With Town Council approval of the Phase I concept plan for Park Place on Aug. 18, site work for the construction could begin as soon as next week, according to Bart Shea, President of N-Shea Group, the developer for the downtown apartment complex.

Shea said he has scheduled excavation to begin Sept. 6, the day following Labor Day. He added he would not use an “at risk” permit and wait until he had the grading permit in hand.

The council voted 5-2 to approve the concept plan for the project with Council Members Henry Leger and Cassie Hansen voting no, saying they would remain consistent with their opposition to the project. Hansen was not present in council chambers, but participated via telephone.

Councilman Alan Magazine stated his opposition, but changed his vote in favor.

“I hope I am wrong,” Magazine said. “I hope this project will be a tremendous success.”

The other four votes, Mayor Linda Kavanagh, Vice Mayor Nick DePorter, and Councilmen Dennis Brown and Cecil Yates have been consistent in their support of the plan.

Staff had stipulated a dozen items with the concept plan, and Shea challenged a number of them. He considered them redundant or already stipulated in the development agreement.

Brown, a contractor and homebuilder, agreed with Shea, and explained that in the case of one stipulation calling for all infrastructure installation to be complete prior to building out of the ground, it is not practical for this type of project.

“This is a standard requirement and fine for subdivision development,” Brown said. “But it is not practical for this project.”

There was a similar discussion related to the sequence of issuing a certificate of occupancy on the completed project.

Shea argued that work may be complete and ready to move in at one end of the complex, while work at the other end may not be finished for several more months. He said it doesn’t make sense to make potential residents and the developer to wait the additional time for move it and rent collection. He also cited the rent as an advantage for town revenue.

There were six other stipulations that Shea agreed to. An additional stipulation related to expanding a traffic turn lane on Saguaro Boulevard at Paul Nordin Parkway, both sides agreed to revisit that stipulation with the concept plan for Phase III of the overall project – which is a 100 unit apartment building at Paul Nordin Parkway and Verde River Drive, directly behind the Community Center.

Park Place Phase I is a mixed use project that would stretch from Town Hall down the Avenue to the halfway point between Verde River Drive and Saguaro Boulevard. Two mirror image buildings would be constructed on either side of Verde River Drive.

The initial phase calls for 230 apartment units on three floors above about 32,000 square feet of commercial on the ground.

The concept plan also includes information from parking and traffic reports.

Zoning issues such as building height, allowing residential within commercial zoning, drainage and parking concessions were covered by a development agreement previously approved by the council.

Overall, in three phases, the Park Place development is to include 404 one-, two- and three-bedroom residential units, 43,000 square feet of commercial and will add additional parking on town-owned property and provide a small pocket park, as well as an art walk.

The development agreement outlines a six-year timeline for construction of all three phases of the project.