A proposed luxury condominium gained preliminary site plan approval from the city Wednesday moving it one step closer to final approval.
Located at First and Portland Streets, the development is called 1st and Portland Condominiums and is proposed to stand seven-stories tall and house 131 condominium units.
If approved, the project will be developed by Arizona Star Development and designed by architecture firm Shepley Bulfinch, which was also involved with the design of en Hance Park, another luxury condominium project less than half a mile away.
Multifamily housing projects are filling in downtown Phoenix’s skyline and Portland Street is quickly becoming a primary location for luxury condominium style developments. The street’s proximity to Margaret T. Hance Park, which is currently undergoing a $118 million renovation, has attracted several other luxury condominium projects such as Portland on the Park and en Hance Park condominiums.
A new public water main extension is required within the project frontage along Portland Street, said Brian Cole, a member of the city Planning and Development Department.
A number of street improvements were examined at the meeting, such as widening the sidewalk on Portland Street and providing underground street light circuits, poles and fixtures on all public streets. Other nuts and bolts topics mentioned at the meeting included grading, drainage and landscaping.
The condominiums look to provide waste receptacles, benches, bike parking, swimming pool, barbeque picnic areas, and a fire pit and lounge section.
Recent Arizona State University graduate Heather Herb has been looking for a new place to call home since graduating earlier this year with a degree in design. She said the extravagant living spaces on Portland Street have caught her eye, but might be out of her price range.
“Portland Street is an ideal place to live because of the location,” Herb said. “For young professionals, living in such an urban spot offers so many opportunities; whether that is for a career, something to do on a Friday night or making the hard decision of where to buy a cup of coffee from one of the many houses around the community.”
Mountainside Fitness employee Cassidy Dupay said Portland Street is a model for luxury living and said the real estate advancements made on that street have sparked business downtown.
“I have seen firsthand how many more people come and do things downtown since the number of luxury condominiums offered has grown,” Dupay said. “There is a good number of people that come in here and their topic of conversation is Portland Street and all the new condos popping up around there. I see this specific location becoming a complete hot spot for the wealthy in the next few years.”
No completion date for the development is available at this time. The next step for the development will be to submit construction plans for approval.
Contact the reporter at Carissa.Wigginton@asu.edu.
