A $40 million condominium complex broke ground at Monterey Way and Central Avenue on Wednesday, and development partners are expecting residents to move in by November 2016.
Edison Midtown, developed by Deco Communities, is a response to housing demand in the downtown and midtown areas at a time when expensive apartment rents dominate the market, said Rob Lyles, Deco Communities partner and co-founder.
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“So much has happened in downtown Phoenix the last eight or nine years, and ASU has been the catalyst for that with 15,000 students, which brings jobs to downtown,” Lyles said.
Edison Midtown will have 110 units costing $250,000-450,000. It will have two lower stories of concrete structure parking and five stories of wood-frame housing. The developer decided on the seven-story model in order to shy away from a more expensive high-rise model.
Deco Communities wanted to come to midtown following the expansion of the Convention Center, the ASU and University of Arizona campuses, the light rail, the Sheraton Hotel and the businesses, offices and restaurants in CityScape, Lyles said.
“We think the timing is really cool for the product we’re going to build here,” he said.
Lyles called Deco Communities the “pioneer” of for-sale housing in the downtown and midtown neighborhoods, saying the condos add a housing element that doesn’t currently exist.
Edison Midtown is the second for-sale condominium in midtown after One Lexington a few blocks away.
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With the “first wave of housing for a new economy,” Edison Midtown is targeting young couples, young professionals and the LGBT community that Deco Communities has had success with before, Lyles said.
“We’ll be bringing in about 100 residents right to this location,” said Pat Watts, Deco Communities senior partner. “So I would expect that they’re going to go to the restaurants here, they’re going to do their shopping here, they’re going to lead their lives up and down the Central corridor.”
Watts said Edison Midtown’s location is the “sweet spot for housing” because it is close to the Camelback corridor and restaurants, and because transportation is easy with the nearby light rail and freeways.
The condominium is also close to many places of employment including hospitals, corporations and Park Central Mall, said Chaz Smith, a real estate broker with Colliers International. Edison Midtown is situated between CBIZ Plaza and a Jack in the Box on Monterey Way.
“Have you ever gone through a neighborhood and somebody’s painted their house a neat new color and it just makes a whole area vibrate?” Smith said. “Well, it’s like 10 times that with something like this.”
Contact the reporter at ellenpierce@asu.edu.
