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Courtesy photo

A wide courtyard is sheltered between the pair of two-story office buildings that dominate the Villages at Troon North project. The project’s overall design avoids a big box profile and was created by Tempe-based RSP Architects.
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Courtesy photo

Prominent buildings of The Villages at Troon North enjoy frontage on Dynamite Road. The parking area, which stretches across 17 acres, is buffered by broad landscaping and has enough of a setback to accommodate nearby pedestrian and bicycle paths.
(Click picture to see larger image)

Office space in varied sizes and shapes
by RaeAnne Marsh

The 143,000-square-foot commercial office/warehouse development partly completed at Dynamite and Pima roads in north Scottsdale owes its design in part to a collaboration that included the residents of Estancia, which borders it on the south. The property, acquired by Carefree-based developers Paragon Partners five years ago, boasts a boulder outcropping that attracted principal Doug Dragoo to the setting, according to his partner Michael Blenes. The outcropping created challenges for the project’s contractor, Scottsdale-based The Renaissance Companies. "The city did not want it disturbed," Blenes added. The outcropping has been integrated into the extensive landscaping that surrounds the commercial development. And overlooking it all only a few miles south is the distinctive spire of Pinnacle Peak.

The Villages at Troon North covers 17 acres. Its zoning allows retail, although Blenes said Paragon is concentrating on office space. Ten buildings of varied size will comprise the completed development. Crediting Tempe-based RSP Architects with the design, Blenes explained, "We’re giving it a residential feel because it’s so close to Estancia."

Stucco is painted in colors chosen to blend with the environment, in muted hues of desert sands and sunsets, beneath a standing seam roof. Exteriors also include stone accents. Along with an overall shape that avoids a big box profile, the architecture’s exterior elements break it visually into smaller units through variation in roof height, window shape, and recessed and protruding sections of wall.

With Phase I already sold out, Phase II is scheduled to break ground in September. Blenes anticipates completion in 18 months. As in Phase I, the buildings will exclusively feature exterior entrances. "You can just walk up to the door," noted Greg Hopley, the commercial broker with Colliers Classic who represents the project.

While office space in the 32,000-square-foot Phase I ranged upward from 1,000 square feet, Phase II offers space starting at 581 square feet. Predetermined spaces are sectioned into units of up to 1,773 square feet, but, as Hopley pointed out, they can be combined to create larger units. The buildings vary in size as well as shape: Phase II’s E, F and G are 30,000, 25,000 and 15,000 square feet, respectively. Like the buildings that house them, the units also include some uniquely configured spaces. Rectangles predominate, to be sure, but there are "L’s" and other nonstandard shapes as well.

Dominating the project by their size as well as their proximity to Dynamite Road, buildings E and F occupy a central position on the site, their angularly arranged wings enclosing a long, sheltered courtyard between the pair of large two-story structures. Building G is situated farther back from the street on the southern side of the property, in a row with Phase I buildings B, C and D. D has a linear footprint, but the other three are designed with a "U" shape and enfold their own courtyards.

The final phase, III, will cover the eastern portion of the property, neighboring the 9th hole of the new Pinnacle Golf Course. Two smaller pads, H and K, which have already been sold, are located on the property’s northern side and enjoy frontage on Dynamite Road, while the 25,000-square-foot Building J will stand further back from the street. Expected completion for Phase III is approximately 24 months ahead, but parts of it may be completed sooner; according to Hopley. Building J may see construction concurrent with Phase II if there is early interest from prospective occupants.

Two driveways enter the property from Dynamite Road, separating it into unequal thirds. In the middle stands the largest section with its Phase I and II buildings. West and east flanks are, respectively, Chase Bank’s section with its solitary building, and the Phase III section with its three buildings.

Parking stretches across the 17 acres, configured for proximity to The Villages’ various buildings. Five-hundred-thirty-five spaces in all, they lie between and against the buildings, but are buffered from the surrounding streets by broad landscaped areas. (The landscaped set-back on Dynamite is wide enough to accommodate the winding length of pedestrian/bicycle path that crosses the property.) Some parking is covered, most of it part of the Phase I construction. Chase Bank, a stand-alone structure on the western side of the project, is the only building with parking on all four sides.

Purchasing and leasing at The Villages at Troon North is being handled by Greg Hopley of Colliers Classic at (602) 999-5396.

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