25 Jun Tempe Apartment Development

June 2014

New Tempe Apartments on Light Rail to Replace Mobile Home Park

In the rolling, undeveloped outskirts of the metro area, tracts are easy to plan, grade and build. When it comes to infill, there are challenges—like a lot of configuration. Pony Acres presents a head-scratching, creative juice-flowing project to Ayers Saint Gross Architects + Planners.

Developer McClintock Station LLC has a 5.1-acre parcel with an existing mobile home park. The property is nearly 1,300 feet long, but it’s only 174 feet wide. Pony Acres is to be a four-building, four-story market-rate, 204-unit apartment complex fronting the light rail on Apache Boulevard, Tempe. The front building is a two-story office with mezzanine and common areas. The back three buildings each hold 68 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.

The proposal rezones the property to accommodate the residential transit-oriented development for 40 units/acre density. The buildings march down the centerline of the property surrounded by parking and landscaping. The buildings feature the edgy industrial look working its way up and down Apache Boulevard.

Tempe’s Development Review Commission is reviewing the proposal at its July 22 meeting. Current tenants of the mobile home park are concerned about relocation when the park closes. Tempe says that assuming a July 22 recommendation for approval, the earliest construction could begin is July 2015.
A GC has not been selected.