Construction is complete on an innovative, transit-oriented, attainable housing community in the heart of Tempe. The grand opening will take place on March 15 for a 129-unit multifamily project called Dwell @ 5th and Farmer located on a two-acre parcel at the intersection of 5th Street and Farmer Avenue. Dwell Tempe will provide new housing options for residents working in downtown Tempe, Arizona State University and other locations.
The attainable housing units are integrated with two existing creative office buildings and open space to create a true mixed-use development. The Tempe project is the first in what is envisioned to be a series of Dwell developments in the Valley.
Dwell is a unique infill project positioned to provide attainable downtown housing where rents are at the highest in the Valley. The new multifamily project includes a number of enticing amenities to create a true urban retreat.
The project uses the urban environment itself as an amenity. “High Walkability” scores in urban environments provide convenient access to employment, shopping, restaurants and nightlife, arts venues, outdoor recreation and public transportation. The design-forward units feature floor-to-ceiling glass, sliding doors and Juliette balconies. At the ground level, the buildings are positioned to engage pedestrians and create a walkable urban interface along the street frontage.
“We are very pleased to celebrate the grand opening of this innovative new community on this outstanding site adjacent to downtown Tempe,” said Kolby Smith of Holualoa Companies. “This is an ideal location for attainable urban living and we are excited to make the Dwell community a reality in Tempe. We look forward to expanding the concept across the Valley to increase the availability of attainable housing on a larger scale.”
“In Tempe, we recognize that development, business, housing and community are all critically linked,” said Tempe Mayor Corey Woods. “The completion of Dwell will greatly help our city by bringing much-needed workforce housing into the heart of Downtown Tempe. This project will allow residents to easily commute by mass transit or even walk to work and its location will encourage shopping and dining at local businesses in the area. I am thrilled to see this project come to life.”
Conceived to be a combination of flexible workspace and apartments for urban professionals, Dwell is designed to address the increasing housing accessibility challenge in urban locations without sacrificing quality, while capitalizing on the increasing availability of hybrid/remote work. Each of the units are designed to accommodate work from home, full-time or part-time, with either a separate office, or an alcove for a desk, or a millwork built-in desk.”
Rents are kept lower by developing underutilized commercial properties to reduce land and parking costs, and by using the urban environment itself as an amenity and replaces expensive and noisy pool/party decks with quieter and casual collaborative areas that are much less costly to pass along to residents.
The Tempe building design blends seamlessly with the award-winning architectural design of the existing Farmer Studios creative office buildings on the site, reinforcing the pedestrian experience along both 5th Street and Farmer Avenue.
A.R. Mays Construction was the general contractor for the project, and Architekton — which is located on site — and Worksbureau were the project architects. Turner CM provided construction management services, Sender Associates handled the entitlements and HILGARTWILSON was the civil engineer.
Tempe is adding more than a million square feet of office and commercial space and hundreds of hotel rooms within a half mile of the site. Steve Betts, Managing Director of Development for Holualoa Companies, said that “Dwell will contribute to the housing necessary to support Tempe’s growing workforce in the Downtown area where rents would otherwise continue to climb out of employees’ reach.”
“Tempe is one of most dynamic jobs markets in the Valley, and this project provides a critical new resource for housing to support its growth,” Betts said. “As these Dwell communities expand to have a Valley wide presence, they will be an important step forward in creating more housing options in the region.
