Much Discussed Scottsdale Mixed-Use Project Gets Council Green Light

Members of the Scottsdale City Council have given their approval to a significantly large project that will see the building of both new apartments, as well as up to 36,000 square feet of commercial space.

The company Optima Incorporated, which is based in Scottsdale, wants to build half a dozen eight-story buildings that will house some 1,330 apartment and condominium units. Each building will also include a rooftop pool.

Those buildings will be concrete-framed, featuring landscaped facades designed to incorporate the shapes of the nearby McDowell Mountains.

As planned, the project will see the construction of apartments ranging in size from studios to three-bedroom units.

Slated to go up on a 21-acre site at the southeast corner of Scottsdale Road and the Loop 101 freeway, what is being called the Optima McDowell Mountain Village will also include green space, a central courtyard, and a bicycle and pedestrian trail.

According to city documents, the project will additionally feature the “largest private residential rainwater harvesting project in the United States.” Rainwater will be stored in a concrete vault designed to hold up to 210,000 gallons of storm water.
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Optima describes itself as a “design-driven real estate development firm rooted in the modernist tradition.” The company, with offices also in Glencoe, Illinois, has spearheaded the development of sleekly-designed mixed-use projects in both Arizona and Illinois.

​By Garry Boulard

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