Encore on First West: Phase II Infill Project in The New Urban Downtown Mesa

Phase II: Encore on First West @ 47 W First Avenue,

This ongoing 44-unit construction project is a good example of form-based zoning, an urban infill project on long-vacant City-owned property, transit-oriented development and public-private partnerships creating new urban downtown areas in Arizona

A week after it happened, here's an online press release from the construction company:
Weitz announces groundbreaking of Encore on First West

May 14, 2015

http://www.weitz.com/2015/05/encore-on-first-west-breaks-ground-mesa-ariz/ 

The same day @ 1:24 p.m.  on March 14. 2015 - again another week after the Weitz Construction crew bulldozed down landscape plantings on the west perimeter of Encore on First  - rosemary shrubs, 50-ft perimeter plantings of Hopseed bushes, 12 Southern Live Oak trees, and 30 blooming yuccas - another announcement came from Yahoo Finance via Phoenix Business Wire http://finance.yahoo.com/news/encore-first-west-breaks-ground-172400165.html

Encore On First got a RED 2014 Award

. . . Still no announcement from the City of Mesa about "a groundbeaking". 

How does your blogger know that May 6, 2015 was "ground-breaking day" for the new 44-unit Encore on First West? 

Residents were given "immediate notice" to move their cars from the west side of the parking lot out of the open spaces or under the carport - about 28 spaces - since that area would be turned into a construction site, without being told when that exact day would be. 

For over a month now construction crews have been arriving early, between 5:30-6:00 a.m., running large heavy duty equipment making loud noise, removing the carport structure and the paved blacktop area, dirt in-haul and out-haul, pounding out concrete pilings that shake the structure of this building, and working hard to grade and level what used to be a water retention basin on the side of the carport. Foundation excavations for concrete building supports are a work in progress in the first weeks of June

Site Preparation on Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Even before new construction started, open balconies on the westside and southside of Encore on First received airborne dust and dirt from the two empty city-owned large lots with frontage on the eastside of Macdonald south of First Avenue - one is black-topped but nonetheless is a catch-all surface for dust that just blows into balconies, and the other is open-surface without vegetation covering that can create an even greater dust hazard/risk or unhealthy side effects for those residents that have breathing or lung issues.

I'm all for progress, but let's keep in mind the overall well-being and quality of life for occupants of transit-oriented development

Dust hazard? do something about it: minimize. Loud Noise Pollution? what do you do?

Phase I unit called Encore on First was completed in mid-November 2014, receiving an Arizona Real Estate Development [RED] Award for Best Multi-Family Project under 250,000 Sq. ft. RED 2014 Award for Encore on First.
 [Hover over or click-on link to read the original article]

According the AZBigMedia report, "Encore on First is one of downtown Mesa’s first private sector investments in nearly three decades, . .  It is an 81-unit, transit-oriented apartment community for independent seniors who desire a walkable lifestyle. The site is all about location, which is benefited by several civic amenities ...The building mixes the urban landscape setting with metal wall panels, colored glass landscape panels and white steel elements with a more tranquil rural look with a pocket park and reflecting pool. The building is built to attract residents and to catalyze future developments on the building and the surrounding area . . . sustainable resources include a 60 KW solar plant located on the roof that is tied into the City of Mesa’s downtown power grid, electric vehicle charging stations, LED lighting and high-performance windows and appliances."

Todd Marshall, the president of Urban Development Partners, says the company was founded with a passion for infill development and the belief that urban redevelopment is both an opportunity and a responsibility to create a diverse and sustainable community.

[Image credit: architectmagazine.com]