Apartment living in a condo environment
by RaeAnne Marsh

The apartments coming on line a block and a half south of Loop 101 on Cave Creek Road had a brief life as condominiums as they were developed. Since the reorganization occurred during the planning period of the project, the units feature amenities more usually associated with condos than apartments.

Granite countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms, hardwood floors-these number among the features common to all 237 units at Piétra, the apartment project that marks Wood Partners' debut into the Phoenix market.

"We made the decision [to change from apartment to condo] early enough in the project,"
said David Kubin, a director of the company, whose region encompasses Arizona, Nevada
and Utah, explaining how the upgrading of amenities was accommodated. But then, he
continued, Wood Partners realized that, with all the condo conversions coupled with the increase in home prices, there was a dearth of apartments to serve the population. Thus, the plan went full circle back to apartments.

Apartments offered are a 563 square foot studio, 826 and 928 square foot one bedroom units, and two bedroom apartments that range from 1,069 to 1240 square feet. Floor plans pull the maximum living use out of the square footage, and even the studio apartment features a large walk in closet.

In the two bedroom unit, neither bedroom is slighted. Each bedroom enjoys its own large walk in closet. One bedroom has its own full bathroom. A second full bath serves the rest of the apartment-located convenient to the other bedroom (directly across the hall), but only a few steps from the living room.

The living room is actually a great room, and it opens from an entry just long enough to
accommodate the washer/dryer alcove, which is hidden behind bi fold doors.

The kitchen opens to the living room in an arrangement that encourages entertaining. A wide
island separates the living room from the kitchen work area, with seating at the bar on one side and an electric cooktop on the other. The cooktop holds one corner of an efficient work triangle of cooktop, sink and refrigerator. There is even a pantry at one side of the kitchen. The dining area occupies an alcove alongside the kitchen and the living room.

All units feature either a balcony or a sunroom, the sunroom adding approximately 100 square feet to the interior living space. Now open for viewing, the one bedroom model displays the sunroom. It catches the eye from the first step into the apartment: an ante room to the living room, connected by a wide, arched doorway and basking in light from the bank of windows filling the rear wall.

The entry to the apartment leads first to a dining area and then to the living room. An arched doorway accessing the dining area leads to the kitchen, which is open to the living room over a breakfast bar spanning one short wall. Washer/ dryer alcove, again hidden behind bi fold doors, fills the back wall of the kitchen.

Display shelves are built into one wall of the living room and into the wall of the entryway open to the dining area.

The bedroom lies off to one side, cornered to the bathroom that serves the entire apartment-and therefore has a door facing the entertaining area of the space as well as one connecting directly to the bedroom.

As in all apartments, the ceiling configuration helps define the kitchen from the living room, as
it drops lower over the breakfast bar or kitchen island. This visually sets off the apartment into its
specific spaces and still maintain a sense of spaciousness. Ten foot ceilings are found in all units of Building A; buildings B, C and D feature nine foot ceilings.

The studio is necessarily more compact, but not confined. Its walk in closet spurs off the entry hallway, opposite the (stacked) washer/dryer closet and the bathroom. As in all apartments, the bathroom offers a wide countertop, a half height wall separating the sink from the commode, and a cozy alcove for the tub/shower.