Changing the Character of Arcadia
Tearing down to build up
Some residents fear new homes
will erase 1950s-era charm of Phoenix’s Arcadia area
Glen Creno
The
Arizona Republic
May. 31, 2007 12:00 AM
Big, modern homes are changing the character of Phoenix’s Arcadia neighborhood, sparking concern among residents that the area’s 1950s charm is evaporating one house at a time.
The east Phoenix spot has long been known for its quiet streets, lush landscaping, citrus trees and vintage ranch homes. It’s also one of several city spots to become a destination for reverse migration, where families disenchanted with the ritzy, far-off locales move closer in, often bringing their taste for grand homes with them.
But without room to build, developers are buying up older homes and tearing them down. Since 2005, more than 50 demolition permits have been issued in Arcadia.
Some residents say the neighborhood is nearing a tipping point.
“As the years go by, the pace of change has accelerated dramatically where it’s noticeable month by month,” said Roger Brevoort, who has lived in Arcadia for 16 years and serves on the neighborhood association’s zoning committee. “At some point, Arcadia is not as attractive because it has changed from a consistent neighborhood to an inconsistent neighborhood.”
Part of what gave Arcadia its charm are the ’50s-era houses. They sit on a half-acre, an acre or more and their low-slung profiles help show off knockout views of Camelback Mountain.
But some residents and builders say the old houses are no longer attractive to today’s buyers.
Shawn Bellamak has lived in Arcadia for most of his 40 years. He said people have been replacing the old ranch houses for years, noting property values have been going up during that time. The median price for new and existing homes in the ZIP code that covers Arcadia and some adjacent neighborhoods rose 150 percent between 2001 and 2006 to $500,000. Arcadia homes typically sell for more than $1 million.
Today’s buyers want a more open layout rather than the collection of compartmentalized rooms in the typical ranch, said Bellamak, a real estate agent.
He and his wife overhauled an old ranch house in the neighborhood and later decided to knock it down and build new. He built a two-story, 5,700-square-foot house and kept the roofline to 7 feet under the 30-foot limit. He and his family are moving in now.
“What I can’t stand is, ‘I got mine. You can’t have yours,’ ” he said. “I grew up here. I played in people’s backyards. I don’t think any of that (neighborhood feeling) has gone away.”
Teardowns are common in the Phoenix area, particularly in areas that are in hot demand but built-out, such as Paradise Valley, north-central Phoenix and some Scottsdale neighborhoods.
A teardown in Paradise Valley might sit on a twisting, hilly street behind a shield of oleanders. In Arcadia, the streets are largely an open grid. Some houses are shielded, but it’s easy to compare the new houses with the old ones. In some cases, it’s like seeing a Hummer parked in a line of Mini Coopers.
Arcadia covers an estimated 3 square miles and stretches from the top of the south slope of Camelback Mountain to the north side of Indian School Road, and from the east side of 44th Street to the west side of 64th Street, according to the neighborhood association.
The land was controlled by Maricopa County when it was platted and was later annexed by Phoenix in 1964. Part of the early push for development was Motorola’s transistor plant near 56th Street south of Indian School, said Richard Rea, who moved to Arcadia in 1955. He said the engineers not only liked living close to work but also valued the area’s schools.
Traditionally, rooflines have averaged 14 feet. But newer houses can go as high as 30 feet. The result is “goofy McMansions,” Rea said.
“Nobody thought heights would go that high,” he said. “It wasn’t being done. In those days, the economics of the area did not argue for building humongous houses.”
A big, yellow backhoe stands in front of an empty ranch house in the 4600 block of East Exeter Boulevard. The house is scheduled for demolition next week. A local agent says a development company is planning to build a two-story spec house that would fit the aesthetics of the neighborhood.
But the tug in Arcadia is not just about consistency, architectural integrity and old against new. It’s also about money.
Developers are paying top dollar for the older houses. Sonora West Development, a Scottsdale company that builds in Arcadia, bought two houses there last week, one for $1.64 million and the other for $1.04 million. It closed on another Arcadia house Wednesday for $1.65 million.
To make their investment work, developers and buyers try to maximize the ratio of house to land. That lets them collect on one of the key methods in valuing a house: price per square foot.
A good acre in Arcadia costs $1.8 million or $1.9 million, said Scott Pfeiffer, president of Sonora West Development. If people are spending that kind of money, they don’t want a ranch house. They want a French country design or a Craftsman-style cottage with high ceilings, he said.
“Half the people tell you the older homes are against the character of the neighborhood now,” Pfeiffer said. “They are turning the area into an upscale, high-end community. . . . If I had 10 people who wanted to build low-slung, ranch-style houses, I’d do it.”
One way to preserve a neighborhood is to get a historic designation.
Phoenix has designated 35 residential historic neighborhoods, but Arcadia has not been classified that way.
Homes in historic neighborhoods can’t easily be torn down, and any new ones must be similar to the prevailing design. The designation also allows residents to get a 50 percent break on property tax.
Neighborhood activists say it’s much harder to obtain the designation since last year’s passage of Proposition 207, a property-rights initiative that critics say has cramped the ability of neighborhoods to be classified as historic. They also note that some residents don’t like the red tape associated with historic neighborhoods.
Barbara Stocklin, Phoenix’s historic preservation officer, said the city has designated only a few individual properties in Arcadia.
She said Phoenix has been working on a project for several years to identify important post-World War II neighborhoods.
“Arcadia is one of the areas that we’re looking at,” she said. “It has a lot of nice post-World War II subdivisions.
“Historic designation for neighborhoods is not easy to achieve. You have to have almost 100 percent consensus that you want that designation. Neighborhoods may or may not want it.”
Renee Walter, a Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage agent, has three listings in Arcadia, including her own home. She’d like to move to a smaller place in the same neighborhood but said there are few such houses, noting that some of the new houses “look like small hotels or inns.”
“Arcadia has changed over the years since it originally was developed,” she said.
“Development always cycles through. It changes. But I think the charm of Arcadia will always be there. The location is fabulous. It will never get worse. It will always get better.”
Without the clout of a historic designation, residents like Breevort are fighting change one zoning hearing at a time. They win some. They lose some.
Last week, a tussle with a developer who split a couple of lots and wanted to change alignment of new homes wound up in a stalemate, the decision delayed.
“I’m not going to admit to you we are losing,” Brevoort said. “I spend a lot of time and a lot of breath trying to keep ahead.”