BizCONSTRUCTION Avilla Luxury Rental Homes in Tucson (Year Completed)
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1) Tanque Verde (2012) 2) Marana One (2013) 3) River (2014) 4) Preserve (2014) 5) Sabino One (2014) 6) Marana Two (2016) 7) Sabino Two (2016) 8) Pima Canyon Apartments (Coming in 2018)
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corridors,” which means most Avilla neighborhoods are close to one of Tucson’s river systems. During the past decade, there has been a strong shift among young professionals to shy away from homeownership, Karber said. In many cases they can certainly afford to buy, but choose not to do so. (Avilla household incomes average $80,000 or more.) Karber feels this goes back to the months and years following Sept. 11. “In 2001 there was a nesting effect,” he said, noting that many owners stayed home more and fixed up their houses. “Then when the Great Recession happened, they doubled down. People were unsure of their source of income, and the desire to build an ever-bigger house decreased.” 172 BizTucson
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Summer 2018
Karber and his partners understand the freedom of a rental lifestyle and try to make it as desirable as possible for their residents. “We wrap almost everything into rent – for example, we even change air filters. They pay their own electricity and we bundle almost everything else in the rent – it’s simple.” An interesting trend that came to Karber’s attention was with the female demographic. At Avilla Sabino, where only three-bedroom homes are available, he noticed that a high percentage of residents were single women. When he asked some of them about their choice of three bedrooms, they replied, “I think of it as a one-bedroom with a hobby room and a guest room.” Looking forward, Aerie has plans to continue building Avilla products in the
Tucson area. “We have 27 acres near Ina and Thornydale along the Cañada del Oro bank. There are about 280 Avilla homes there to date, with room for about 300 more.” Pima Canyon Luxury Rentals is a modified Avilla-style Aerie project nearing completion on Orange Grove Road one block west of Oracle Road. Instead of single-story detached homes, Pima Canyon is made up of two-story, eightplex buildings laid out so each home is a corner unit. The homes retain many of the sought-after features of Avilla, such as 10-foot-high ceilings. Another housing type that Aerie partners are committed to is what Karber called “urban-core product.” It includes rentals in or near downtown, for continued on page 174 >>> www.BizTucson.com
photos: www.balfourwalker.com
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