Optima McDowell Mountain Village Archives - Page 5 of 9

Reality Check: Who’s Really Living in Multifamily Now?

Earlier this year, rental housing economist and consultant Jay Parsons parsed renter data released by multifamily REITs and found income levels rivaling those of middle-class homeowners—Equity Residential reported typical renter income of $169,000; Essex Property Trust, $131,000; and Camden Property Trust, $120,000—and rent-to-income ratios ranging from 19% to 22%.

This data proves that developers and policymakers need to update their perceptions about who today’s renters are and why they rent, Parsons says. “The bottom line is that there are a lot of people who are making good incomes and want to be renters.”

The Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies found that the number of renter households with incomes of $75,000 or more has risen 43%, to 13.5 million, since 2010. The number of affluent renters is also growing in 35 of the 50 most populous U.S. metros, according to a Redfin analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau, MLS, and county records. In San Jose, California, and Orlando, Florida, about 11% of renters are wealthy; in New York and Seattle, approximately 10% are, the analysis found.

Jessica Perri, marketing director for residential property developer and manager Habitat, says the assumption that people see renting primarily as a transitional phase before homeownership has shifted. More residents are choosing to rent long term because it better aligns with their financial goals, lifestyle, and desire for flexibility, she says.

“This shift has challenged us to think beyond traditional property management and to create communities where renters can truly put down roots, build connections, and feel invested in where they live,” Perri says.

Optima president David Hovey says renters by choice are drawn as much by a sense of community as they are to concierge support, in-home package delivery, and private chefs. Optima is meeting those needs with things like expansive residents’ clubs, rooftop decks, and reservable guest suites.

“For many, what begins as a practical and often temporary decision to rent evolves into a long-term lifestyle preference,” Hovey says.

Scottsdale luxury $1 billion mixed-use development receives city council approval

PHOENIX — A mixed-use project that could represent a capital investment of $1 billion in north Scottsdale received its thumbs up.

Scottsdale-based Optima Inc. received approval from Scottsdale City Council this week on a development agreement and rezoning for Optima McDowell Mountain Village. The deal was approved Monday on a 4-3 vote. Optima will build six, eight-story buildings that are each 118 feet tall. Four of those buildings will be apartments and the other two are condominiums. Those buildings will include 1,330 units plus 36,000 square feet of commercial space and other amenities throughout the development.

Optima will build studios, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units that range in square feet from 775 to 2,025 square feet. Each of the six buildings will have a rooftop pool.

Optima McDowell Mountain Village to be developed in Arizona

Plans are underway for the development of a $1 billion residential project in Scottsdale, Arizona dubbed the Optima McDowell Mountain Village. Recently, the developer, Optima, received approval from the city to commence construction on the new residential community. The construction will take place at a 22-acre location on Scottsdale Road and Loop 101 Freeway.

Optima purchased the 22 acre property for its Optima McDowell Mountain Village from John Lund at $44.7 million. The property is at an convenient location, which is only a five minutes drive to Scottsdale Quarter and Kierland Commons. Additionally, the nearby Loop 101 Freeway also offers rapid access to all of Scottsdale and other areas beyond. Therefore, the daily commute times will be reduced for future residents planning to visit Scottsdale’s most popular entertainment and dining destinations.

Read the article on Construction Review Online

Visit Optima McDowell Mountain Village for more details

‘Through-the-roof’ $1B project approved

For potential residents, this project is literally through the roof – with rooftop shade trees, running tracks, swimming pools and stunning views of the surrounding mountains.

But on the checklist of things current Scottsdale residents go through the roof in anger over, this billion-dollar project hits them all.

Desert land being developed? Check.

More apartments? Check.

More traffic? Check.

Roundabout? Check.

On May 4, the Development Review Board unanimously approved Optima McDowell Mountain Village, which plans 10- story buildings housing 1,330 luxury apartment and condo units on North Scottsdale Road.

The desert land to be developed spans from Mayo Boulevard to the Loop 101.

Scottsdale City Council narrowly approved the development in November.

The mammoth Optima project, projected to cost $1 billion to build, was opposed by council members Kathy Littlefield, Betty Janik and Solange Whitehead.

“Residents told us loud and clear to anyone who was listening in the last election that they wanted to slow down the development in Scottsdale,” Littlefield said at the November meeting.

“It seems to me all we’ve done now is try and find the ways to manage to grow more and grow higher. Higher, denser, bigger is not what our citizens voted for.”

