Residences at Dorsey Station is the first phase of a larger mixed-use urban design plan that will create a new higher density anchor point of neighborhood life in this vibrant part of Tempe, east of the Arizona State University main campus on the Apache Boulevard transit corridor. Comprising 287 affordable residential units in three buildings, this phase establishes an active new street frontage along Apache, with communal entrances and amenity spaces and individual unit front doors animating the street edge. A new pedestrian passage links to the historic neighborhood to the north, providing access to a small format grocery and commercial building at the heart of the design, and a compact urban green space, dog park and communal patio.

Featuring a pair of six story (4-over-2) podium buildings and a four-story wood-framed apartment building, the unique facade treatment works to break down the scale of the urban street wall through a collage of stacked portal apertures and articulated individual units at ground level. Organized as a public-private partnership project (PPP), after helping the developer win the public RFP, YBA delivered the entitlements and permitting at a remarkable pace, to meet the City of Tempe’s demanding delivery schedule and affordable housing bond funding timeline. YBA’s urban design includes multiple future phases that are anticipated to include affordable senior housing and market rate apartments. Phase one also includes a food pantry that supports the resilience center located adjacent to the site.