High-rise Condominiums Planned For Hot Office Area

PHOENIX-One of the most popular corners in the Valley for office development is getting some high-rise housing.

Phoenix-based Pivotal Group and Los Angeles-based William E. Simon & Sons Realty have formed a joint venture, the Pivotal Simon Group, and plans to begin construction early next year on Esplanade Place, a 12-story, 56-home condominium high-rise at the southeast corner of 24th Street and Camelback Road in the Camelback Esplanade.

“This development will offer an unparalleled cosmopolitan lifestyle for residents who want to enjoy the dynamic Esplanade area,” said Francis Najafi, CEO of the Pivotal Group.

Located in the heart of Phoenix’s prestigious Camelback Corridor, Esplanade Place will be adjacent to the Ritz Carlton Hotel and within walking distance of the Biltmore Fashion Park. The Esplanade area is just a half-mile from the Squaw Peak Freeway.

Groundbreaking for Esplanade Place is expected in spring 2001, with completion and move-in anticipated for summer 2002. Homes, available for sale after the first of the year, will range from 2,400 to 4,250 sf, with prices projected from $500,000 to $2.5 million. The high-rise condominiums will feature a doorman-staffed lobby; state-of-the-art fitness center,; distinguished clubroom; full-service business center; and a rooftop spa, sundeck and negative-edge pool will complete the luxury high-rise.

Phoenix-based Cornoyer-Hedrick is the architect for Esplanade Place. McCarthy is the general contractor. The Pivotal Simon Group is working in collaboration with homebuilder Geoffrey H. Edmunds.

Esplanade Place will be the first high-rise condominium project to be built in the area along Camelback Corridor, which has been an office meeca for years. The intersection of 24th Street and Camelback Road is the center of the Valley’s professional service firms, including commercial real estate brokerage and financial lending. A fifth office tower is currently under construction at the Camelback Esplanade.

The Pivotal Group is an institutionally based, diversified real estate investment and development firm. The company owns Camelback Esplanade and the Ritz-Carlton, but sold both the hotel and parcels off in the past five years. The Pivotal Group also owns the WestWing Mountain, a 1,300-acre master-planned community in northwest Phoenix; the landmark Century Plaza and St. Regis hotels in Los Angeles; and Promontory, a $500-million, 6,000-acre master-planned resort community in Summit County, Utah.