But Mayor David Ortega and council members Tammy Caputi, Tom Durham and Linda Milhaven approved the high-end complex.

Littlefield raised concerns about water use.

“I am concerned about a couple of things with this,” Littlefield said. “We’ve been going around telling our neighbors and telling our citizens, ‘Cut back on water, cut back on water, don’t water your lawn, don’t do this, don’t do that.’”

But an Optima representative sold the Development Review Board that the development will be extremely “green.”

“This will be our most sustainable project to date,” Optima’s David Hovey Jr. promised.

“Optima McDowell Mountain Village (units) will use approximately one-quarter the amount of water of a single-family home.”

Last year, Optima transferred 2,750 acre feet of water to the city “to make the project water neutral.”

Hovey Jr. said that would provide anywhere from 11 to 32 years of demand by the new project.

Optima says it will have a 210,000 gallon rainwater harvesting storage tank – which the developer claims will be the largest private rainwater harvesting system in the United States.

Optima has a similar development at Kierland Commons.

“Other site enhancements include a new sidewalk and path system along both street frontages, a roundabout located at Mayo and North 73rd Place and a transit stop along North Scottsdale Road,” according to the plan submitted by Optima.

According to the presentation, the 20-acre development in the Greater Airport Area “has evolved as the result of 11 iterations with the mayor, city council, the city’s planning and building departments and neighborhood outreach.”

“We had over 300 letters of support and only six letters in opposition,” he stressed.

In addition to adding a bus stop, the project will have a bike path “around the entire development.”

The project’s six buildings will be built in three phases, according to Hovey Jr..

He said 25% of commercial space was added “at the request of the mayor.”

“Traffic will be on average 1% to 1.8% more daily traffic than if the project was not present,” he said.

The rooftops of the buildings are particularly stunning, featuring shade trees, running tracks – and swimming pools.

Riehl referred to a $15.6 million “height buy up that can be used at the mayor and city council’s discretion.”

According to a website marketing the project, “Consisting of approximately 970 apartments and approximately 420 luxury condos for sale is Optima McDowell Mountain Village.

“The $1 billion development features a 22-acre location … subterranean parking, an underground trash system, and approximately 36,000 square feet of world-class commercial space.”

Plans show dozens of shade trees and large, open green space, including a putting green; Optima says artificial turf will drastically reduce water use.

If they were giving out grades, the Design Review Board would give this one an A+.

“This is a fantastic project for Scottsdale,” said William Scarbrough, a board member.

“I think it’s very stunning and beautiful,” fellow board member Michal Ann Joyner added. “I think North Scottsdale’s going to be very happy to have this project.”

Ali Fakih praised the “out of the box thinking” of the project.

Even Janik, who voted against the project in November, voted for it in her role with the Development Review Board.

Mega projects will dominate 2025

If you’re driving around Scottsdale this first week of 2025, take a mental picture of the landscape.

The scene is going to look very different by the end of the year.

Dozens of projects of varying scales are in process or prepping to change the view around the city.

Here are the top 25 Scottsdale construction projects to watch in 2025:

Optima McDowell Mountain Village

Unlike several of its prominent neighbors along “development row,” this 1,300-unit apartment complex is moving full-speed ahead.

And, unlike massive projects bankrolled by Californians, Texans and other out-of-towners, this one – though the glammy apartments are far from rustic – has a certain “hometown vibe.”

The North Scottsdale face changer was imagined by David C. Hovey and David Hovey Jr., the superstar father-son Scottsdale architects.

Construction crews have been excavating, laying foundations and putting beams in place for the last year on this multi-building behemoth – the largest apartment complex in Scottsdale history.

The new “environmentally friendly neighborhood” promises it “will also be a destination for Scottsdale residents with 36,000 square feet of commercial and retail offerings, 75% open space on grade level and 100% underground parking. The property will feature a bicycle/pedestrian path.”

Optima is working on the first luxurious apartment building – they all will have rooftop pools – on former desert land just south of the Loop 101 on Scottsdale Road.

The first apartments should be ready-to-rent by fall.

Optima designs apartments with “largest private rainwater harvesting” system in the US

Local development and design studio Optima has announced the six-tower residential McDowell Mountain development in Arizona, designed to harvest 210,000 gallons of rainwater in an underground vault.

Currently under construction in North Scottsdale, McDowell Mountain will contain six, eight-storey residential buildings clustered around a 10-acre yard.

