Upscale homes going in at Rural & Elliot, Warner & Hardy

By Matthew Garcia

The city of Tempe has approved construction of a residential development project in south Tempe and awaits approval of a second.               

Scott Communities--a Tempe based development company--will begin construction of single–family housing units on the southwest corner of Rural and Elliot roads.

Pending approval is another proposed single-family housing development near Warner Road and Hardy Drive.

Troy Weiman, a sales associate for Scott Communities, said 42 units will be built on the site at Rural and Elliot. The community, named Toscana, will be a high-end, private, gated community with homes priced from $500,000 to $600,000.

The first two phases of homes--the first 15 to 20 homes being built--have already sold out, Weiman said.

"Because there is no more land left, there is a big demand to live in Tempe," Weiman said.

With much of Tempe’s residential development occurring in the north, Arlene Palisoc, of the city of Tempe’s Development Services Department, said the two projects exposed an ever-increasing shortage of developable residential space in south Tempe.

“South Tempe doesn’t have a lot of vacant space, and the available space is zoned commercial,” Palisoc said.

As a result, she said, the city is considering rezoning some commercially zoned space to residential space in south Tempe.

If approved, the possible site at Warner Road and Hardy Drive will be rezoned from commercial to residential, Palisoc said.

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