),” she said.

David Hovey Sr., Optima president and owner, said Optima Sonoran Village is an “exceptional design specifically for this neighborhood and responds positively to all of the neighbors we met with, especially the neighbors that are closest to the development.”

“We can’t think of a better design or architectural solution to this particular site,” he said. “This will be the highest-quality development anywhere in Arizona or the United States for that matter.”