Optima has designed a six-building apartment complex in Scottsdale

Renders show the buildings clad in brown-tinted glass with plants cascading off balconies. The buildings are mainly rectangular, although certain sections jut out towards the central green space to portion off the large central space into more discrete plazas.

The buildings will be elevated on pillars, with programming such as dining and seating areas pictured underneath. Roofs will be landscaped with trees and low-lying bushes, as is the large, central yard.

The buildings enclose a central greenspace

The concrete-framed residential buildings will contain 1,330 condominiums, as well as a slew of outdoor amenities such as Olympic-length swimming rooftop pools, running tracks and pickleball courts.

According to Optima, the development is the “next evolution in environmentally friendly, state-of-the-art, all-inclusive residences” and includes a number of sustainable strategies, such as rooftop solar panels, high-efficiency heating and cooling and direct connections to surrounding bike paths.

The development will use a rainwater harvesting system for its irrigation

The development’s irrigation system will also be powered by a private rainwater harvesting system, which is planned to be the “largest in the US” according to the studio.

“Home to the largest private rainwater harvesting system in the US, the project is designed to collect rainwater for all on-site irrigation and reduce residential and commercial water consumption,” said the team.

Although Optima has designed and built three other similar residential developments in Scottsdale, this will be the first to incorporate such a large rainwater harvesting system.

According to Optima architect David Hovey Jr, who designed the project with David Hovey Sr, the harvesting system was incorporated into the design while Scottsdale was undergoing a drought.

The project’s design concept was developed during a drought

The retention system was designed as part of a deal to enable the development, along with aquaphor credits purchased by the developer for the city.

“There are two water concepts that we gave to the city as part of zoning,” Hovey Jr told Dezeen. “One was that we actually just gave [water] to [the city], and then we also put the tank on site, which handles all of our irrigation.”

The development will attempt to be “water neutral”

“For this particular development, this water solution came from the fact that we were in the middle of a drought. It really pushed us to think creatively about how we can get the elected officials who are making the decision on this project comfortable with another 1,330 units.”

Water rights in the desert landscape of the American Southwest are complicated, as decades-long political battles have ensued over its main water source, the Colorado River.

It is currently in phase one of construction

The water body has been divided into several basins, which provide commercial, residential and agricultural water to surrounding cities and towns.

These municipalities each have their own regulations regarding water rights, and as such, developers such as Optima address these issues using different approaches.

“I was really happy with the way the city was able to listen to us and to come up with a creative solution to enable housing to keep up with the population growth that we’re having out here, [but] have a water sustainable solution,” said Hovey Jr. “

McDowell Mountain is currently in phase one of construction, with the first tower set to open in Fall 2025 for move-ins.

Elsewhere in Arizona, Jones Studio has designed an educational centre that will highlight the “preciousness” of water in the state, and Dig Studio and Lake Flato revamped the Scottsdale Civic Plaza.

Biophilic Beauty Meets Modern Architecture at Optima McDowell Mountain

Luxury living has reached new heights in Scottsdale with the development of Optima McDowell Mountain. Designed by award-winning architects David Hovey Sr., FAIA, and David Hovey Jr., AIA, this mixed-use community is ideally situated in North Scottsdale and the Greater Scottsdale Airpark area. At its core, the development balances urban convenience, natural beauty, and lush, biophilic design.

Backdropped by the stunning McDowell Mountain range, the 22-acre Optima property will feature six concrete-framed, eight-story towers, totaling 1,330 residential units and 36,000 square feet of commercial space.

A testament to Optima’s design philosophy, 75% of the property is dedicated to open space, emphasizing the community’s connection to nature.

Biophilic Design Meets Sustainability

Optima McDowell Mountain embraces cutting-edge sustainable design. Highlights include the largest private rainwater harvesting system in the U.S. and a pioneering vertical landscape system, transforming the urban development into a verdant desert oasis.

Native plants cascade down residential terraces, providing vibrant pops of green against a desert-inspired color palette of bronze glass, warm brown railings, and earthy orange planters. Complex elevations step in and out across the property, echoing the natural forms of the McDowell Mountains.

Panoramic Views and Rooftop Decks

Rooftop decks offer premium, unobstructed views: the McDowell Mountains to the east, Pinnacle Peak to the north, Camelback Mountain to the south, and breathtaking sunsets to the west, providing residents with a true desert living experience.

Optima McDowell Mountain exemplifies a thoughtful fusion of urban sophistication and desert-inspired design, creating a luxurious and sustainable community that integrates seamlessly with its natural surroundings.

