By Richard Dyer
Twitter: @RHDyer

Cabana Southern with 250 studio to two-bedroom apartments is to be constructed on 8.1 acres west of Crismon Road on the south side of Southern Avenue.

Four three-story buildings will each be built around an amenity courtyard, Mesa Planner Cassidy Welch said during the May 11 Zoom meeting of the Mesa Design Review Board.

“Each of the courtyards are focused around a different theme, so one may be more focused for grilling while another may be for exercising, another more for relaxing,” she said.

Materials include sand, smooth and raked stucco; concrete masonry units; and smooth and patterned lap-siding finishes, she said.

Cabana Southern will be similar to other Cabana apartment complexes, Rob Gaspard of Worksbureau Architects told the design review board.

“(I)t’s a branded project — Cabana is a branded project,” he said. “This is sort of like their big cousin, so it has evolved — and the Cabana brand continues to evolve — and so there’s a lot more finessing with detailing and the massing ... some of the movement in the facade — both in the horizontal and the vertical planes — which is really important to the project.”

Sean Lake of Pew and Lake PLC is the applicant and Sunny Acres/Montgomery 320 LLC is the owner.

The units are laid out in four sets of “quads,” each with three‐story building blocks that are united by shaded entry corridors and a central outdoor amenity area, according to a project narrative.

“Proposed building massing does not double the rows of units and arranges windows so as to permit natural lighting to enter each unit from both sides. This enhances privacy, security and quality of the interior spaces. Shaded, connecting walkways lead to an enclosed open space amenity area, and these courtyards serve as the heart of the community,” it states.

Concerns from the design review board include making sure there is an in-and-out movement of the sides and rears of the buildings between corner elements, adding a variety of shrubs, changing the look of roof bridges, making sure a parking canopy roof is painted, and that a mesh fence at a pool be architecturally consistent.

“So we’ll work with the applicant to see if we can get some additional movement and undulation between those materials,” Mesa Planner Welch said. “We will look at the trees in the easement locations as well as looking at adding more variety with the shrub species. And then looking at those roof bridges that are shown to connect the different building components, seeing if we can find a way to lighten those up so they don’t look so heavy and overwhelming.”

The Design Review Board is unique in that its composition is set by the zoning ordinance to include two architects; two from other design professions, such as landscape architecture, engineering, urban planning, interior design or other design-related background; one contractor or developer; and two citizens.

The board reviews buildings of four or more stories in height; any multiple residential projects that exceed the RM-2 density range, which is a minimum lot size of 7,200 square feet; commercial and industrial projects that have frontage on an arterial street or that are part of an existing or planned development that has frontage on an arterial street; and any commercial and industrial projects which have, or will have, greater than 20,000 square feet of gross floor area. It also reviews parking garages and city of Mesa municipal projects, according to the city’s website.

Richard Dyer
Managing Editor | East Valley
@RHDyer

rdyer@iniusa.org

Meet Richard
Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.  

Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions. 

Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.

Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.

Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.