By J. Graber
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A mixed-use development near the intersection of Scottsdale and Camelback roads called the Hazel & Azure took one more step toward becoming reality May 4.

The Scottsdale Development Review Board voted 6-0 to approve improvements to the canal area stretching from the project south to Camelback road. Board member Doug Craig recused himself from the discussion and vote on the project.

The multi-use project calls for 539 apartments and 14,610 square feet of commercial space on a 3.73-acre site next to the Arizona Canal and Scottsdale Fashion Square mall.

The Hazel will be 12 stories tall and house high-end apartments. The Azure will be eight stories tall with more medium-priced apartments.
The project’s 837 parking spots will be hidden underground and there will also be five open spaces with public art.

The Hazel & Azure will include sustainability design elements like recessed windows, deep roof overhangs, low-water-use plant species, and low-energy consumption lighting. The buildings were also designed in accordance with the United States Green Building Code.

Plans for the prime piece of real estate first included two, 12-story buildings with 749 apartments under another developer but Orlando, Florida-based ZOM Multi Family Living, which bought the property just prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, intentionally scaled back the project, said Jason Morris, an attorney for the project.

Downsizing the project allowed for more amenities and open space for the public, Morris said.

“The idea was to create a right-sized project,” Morris said.

The Scottsdale City Council will vote on the proposed improvements to the canal area during its May 16 meeting. That will be the last hurdle the project needs to clear.

“We’re at a point now where this is the item that is standing between us and starting construction on this,” Morris said.

ZOM is proposing to break the canal frontage between the project and Camelback Road into three distinct sections.

The first section, which sits between the Azure and the canal, will be more of a public park type area with five-foot blinder walls between the Azure and the canal where the building hosts residential units. Parts of the building that are not residential in nature will not have the blinder walls in front of it.

The development review board’s only request was to remove the blinder walls where possible.

“From the public side, having this area a little more open is going to make it a little bit of a bigger area, especially connected to public art,” board member Ali Fakih said.

The second two sections of the canal frontage stretch south past the Hazel & Azure property to Camelback Road. It was part of the original development agreement for the developer of the site to also improve those two areas of canal frontage, and Zom chose to honor that “because they really do believe it is an amenity for their residents and the city,” Morris said.

ZOM officials have been working with the property owners as well as the city of Scottsdale, SRP and the flood control district to figure out the best approach to improving the canal frontage, said Chris Brown, the landscape architect for the project.

“The biggest challenge with this stretch of the canal has been trying to find a comfort zone or compromise between the flood control district, their existing storm water infrastructure that exists within this right of way, the city of Scottsdale, the citizens and ZOM’s desire to do as much as we possibly can through this stretch to make it a very pleasant pathway and to make it a critical link in this regional pathway system,” Brown said.

The development of the second section is limited by flood control devices on it, but the third area, the part that is at the intersection of the canal and Camelback Road, will be much more park like too, Brown said.

J. Graber can be reached at jgraber@iniusa.org. We invite our readers to submit their civil comments pro or con on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.