A Chicago firm known for its lushly landscaped and eco-friendly residential developments expects to break ground this year on a luxury mixed-use project in Scottsdale near Phoenix.
Read the article on CoStar
Visit Optima McDowell Mountain Village for more details
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.
Read more on East Valley Tribune
Visit Optima McDowell Mountain Village for more details
Award-winning real estate development firm, Optima®, is partnering with Mitsui Fudosan America, Inc., (“MFA”) for the development of the first building within its newest Arizona residential development, Optima McDowell Mountain Village™, located on 22-acres on the southeast corner of Scottsdale Road and the Loop 101 Freeway in North Scottsdale.
The first building will consist of 210 rental residences, which just broke ground this month and is located on the southwest corner of the site. The overall development will comprise six, eight-story apartment and condominium buildings that will include 1,330 luxury residences and 36,000 square feet of commercial and retail space.
Designed by David Hovey Sr., FAIA, and David Hovey Jr., AIA, each of the six buildings will feature the sophisticated architectural detail that characterizes Optima’s Arizona projects and will contain its own resort-style amenity offering which will include a rooftop sky deck with a 50-meter Olympic-length swimming pool; a sauna, spa, and cold plunge; a running track that will follow the perimeter of the roof; outdoor fire pits; lounge seating; outdoor kitchens with barbecues and dining spaces and sheltering arbors covered with vines. Every rooftop will offer spectacular views of the McDowell Mountains to the east, vibrant sunsets to the west, Pinnacle Peak to the north and Camelback Mountain to the south.
The ground-floor level of each building will be similarly outfitted with spacious, well-appointed lobbies; a fitness center and yoga studio that look out over the lushly landscaped courtyard; a sauna and steam room; a residents’ club with game room and theater; an indoor basketball and pickleball court; an outdoor pickleball arena; a golf simulator; an outdoor putting/chipping area; indoor and outdoor kids’ play spaces; a massage room; a dog park and pet spa; and a business center and conference room.
Optima McDowell Mountain Village™ will provide an unprecedented 75% open space area at grade level with a grand central courtyard as well as feature a bicycle and pedestrian path around the entire perimeter of the master planned development that will connect to the project’s 36,000 square feet of destination retail as well as the bicycle and multi-use paths of the City of Scottsdale Bicycle Master Plan.
“We are very excited to begin this partnership with an organization of the caliber of Mitsui Fudosan America that shares our commitment to exceptional design, the highest quality construction, resident-centric property management, and the creation of sustainable neighborhoods,” says David Hovey Jr., AIA, President & COO of Optima®, Inc.
The community will be the first project in Arizona to be built under both the new International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and International Green Construction Code (IgCC). A few highlights of the sustainable features include 75% open space that will be a combination of artificial turf, xeriscape landscaping and native plants; high-performance mechanical systems, and solar panels; 100% underground parking to mitigate the heat-island effect, Optima’s signature vertical landscape system, and the largest private rainwater harvesting system in the United States. The vertical landscaping system, with its self-containing irrigation and drainage, enables a palette of vibrantly colored plants at the edge of each floor to grow both up and over the edge of the building. The integration of enhancements to the vertical landscape and architectural shading systems protects homes from the sun and creates additional privacy, while filtering the air and lowering ambient temperature.
With views of the majestic McDowell Mountain range as the backdrop, the location is just a five-minute drive to the shopping, dining and entertainment destinations of Scottsdale Quarter and Kierland Commons. Being adjacent to the Loop 101 Freeway and just two minutes from the SR-51 Highway and ten minutes away from the I-17 Highway will enable residents to be just 15-25 minutes from Downtown Phoenix, Glendale, Old Town Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, and Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.
Now in its 46th year, Optima® continues to grow in the Greater Phoenix market. Having previously opened Arizona luxury condominium and apartment developments, including Optima Biltmore Towers®, Optima Camelview Village®, Optima Sonoran Village®, and Optima Kierland Center®.
“As is evidenced by our investment in our Optima McDowell Mountain Village™ project, Optima® signifies our long-term commitment to ongoing investment in the growing Scottsdale and Arizona markets,” adds Hovey Jr.
Read more on InBusiness
Visit Optima McDowell Mountain for more details
Optima has launched sales at the first condominium tower at Optima McDowell Mountain, a $1 billion mixed-use project currently under development in North Scottsdale, Ariz.
The condominium project is part of the development’s first phase, and is expected to come online in summer 2027. The first phase also includes one residential tower with rental units, set to reach completion this fall.
Construction on the first building began in March last year, with Mitsui Fudosan America Inc. as development partner, according to AZ Big Media. In late 2023, the developer secured $102.2 million in construction funds for the first phase from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, according to Maricopa County public records.
The first condo tower, dubbed 7230, will include 196 units ranging from 728 square feet to 2,204 square feet. Floorplans will range from one to three-bedroom units with floor-to-ceiling windows, private terraces and smart-home technology. Prices for one-bedroom units will start in the $600,000s, while the two- and three-bedroom units will range from $900,000 to $1.4 million.
Optima McDowell Mountain will include six eight-story buildings built across 22 acres, with condos and rental apartment units encompassing 1,330 luxury residences, 36,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and nearly 1.5 acres of amenities for each building.
The first tower is located at 7230 E. Mayo Blvd. Interiors are designed to include walk-in closets, kitchens with granite or quartz countertops, custom-crafted cabinetry and JennAir and SubZero/Wolf appliances, bathrooms with frameless glass showers and Kohler fixtures, among others.
Amenities at 7230 E. Mayo Blvd. include a sky deck on the rooftop level, a heated lap swimming pool, an outdoor spa, sauna, cold plunge, lounge spaces, indoor and outdoor yoga studios, entertainment spaces, outdoor kitchens, firepits and a running track.
Meanwhile, the project’s ground-level amenity package includes a fitness center, Pilates studio, massage room and spa lounge, as well as an indoor golf simulator, business center with conference rooms, indoor pickleball and basketball courts, children’s playroom, party room, movie theater, pet spa and park area together with multiple outdoor spaces.
Optima McDowell Mountain will feature nearly 16 acres of open space, representing nearly 75 percent of the mixed-use development’s land area. Additionally, the project will include a 10-acre central park area with pedestrian paths and biking trails leading to the city’s trail systems.
The development will also include one of the largest private rainwater harvesting systems in the country. Designed to reduce the overall water use, it has an underground vault with up to 210,000 gallons of rainwater stored for on-site irrigation. It is the first to be built in Scottsdale under the International Energy Conservation Code and International Green Construction Code. Other sustainability features at Optima McDowell Mountain will be solar panels, air purification, underground parking with EV charging stations and self-irrigation systems for vertical landscaping.
Optima developed multiple luxury projects in the Phoenix metro. One of them is Optima Kierland, a master-planned four-tower project located about 30 miles from downtown Phoenix. The project includes two luxury rental towers and two condominium towers that were developed in two separate phases. The final tower, 7190 Optima Kierland, was completed in 2023.
Read more on Multi-Housing News
Visit Optima McDowell Mountain for more details
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.
Read more on ABC 15
Visit Optima McDowell Mountain Village for more details
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
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.
Read more on Yahoo! News
Visit Optima McDowell Mountain Village for more details
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.
Read more on East Valley Tribune
Visit Optima McDowell Mountain for more details
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.
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 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’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 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.”
“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.
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.
Read more on MSN
Visit Optima McDowell Mountain for more details
