A just-closed $2.47 million land purchase is making way for View 32, a Watt Communities of Arizona project that brings the already active local residential builder into the Arizona rental apartment market. View 32 also marks Watt’s second urban infill residential project located within the City of Phoenix’s North 32nd Street revitalization corridor.
Watt is already underway on numerous upscale urban infill residential projects in Phoenix’s for-sale multifamily sector. View 32 will be its first for-rent endeavor.
Located on 3.63 acres just north of the northeast corner of 32nd Street and Shea Boulevard, adjacent to State Route 51, View 32 will include four stories and up to 135 upscale, for-rent apartment homes. It joins five existing for-sale projects already in the Watt AZ pipeline – all upscale urban communities with layouts ranging from three-story townhomes to detached single-family homes.
Together with View 32, they represent a construction value of more than $45 million.
“Phoenix is clamoring for city living, putting rental multifamily communities of all types near record high occupancies,” said Steve Pritulsky, President and CEO of Watt Communities of Arizona. “We’re proud to be a part of that energy and thrilled that we will be able to provide the Watt advantage for renters and homebuyers alike – whether they want to own or rent in prime locations from North Phoenix to Central Tempe to downtown’s Roosevelt Row.”
“View 32 brings the added benefit of contributing to the North 32nd Street Corridor revitalization effort,” said Paul Timm, Chief Operations Officer for Watt Communities of Arizona. “Looking back into city centers to identify the highest and best use of land sites is at the heart of the urban lifestyle. It’s a unique and welcome opportunity.”
View 32 will add to the North 32nd Street revitalization effort with the corridor’s first new urban apartment units in decades. Construction is scheduled to begin spring 2016 with completion slated for second quarter 2017. Rental rates will be released as View 32 nears completion.
Approximately eight miles long, the North 32nd Street corridor runs north to south from the Loop 101 to the Phoenix Mountain Preserve south of Shea Boulevard. Revitalization plans are focused on upgrading the number and types of area businesses, stimulating retail sales and improving the amenities available to area residents. The citizen- and City of Phoenix-driven revitalization plan for North 32nd Street guides that process, focusing on future development along the corridor as it relates to land use, transportation, infrastructure, community amenities and branding. The recently completed bike lane installation by the City of Phoenix for most of the corridor’s length is emblematic of the commitment to this effort.
“View 32 is an example of revitalization in action,” said Pritulsky. “It replaces obsolete commercial space and long-vacant land with a fresh housing product that will attract new residents and support and retain existing ones.”
The View 32 project architect, civil engineer and general contractor are to-be-named.
In Arizona, Watt is currently under construction on two for-sale metro Phoenix infill residential projects. The first is Dorsey Lane, a 51-unit for-sale townhome project located just south of the southwest corner of Broadway Road and Dorsey Lane in Tempe, and one mile from Arizona State University and the Tempe Town Lake employment corridor. The other is Biltmore Living that, similar to Dorsey Lane, features 40 upscale, three-story townhomes. First deliveries at Dorsey Lane are expected by year-end 2015. First deliveries at Biltmore Living are expected by late first quarter 2016.
Other Watt projects nearing groundbreakings in metro Phoenix include a community of 31 two-story, single family detached homes near 32nd Street and Cactus Road, and the company’s newest project, totaling 35 upscale urban townhomes at 8th Street and Roosevelt, on Roosevelt Row in downtown Phoenix. It has an additional upscale single-family project on the drawing boards at 16th Street and Ocotillo in North Central Phoenix.
Watt Communities of Arizona continues to evaluate other sites in key Phoenix area urban infill submarkets as well, with the goal of developing additional quality, attached and detached for-sale and rental communities.
