Gilbane moves forward on 277-unit student housing complex in Tempe

Project would replace a 186-room Moxy hotel half a mile from Arizona State campus

Gilbane Moves Ahead on Student Housing Complex in Tempe

A photo illustration of Gilbane CEO Thomas Gilbane along with a rendering of 1333 South Rural Road in Tempe (Gilbane Development)

Gilbane Development has moved forward with plans to build a 277-unit apartment complex for Arizona State University students in Tempe, just east of Phoenix.

Tempe’s Development Review Commission recommended approving the eight-story student housing complex at 1333 South Rural Road, the Phoenix Business Journal reported. A 186-room Moxy hotel would be demolished.

Plans by the Rhode Island-based developer led by Thomas Gilbane call for a 578,800-square-foot complex known as Vale Student Housing, with mostly two- and four-bedroom apartments, with some studio, one- and three-bedroom units. 

The project, designed by Phoenix-based Todd & Associates, would include what appears to be concrete frames around banks of inset windows trimmed in gray and ochre, according to a rendering. The bottom two stories would be clad in aquamarine panels.

The Tempe City Council will consider the proposed student housing, a half mile south of the ASU Tempe campus, at an undisclosed date.

The student housing would replace the four-story Moxy Phoenix Tempe/ASU Area hotel, which was opened in 2016 by Moxy by Marriott International for millennials and business travelers. It was the first Moxy-branded hotel in the U.S.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

The 99,000-square-foot hotel, built in 1970 and renovated in 2017, was once home to the Four Points by Sheraton hotel, according to the Business Journal.

The 3.9-acre site includes a CVS Pharmacy, which wouldn’t be touched by the proposed student apartments. 

It’s not clear when Gilbane bought the property, and for what price.

Read more

CAI Investments Could Lose Tempe Hotel in Foreclosure Sale
Commercial
Phoenix
CAI Investments could lose Westin Tempe hotel in foreclosure auction
Gilbane Development Group’s Blaise Rastello with 280 East 161 Street and 1105 Jerome Avenue (Gilbane Development Group, LoopNet, Getty)
Commercial
New York
Gilbane buys Bronx affordable housing portfolio for $107M
Commercial
New York
Stop, hammer time: Q&A with NYC construction boss Bill Gilbane

Gilbane Development is a unit of Gilbane, a family firm founded in 1870 by the son of Irish immigrants. The builder of affordable and student housing has $8.5 billion in completed or ongoing projects, including 25,000 homes, according to its website.

The firm’s other Tempe projects include a 164-unit affordable workforce housing complex and a 326-unit mixed-use complex designed for ASU students, according to its website.

— Dana Bartholomew