Proposed Tempe 7-story apartment complex features plants but isn't 'green'

Tempe soon could get a new seven-story apartment complex covered with trees and other green plants, a project that would bring 275 new housing units if city officials give it the go-ahead next week.

The complex would be located on a two-acre lot at 1734 E. Apache Blvd. at McClintock Drive near the Valley Metro light rail stop. The property currently houses the shuttered Sun Devil Car wash, a Pride gas station, a smoke shop and a handful of other small stores.

The developer, Apache and McClintock LLC, wants to raze those buildings to make way for the seven-story complex that would have about 7,600 of retail space on the ground floor and 275 apartments. It would include 117 studio units, 138 one-bedrooms and 20 two-bedrooms.

Project attorney Jeff Blilie said the project would have a “biophilic design,” surrounded by trees and bushes outside and on patios, as well as an ivy-like plant draped over some of the outside walls. The Optima Kierland apartment complex in Scottsdale has a similar look.

The ground floor commercial space would include restaurants with outdoor dining and a fitness center. The main lobby also would have a variety of small vendors and a “beverage bar" open to the public. Blilie said.

“What (the properties) are being used for now, versus what it’s hopefully going to be — outstanding,” City Councilmember Joel Navarro said after Blilie pitched the project at the April 25 council meeting.

The complex received a unanimous "yes" vote from Tempe’s Development Review Commission, so the only thing remaining is to get final approval from the City Council. It is on the council agenda for May 9.

Tempe's new general plan comes into play

That will be less tricky than it would have been two months ago.

The project originally needed city officials to tweak Tempe's general plan, which is essentially a blueprint for growth that dictates what general types of buildings are allowed on certain plots of land. Changing it requires a supermajority of five "yes" votes on the seven-person council, rather than the normal four.

Voters removed that hurdle March 12 when they overwhelmingly passed a new blueprint called General Plan 2050. The updated plan allows for taller and denser buildings in some areas, including on this site.

Rejected: Tempe voters distrusted the Arizona Coyotes more than supporters on the council. Why?

The developer now needs Tempe to change the zoning from strictly commercial to one that allows both housing and retail. Apache and McClintock LLC also is asking for permission to have just 207 parking spaces, about 100 fewer than what Tempe typically would require.

But while the project was generally well received by City Council members, it may not be entirely in the clear.

Councilmembers Doreen Garlid, Jennifer Adams and Arleene Chin all voiced concerns over the developer's commitment to an environmentally friendly project.

The development proposal has a range of conservation-minded features. Residents are more likely to use public transit because it’s right next to the light rail, and the parking area will include five electric car-charging stations.

Architect Peter Koliopoulos also said the project would use “a lot of materials that have low emissions from where they’re manufactured” and that “there will be low water use fixtures, the mechanical units will be high-efficiency, (and) the external envelope of the building will have external insulation round the building.”

What raised eyebrows on the council dais was that the developer didn’t follow Tempe’s relatively new “Green Building Code,” which is an alternative slate of environmentally friendly building rules that are mandatory for city-owned buildings but voluntary for private developers.

The program depends on developers wanting to opt in but doesn’t offer any incentives for them to do so. That can be problematic as building green can cost up to 10% more than normal.

“It is voluntary, but it’s really important that we want to start seeing people step up and take the opportunity to volunteer and do that,” Garlid told Blilie at the meeting, asking him to review the green code to see if they could add anything else from it to his project.

The developer will present any tweaks before city officials take a final vote on the project. The May 9 City Council meeting begins at 6 p.m.

Reporter Sam Kmack covers Tempe, Scottsdale and Chandler. Follow him on X @KmackSam or reach him at sam.kmack@arizonarepublic.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Proposed Tempe apartment complex features plants but isn't 'green'