Apartments and condominiums from Phase I of Optima McDowell Mountain are now available. The final phase for the property is anticipated to be complete by summer 2027. Visit optimamcdowellmountain.com to schedule a tour or submit an application. For more info, go to optimamcdowellmountain.com.

Scottsdale approves $1B-plus mixed-use residential project

The Scottsdale, Arizona, city council has approved zoning changes and a development agreement for the $1 billion-plus Optima McDowell Mountain Village mixed-use project. Developer Optima said in city council documents that it would start construction as soon as possible.

The project will encompass a total of almost 22 acres and will feature six, eight-story buildings – a mix of apartments and condominiums – around the perimeter of the property. The buildings will have 14-foot-high, glass-enclosed ground-floor levels, rooftop decks and landscaped terraces.

Optima said it will build two of the six buildings as part of the project’s first phase, according to its city council presentation.

Optima said the introduction of more than 1,300 residential units into the Scottsdale area will help ease the housing shortage in the area and help stabilize rents.

The city council approved the project’s density – 61 homes per acre – and a maximum 118-foot height in return for almost $16 million that Optima will pay into the into the Greater Airpark Special Improvement Trust Fund. The mayor and city council decide how to use money from the fund.

The project is located within the confines of the airpark, the area surrounding Scottsdale Airport general aviation facility. Airpark and city plans have identified the section of the airpark where Optima is building as one that it is suited for mixed-use and high-density residential projects.

Optima has also agreed to a special water plan through which the developer will give the city long-term storage credits it has purchased, enough to make the project net neutral for Scottsdale water demand for 10 years.

The project will also include:

A swimming pool and running track on top of each building’s roof deck;
Approximately 12 acres of open space with a multi-use path that will connect to the city’s bicycle master plan, a putting green and seating areas;
36,000 square feet of “destination” commercial and retail space within the 12 acres;
100% underground parking and other services to maximize usable, above-ground space;
An approximately 210,000-gallon rainwater harvesting system for reuse onsite.

Optima executives and architects David C. Hovey and David Hovey Jr. designed the project.

Visit Optima McDowell Mountain Village for more details

Optima McDowell Mountain Village to Break Ground in Scottsdale

A new development is in the works from award-winning real estate development firm, Optima, with plans to make its next community, Optima McDowell Mountain Village, a sustainable, mixed-use space in North Scottsdale. The community will break ground in late 2023.

Optima has received the green light from the city to create the new sustainable community with a $1 billion budget. The community will be located on the southwest corner of Scottsdale Road and the Loop 101 Freeway, spanning 22 acres. Optima McDowell Mountain Village will be made up of eight concrete structures holding 1,330 luxury residences and 36,000 square feet of commercial and retail space.

“We are especially excited about the location of Optima McDowell Mountain Village being in North Scottsdale so close to the spectacular McDowell Mountains and the proximity to the Loop 101 Freeway as well as current and future major employers,” says David Hovey Jr., AIA, Optima’s President and COO, in a press release.

Rather than have two separate communities, Optima McDowell Mountain Village will feature both apartments and condominiums. The new residential neighborhood will have an environmentally friendly impact by utilizing the largest private rainwater-harvesting site in the U.S. to save water and provide the city of Scottsdale with a new water system. The community will also house state-of-the-art, health-based amenities that are also eco-friendly.

“Architecturally this project will be unique with over 75 percent open space with six buildings surrounding a central sheltered courtyard comprised of a combination of xeriscape, drip irrigation and artificial turf. This will be our most sustainable project to-date and will include the largest private rainwater-harvesting system in the United States, as well as the next evolution of our vertical landscaping system and active roof decks.”

The community will be the first project in Arizona to be built under the new International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and International Green Construction Code (IgCC). Some highlights include utilizing solar panels, a self-containing irrigation and drainage system and an abundance of plants to provide natural shading while filtering the air and lowering the ambient temperature.

Each of the six buildings will feature a resort-style pool on the rooftop deck, spanning the Olympic pool length of 50 meters. The deck will also house a sauna, spa, cold plunge, running track, cozy fireplaces, outdoor kitchens equipped with barbecues and more. Spectacular panoramic views of the McDowell, Pinnacle Peak and Camelback Mountains can also be enjoyed.

Inside the building, future residents can anticipate enjoying well-appointed lobbies, a fitness center, a yoga studio, steam rooms, game rooms, theaters, indoor basketball courts, golf simulators, outdoor putting, kid’s playgrounds, dog parks, pet spas and more to come.

‘Through-the-roof’ $1B project approved