Rendering of the clubhouse for the Collection at Silverstone Luxury Apartments. North Scottsdale Apartments LLC is planning the 262-unit complex on the former Rawhide site southeast of Scottsdale and Pinnacle Peak roads.
Developer Larry Gabriele initially planned the Villa Volterra condominiums on just under 17 acres but now intends to build the Collection of Silverstone Luxury Apartments. It would include primarily one- and two-bedroom apartments in buildings of two or three stories, some with attached garages.
"We're seeing a firmed up market on the rental side, especially in north Scottsdale," said Gabriele, managing member of North Scottsdale Apartments LLC.
Apartment development has been scarce in north Scottsdale and rents are on the rise.
Average rental prices in the north Scottsdale/Fountain Hills submarket for the second quarter are $942 per month, up 1 percent from a year ago, and just 6.8 percent of the apartments are vacant, 3 points below the Valley rate, said Pete TeKampe, Marcus and Millichap vice president of investments.
"That market is getting tighter by the day, turnover is low and demand is very high," he said.
New units scarce in Scottsdale
North Scottsdale has not seen new apartments built since 2005, when the P.B. Bell Cos. opened Desert Parks Vista northwest of Bell Road and 94th Street with 202 units.
Only eight projects Valley-wide with 1,031 apartments were under construction in the first quarter, TeKampe said.
Gabriele is seeking approval in September for his Silverstone apartments from the Scottsdale Development Review Board.
Construction would start by the end of the year if all goes well and the first units could be ready a year later, Gabriele said.
It is too early to set rents but prices should range from about $800 for the one-bedroom apartments up to $1,600 for three-bedroom units, he said.
The Collection at Silverstone would be southwest of the Appaloosa Library with access from Scottsdale Road at Silverstone Drive and also 74th Street. Whitneybell Perry Inc. of Phoenix is the architect.
The apartments would be the third project on the 160-acre Rawhide site. The Western theme park relocated to the Gila River Indian Community in 2006 after 35 years in Scottsdale. The library was completed in May 2010 and V at Silverstone, a retirement community, opened last September .
Other residential and retail development is planned at Silverstone.
Meanwhile, Scottsdale is negotiating with a developer for a new $48 million Western attraction called Stagecoach Gap at 94th Street and Bell Road.
Demand for condos collapsed
Gabriele bought the apartment site at Rawhide in 2006 for $22.3 million and got approval for 262 condominiums with underground parking. But the market collapsed and the property has been idle.
"Having been in this business for some 45 years, I've been through a few economic ups and downs," Gabriele said. "The difference with this one is that it's so sustained."
Apartment vacancies in the Valley were 9.9 percent in the first quarter. That was the first time the rate has been below 10 percent in four years, said TeKampe of Marcus and Millichap.
"Apartments are one of the few bright spots in our real-estate economy right now," he said.
by Peter Corbett The Arizona Republic Jul. 22, 2011 08:47 AM
Old Rawhide site in Scottsdale might become new apartments
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