Look for a ton of new hip, cool, edgy and architecturally interesting loft projects to come to Tempe over the next year or more. Two worth mentioning include:

Dorsey Place Condominiums at University and Dorsey is a ninety unit condo project. Although we havent seen design renderings yet and we dont know if it will be architecturally interesting or not Im including it here for two reasons: 1) it will be relatively close to a Tempe light rail station and just two miles from Downtown Tempe on Mill Avenue, the new Tempe Arts Center, Tempe Town Lake, Tempe Beach Park, and the future Tempe Mall and 2) I believe that they will be priced affordably for university students and first time home buyers. The condos will be housed in a four story building at the back of the property. There are two different floor plans offering a straight two bedroom option and also a two bedroom with a den option. Square footages are 1100 and 1300 square feet respectively. Parking for the residential condos is one assigned spot in the parking structure per condo. The property also has 7,000 square feet of commercial condos available at the front of the property. The residential condo element will be separated from the commercial condo element via a security fence and gate. Expect to see prices approximately June 2006.

Phase Two of Hayden Ferry has broken ground and reservations are being accepted. The project is being built by SunCor Development Company (a subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corp., which is the holding company for Arizona Public Service Company; I mention this because I love doing business with financially strong entities) and in my opinion is one of the best high rise condo projects in Tempe; heck, for that matter its one of the best in the entire Phoenix metro area! It sits right on Tempe Town Lake has great views of Tempe Mill Avenue Bridge, is a very short walk from Tempe Beach Park, the new Tempe Arts Center, the new Tempe light rail station on Mill Avenue, and all the great entertainment and restaurants in downtown Tempe. If even half of the projects planned along Tempe Town Lake get built then Hayden Ferry will be THE place to live. If for some reason development at the Lake slows down and the other high rise and loft projects dont get built, the existing venues are enough to make this a great place to live. With delivery of phase two almost two years away and with condo units ranging from the mid $400 to 700 per square foot, this is a make sense project.