New apartments’ design called ‘fresh and exciting’
Optima Sonoran Village in Scottsdale.
Michael Schennum/The Republic
Optima Sonoran Village
6895 E. Camelback Road
optimaweb.com
By Peter Corbett
The Republic | azcentral.com
Fri Feb 22, 2013 11:01 AM
Downtown Scottsdale is getting its first new apartments in more than a decade.
Optima Sonoran Village will move in its first residents next month in a seven-story, 210-unit building of landscaped terraces, tinted green glass and an exterior color palette of yellow, orange and green.
Optima’s contemporary design is intended to bring something fresh and exciting to Scottsdale, said David Hovey Jr., Optima vice president.
“We wanted to have technologically advanced materials, great indoor and outdoor space, and colors that would really create a vibrancy to downtown,” he said.
Sonoran Village, southeast of 68th Street and Camelback Road, is the first completed project in a wave of thousands of apartments proposed downtown and throughout the city.
Optima also was one of the first developers to complete downtown condominiums in 2006, with Camelview Village, north of Scottsdale Fashion Square.
Sonoran Village’s first residents will occupy the lower floors of the building and construction of the interiors will move to the higher floors.
Optima’s first phase includes a 19,000-square-foot fitness center with a basketball court, racquetball, indoor lap pool and a yoga studio. There is a zero-edge outdoor pool and dog park on the 10-acre property.
A restaurant and office suites are planned for 8,000 square feet of commercial space fronting Camelback Road.
Sonoran Village is designed to include 571 additional residential units in three other buildings surrounding a courtyard.
Optima has built the apartments with finishes consistent with condominiums and plans to sell them when there is market demand for the units, Hovey said.
Sonoran Village is one of the first in the city to incorporate Scottsdale’s International Green Construction Code, a series of updated standards aimed at encouraging sustainable development.
Improving on sister project
Optima’s sister project, Camelview Village, still has 15 condominiums for sale, said Eileen Hovey, Optima Realty president.
Her husband, David Hovey, is the architect for both projects and for the Optima Biltmore Towers at 24th Street and Camelback Road.
Optima, with offices in Chicago and Scottsdale, has been designing, building and managing multifamily residential projects for 35 years.
“Our philosphy is to improve on each project we do,” said David Hovey.
In this case, the upgrades include curved and perforated aluminum panels that shade the glass-walled buildings but allow for natural lighting of the apartments.
Other improvements include more privacy on the terraces and upgraded designs for the interior hallways, he said.
Architecture critic Walt Lockley said he liked the design of Optima Camelview and is anxious to see if the developer continues to maintain the lush vegetation there and at the similar Sonoran Village.
Lockley, who splits time between the Valley and Portland, Ore., said he is concerned about shading on the southern and western exposures of Sonoran Village’s glass-walled apartments.
“That’s a signal to me that it could be slightly better,” he said. “That makes it a B-plus instead of an A.”
There are thoughtful and thoughtless examples of contemporary architecture and Sonoran Village is an example of the former, Lockley added.
Apartments start at $1,200
Sonoran Village’s apartments range from one to three bedrooms with 10 floor plans, all with outdoor terraces, DirectTV and high-speed Internet.
Among the options are a two-bedroom, two-bath unit of 1,169 square feet and a one-bedroom apartment with a study of 650 square feet.
Lease prices start at $1,200.
Sonoran Village is planning a grand opening Saturday.
Other apartment developments under construction include Broadstone on Lincoln, northwest of Lincoln Drive and Scottsdale Road; Liv North Scottsdale, northeast of Scottsdale Road and Greenway-Hayden Loop; and the Jefferson at One Scottsdale, northeast of Loop 101 and Scottsdale Road.
Gray Development Group submitted its first set of construction drawings Feb.1 for the 700-unit Blue Sky apartments northeast of Scottsdale and Camelback roads, said Dan Symer, Scottsdale senior planner.
Gray has a deadline of April 26 to have the project substantially under construction but it could request an extension, he said.
Alliance Residential obtained its building permits last week for a project at the Scottsdale Waterfront and on Feb.8 JLB Partners resubmitted its plans for the Portales apartments north of Fashion Square, Symer said.
The planner said he had not seen the Sonoran Village building recently.
“It’s one of those buildings that I want to see it when the rest of the landscaping is in,” said Symer, adding that it will be a nice building when it’s done.