An old apartment building located near ASU’s Downtown campus was recently renovated to target ASU graduate students and young professionals.
Mark Panattoni renovated what is now called The Filmore apartments after purchasing the property in June with the vision to create “a sophisticated environment at an affordable price.” The complex, formerly called the Town Apartments, originally had 34-single studio rooms but now contains 34 one-bedroom units that are around 500 square feet each.
“As a grad student or young executive you want to be proud of the place you live, and my vision was to come in and make this building a nice place to live again,” Panattoni said.
Panattoni said he decided the complex’s location at Third Avenue and Fillmore Street was ideal for a younger market. Rent for new rooms will range from $600 to $650.
“When I did my rent survey I found that most of the apartment complexes in the area did not have vacancies, and most of them weren’t even nice places,” Panattoni said.
Journalism sophomore, Dominick DiFurio, said he is not proud of his current living situation. DiFurio lives at The Met apartments, and he said that he should be getting a lot more for the amount of money he is paying.
“I have to say the Met has not lived up to my expectations. I realized after moving into my place I could have moved in to a much nicer place for the same price,” DiFurio said.
Vaughn Hillyard, a journalism senior, is constantly lugging camera equipment from his apartment to his classes, so he chose to live at The Met Apartments because of the short walk to campus. The Met was both affordable and close to school, he added.
“I think that the location of The Filmore and that price is a reasonable opportunity for students to live in the downtown community,” Hillyard said.
Kyle Wyloge, real estate agent and marketer for The Filmore, said he thinks the renovation could have a positive impact on the downtown community.
“There are no apartment complexes like this and I think we will see a lot more properties like this coming along in the next few years,” Wyloge said.
Designed with new quartz countertops, cabinets, appliances and free Wi-Fi, Panattoni said the complex should be finished in a few weeks.
Marcus Jones, a public service and public policy senior, considers proximity and cost to be the most important factors when searching for a place to live. Jones lived off campus last year and decided to come back to the Taylor Place Residence Hall to be closer to campus.
“What matters to me is convenience. How close is it to the grocery store? Is it in a safe neighborhood? Is it affordable? Based on the location, I could see students choosing to live at The Filmore,” Jones said.
When developing The Filmore apartments, Panattoni put emphasis on energy efficiency by installing double-paned windows and tankless water heaters in each room as well as using 50 percent recycled materials for the flooring.
“We made it one of our goals to be energy efficient when we were working on this project, and in my opinion I think we did a pretty good job,” Panattoni said.
The Filmore has a pool in the center of the complex and is equipped with storage units so that students can store larger items such as bikes or other bulky equipment.
“Everyone wants to feel good about where they live. I think with the improvements that we have made to the units, and the time and care that we have put into designing and maximizing the space, makes our building really stand out among our competitors,” Panattoni said.
Panattoni is working on creating a website that should launch in the next week so that students can apply and find more information about The Filmore online.
Contact the reporter at csteinka@asu.edu
