Soho Scottsdale
Live/work concept designed to appeal to Canadian snowbirds
Afunny thing happened to Irene Clary on her way to becoming a lawyer.
After backpacking around Europe, a chance decision to drop into a Toronto temp agency led to a summer job with a real estate developer.
Instead of studying for her law entrance exams, the University of Toronto political science graduate was tackling eclectic development projects, and juggling — for the developer — a fundraiser for then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
At the age of 23, lawyering quickly became a faint number two in the career department.
Now the Toronto-born daughter of Greek immigrants has brought what she learned about residential, commercial and industrial development in Canada to the Arizona market.
Her latest projects, particularly one in Scottsdale, will appeal to Albertans and other snowbirds look- ing to escape winter while, at the same time, continuing to be connected to work back home.
Soho Scottsdale will have 64 townhomes and 14 lofts, all of them designed as work/ live spaces.
“The live/work concept is rather unique here,” says Clary, who partnered with internationally acclaimed Arizona architect Bing Hu on both the just-launched Soho and her other new project, 421 W 6th Street, in Tempe.
“But it is the future, as more and more areas are actually zoned for both commercial and residential uses.”
What she brings to Arizona from her years of working both with large Canadian developers and as the head of her own consulting firm is an emphasis on quality with solid building products and systems that work together.
Clary and her company Catclar (a mix of her married name and Catsibris, her maiden name) Investments are developing the Scottsdale project in the Bahia business park, where the developer’s office is situated alongside the physiotherapy clinic of her American-born husband. Other offices, services, and private schools are nearby.
The Soho site sits off the 101 Highway, near both WestWorld (where the Barrett-Jackson car auction is held every January) and the Scottsdale Fairmont Resort, where the Waste Management Phoenix Open PGA Tour golf tournament is held annually.
Both events are big attractions — the Phoenix Open draws more than 500,000 spectators each year, more than any other tour event — and are heavily attended by Canadian snowbirds.
The Soho townhomes will be three or four levels, with roof top gardens (with optional spas) and decks overlooking the McDowell Mountains, and main office level floors with flexi-glass roll-up doors that fully open to the Arizona sunshine. Each will have a private twocar garage off the main level.
All the townhomes will be prewired for smart technology to operate house systems by mobile or tablet. The homes will range in size from 2,200 to 2,800 square feet and start in price from the $550,000s.
The lofts will perch above retail space and will feature a full rooftop deck joint space for owners. The living space will be 2,000 square feet to 6,000 square feet (if units are combined) and also start in the $550,000s.
Clary expects the homes will be attractive to everyone from young professionals, to empty nesters, with a big attraction for snowbirds who can easily fly into the nearby airport and find everything else they want in Scottsdale.
Clary’s other current project, 421 W 6th Street, is located in the Tempe Mill Avenue district near the Arizona State University campus, and its attractive, lively centre of restaurants and retail outlets.
It, she says, will be attractive to everyone from university professors to Canadian snowbirds whose children may be attending the university
Just 24 homes are being developed at 421 W 6th Street, ranging in size from 1,553 to 2,270 square feet. Prices start at $365,000. Amenities include an interior Zen garden. The project includes environmental elements such as low-E windows, GreenFiber wall structures that utilize 85 per cent recycled products for solid noise attenuation between the walls, and optional upgrades to solar panels for energy efficiency.
The three- and four-storey townhomes echo the brownstone look of Clary’s native Toronto but in a “Santa Barbara” California Colonial style. They offer spacious, open layouts with two- and three-bedroom ensuite floor plans, and an additional office/den flex space. Each home has two private, first level balconies, as well as an attached, two-car garage. Inside, the main level features 11-foot ceilings.
Clary started over when she moved to Arizona, leaving behind her successful real estate consulting business in Canada.
After 15 years, the weather, the mountains, the cleanliness of the city, are things Clary loves, and she says area municipalities are very encouraging of smart, urban projects.