Peter Corbett
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 2, 2007 01:55 PM
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SCOTTSDALE – Brownstone or row houses are associated with older, urban neighborhoods, but Starpointe Communities is bringing the stone-clad buildings to the fairways of the McCormick Ranch Golf Club. Ninety of the brownstones will be built within Artesia, a 44-acre project that replaces the Radisson Resort northeast of Indian Bend and Scottsdale roads.
The community southwest of the golf course will feature 52 townhouses, 329 condominiums, including 15 penthouse units and nine live-work brownstones that have office space on the first level.
Artesia will feature a Japanese restaurant called Roka, opening in January, and other shops within the 22,000-square feet of retail space fronting Scottsdale Road.“We’re trying to create a village that will have open park space and trails,” said Michael D’Andrea, Artesia project manager.
Artesia’s 480 new homes will replace the 318-room Radisson Resort, which opened in 1977 as the Registry and for a time was among Scottsdale’s top resorts.4 resorts, 700 high-end homes The Radisson is among four Northeast Valley resorts that are being redeveloped with at least 700 luxury residential units between them. That includes:• Corriente Condominium Residences, another Starpointe project southeast of Artesia with 192 units. It is replacing the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort. Prices range from $350,000 to $650,000.
• Montelucia Resort, Spa and Residences, which Crown Realty & Development Corp. is building on the former La Posada Resort site southeast of Lincoln Drive and Tatum Boulevard. The $260 million Montelucia will feature 293 rooms and 34 luxury villas priced at $2 million.
• Mountain Shadows Resort at 56th Street and Lincoln that Crown plans to redevelop with an unspecified number of residential units and hotel rooms. Paradise Valley has not yet approved those plans.Price hikes spurred condo plans The resort sites were prime targets for development a few years ago when Valley home and condo prices soared.Starpointe Communities bought the Radisson site in 2003 when there was not much of a market for a hotel in the tourism downturn after Sept. 11, 2001, said Robert Lyles, a partner in Starpointe with Patricia Watts.
Now the development partners of 10 years are facing a softer housing market as Artesia is built.
“I always said that if we buy the right infill sites in a down market we’d be protected,” Lyles said “We’re going to find out.”
Artesia’s advantage is that it is urban-style housing in a suburban setting, with good views of the golf course, Camelback, Mummy and the McDowell Mountains, he said.
Starpointe plans to start sales for Artesia in mid-December. Prices will start at $400,000 for the single-story condos, which are in a four-story building with underground parking. The three-story brownstones are priced at about $1.5 million.
The two- and three-story townhouses range from 1,700 to 2,200 square feet.Brownstones over townhouses Artesia’s brownstones of 2,800 to 3,100 square feet are a step up from the townhouses with better exterior finishes, golf-course views and a $22,000 elevator option, said D’Andrea, the project manager.Starpointe is confident about its sales at Artesia, despite the housing slump, because of its location minutes from downtown Scottsdale, its choice of housing types and the community amenities, he said.
“There’s not a lot of product out there that will fit this niche,” D’Andrea said.
Artesia hopes to move its first brownstone residents in by March and have some condo dwellers in by next October.
The entire development should be completed by 2010.
