A roof-top tour of the Roosevelt Point apartments showed wide vistas of Camelback Mountain, downtown, midtown and the entire valley.
Sponsors gathered at Bliss/ReBar on Wednesday morning to celebrate the topping-off ceremony for Roosevelt Point’s structural completion. After enjoying breakfast and music from a Mariachi band, guests were taken on a roof-top tour of Roosevelt Point, the structure which is bringing excitement for businesses in the surrounding area.
The apartment complex, just blocks north of the Downtown campus, hopes to attract students in the area and offer an abundance of apartment options and prices.
Originally purchased for $3.1 million by ML Manage, the apartments located between Fourth and Third streets are expected to bring more prosperity to downtown. The apartment complex is scheduled to open by July 2013.
“Today we are celebrating the topping-out of two buildings, Roosevelt Point or ‘RoPo’,” said Jeffery Arnold, president of Concord Eastridge, the company that is developing Roosevelt Point.
The topping-off ceremony marked the completion of the construction phase, which broke ground in early March. The next phase will include finishing plumbing, electricity and adding fixtures and walls.
“We’ve been very fortunate on progress. We have finally made it through the structural part and start to enclose on the building,” said Steve Schnoor, senior vice president of Concord Eastridge.
The developers, Concord Eastridge and EdR, want to attract students from the Downtown campus, University of Arizona’s College of Medicine campus and the Phoenix Biomedical Campus.
“With our primary market, the design was to have a wide diversity of apartment styles,” Schnoor said.
Roosevelt Point has 326 apartments, with 60 percent furnished and 40 percent unfurnished. Apartment sizes range from 500 to 1,250 square feet.
Pricing for apartments will be on a per-person basis. Apartment options include a four-bedroom apartment for $709 per person, three bedrooms for $789 per person and two bedrooms for $849 per person, according to the development’s website.
Roosevelt Point has two buildings: north and south. The north building has seven stories, and the south building has eight.
The north building will provide more of the individualized apartments, such as studios and one to two bedroom apartments.
The south building will have apartments that accommodate more people. Each unit includes a private bathroom, kitchen appliances, private washer and dryer, Wi-Fi, walk-in closets, optional furnishing and cable that provides HBO.
Roosevelt Point will also have amenities including: two pools, two hot tubs, an outdoor grilling area and fireplace, a game room, study lounge, parking garage and a tanning dome. The five-level parking garage will provide residents with approximately 400 parking spaces.
About 7,700 square feet of retail space has not been leased to tenants yet. Two of the retail locations are at Third and Roosevelt streets, occupying about 2,500 square feet each. The location at Fourth and Garfield streets also has approximately 2,500 square feet that developers said could serve as a restaurant.
“Roosevelt Point is another great example of Phoenix’s revitalization, providing a diverse mix for those who want an urban life and arts community,” said John Chan, director of community and economic development from the City Phoenix Council.
Developers look for services such as a coffee shop, dry cleaners, cafe or bookstore that will not only serve residents, but also attract other community members.
Dan Klocke, Downtown Phoenix Partnership vice president of planning and economic development, said the $52 million development will certainly help this area of downtown.
“More than anything downtown needs more people living here, bringing life to the streets,” Klocke said. “Roosevelt Point is at an important focal point that will enliven the Evans Churchill community and be something more than just a vacant lot people will see coming into downtown Phoenix from the Third Street.”
Tom Trubiana, executive vice president and chief investment officer for EdR, also shared their eagerness for the potential success and growth from Roosevelt Point.
“Several years ago we showed interest in Taylor Place and then came back about two years ago and wanted to be part of the potential and the need for luxury living for students and young professionals,” he said.
However, even with these amenities, some students remain skeptical of the value for Roosevelt Point.
“It seems expensive,” said Donica Robinson, a junior nursing major. “It would have to be considerably cheaper than Taylor Place for me to live there.”
But some students are still looking into the apartments while comparing other apartments for next year.
“Next year a friend and I are looking for apartments, and the price doesn’t seem much different from Vista and others,” said Kristin Ardourel, a junior criminal justice major.
Roosevelt Point will have an information booth for the Oct. 5 First Friday near Bliss/ReBar. A temporary leasing office is also now open in the Arizona Center next to AMC Theaters.
Contact the reporter at sarah.atchinson@asu.edu
