The conversion of a hotel to an apartment complex near downtown Tucson has begun.
Scottsdale-based Sterling Real Estate Partners is turning the former Hotel Tucson City Center, at 475 N. Granada Ave., into an apartment complex with the first units expected to be available this summer.
The developer plans to modernize the interior and exterior of the property, which was built in the 1960s, with studio and one-bedroom apartments.
The 10-acre property was formerly a Ramada Inn.
It has been rebranded Presidio Palms Apartments.
Sterling has been working on the project since January 2021 to change the zoning of the underperforming and functionally obsolete hotel to 212 apartments plus the development of an additional 154 units on excess land.
“Affordable housing is in all the headlines; we are excited to re-activate this property and deliver high-quality housing at an affordable cost for residents,” said David Zeff, Sterling’s president. “I think the residents of Tucson will be proud of this adaptive re-use project and its affordability.
“Residents can qualify to live in the lowest cost units with just $29,000 of annual income.”
Rents will start at $950 for the studios and pricing will be posted at presidiopalms.com when pre-leasing begins in April.
The median rents in the Tucson area for all types of rentals is currently $1,248 but rental prices in the downtown area average about $1,800 a month with some luxury complexes commanding more than $4,000 a month.
Presidio Palms will be a gated community with outdoor amenities such as a pool with cabana style lounges, barbecue area and a sand volleyball court.
There will also be a gym with cardio and weight training equipment, a yoga room, game room, a business center and a coffee bar and dog park.
Zeff said all areas will have Wi-Fi for residents.
The project received a 2022 Common Ground Award from the Metropolitan Pima Alliance for its engagement of the surrounding neighborhoods to address concerns about the proposed complex.
Tucson leads the state in apartment conversions by creating new dwellings in former hotels, office and churches.
The cooling off of new home construction, coupled with higher interest rates has tightened the housing market in the Tucson area and resulted in people renting for longer periods of time.
Rae's Place Downtown Market is one of the small businesses being affected by the Fox Tucson Theatre's renovation. Learn more about the grab and go market here.
Photos: Peek inside these 80+ historic Tucson homes
Take a peek into these Southern Arizona homes from the 50s and 60s.
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University of Arizona librarians and friends Patricia Paylore and Phyllis Ball lived in what was called a round house. It was actually a hexag…
The home of Mrs. Charles Patterson was photographed for the Tucson Citizen Around Your Home section in 1958.
The home of Joseph A. Moller and family was photographed for the Tucson Citizen Home section in 1958. Architecturally, the house was Spanish, …
The home of E.J. Meyer was featured in the Tucson Citizen in 1958. The family members did a lot of the work on the home themselves.
The home of Margaret Sanger Slee, noted birth control pioneer, was featured in the Tucson Citizen in 1959. The first architect she approached,…
The Tucson Citizen showcased Josef von Isser's two-room home March 15, 1958. The 70-year-old von Isser had been a world traveler and his belon…
The home of M.J. Lang and family was photographed for the Tucson Citizen Home section of Nov. 15, 1958. The family wanted a home in which anyo…
The home of Fred Landeen and his family was photographed for the Tucson Citizen Home section of Sept. 20, 1958. The family wanted a place suit…
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Chester Krebbs was photographed for the Tucson Citizen Home section in 1958. The house had been a showplace ever sinc…
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Al Kivel and their daughters was photographed for the Tucson Citizen Home section in 1958. The Kivels planned the hom…
The Copins home was photographed for the Tucson Citizen Home section in 1958. The home was designed with outdoor spaces that could be used ext…
The Keller home was photographed for the Tucson Citizen home section. It was hard not to notice the 19 Herefords on the ranch.
The home of C. W. Kaufman and family was photographed for the Tucson Citizen home section in 1963. The family especially likes the desert and …
The Tucson Citizen photographed the home of Mr. and Mrs. Don Kaneen and family in 1960. The Kaneens kept making improvements to the home.
The Tucson Citizen photographed the home of Mr. and Mrs. William Kalpin in 1965. The owners designed the house, built it, did the interior des…
The home of Mr. and Mrs. J. E. McAdams, Rancho Romero, was photographed by the Tucson Citizen in 1958.
The Tucson Citizen photographed the home of William C. Jordan and his family in 1964 for its Home section. The home was off of North Oracle Ro…
The Foothills home of Halvan and Retta Jones was photographed in 1965 for the Tucson Citizen Home section. The four-bedroom house was a size t…
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Pierre Janssen, in the Catalina Foothills, was photographed by the Tucson Citizen in 1960. The home was designed so t…
The Tucson Citizen photographed the home of Howard Jacobson and his family in 1964, for its home section. The house, in Tucson Country Club Es…
The home of Dr. Charles Jacobson and his family was photographed by the Tucson Citizen in 1962. The family had an affinity for Oriental art.
The home of Carl H. Ingwer Jr. and his family was photographed for a Tucson Citizen feature in 1960. The family took a relatively new home and…
A newlywed couple honeymooning in Nassau met a woman who described her home in Tucson, and it sounded wonderful. Later they bought a house and…
The Tucson Citizen featured the home of Richard Hopkins in a 1961 Home section. The house would be the site for the Tucson Woman's Symphony As…
The home of Mrs. and Mrs. Charles Hollis was photographed by Bill Sears of the Tucson Citizen in 1957, shortly after a new kitchen was added. …
In 1966, the Tucson Citizen photographed the townhouse of Thomas Holland and family in Skyline Bel Air Estates.
In 1966, the Tucson Citizen photographed the home of William J. Hill and family for its home section. The family selected the site for the hom…
The Tucson Citizen featured the home of Dr. and Mrs. Donald Hill in 1957. The family enjoyed a country style of living.
The home of Peter D. and Recie Herder was photographed by the Tucson Citizen in 1964. The couple came to Tucson to teach, but ended up with fu…
The Tucson Citizen photographed the home of Robert E. Heineman and family in 1964. The home was once out on the edge of town, but by 1964, Tuc…
The Tucson Citizen photographed the home of Betty Hazen in 1963. Hazen pitched in when the home was built. Adobe bricks were made with the top…
The home of Elk Harwood and family was photographed for the Tucson Citizen home section in 1966. The entire family, including the poodles, app…
The home of Beverly and Art Hansen was photographed for the Tucson Citizen Home section in 1958. The Hansens wanted a home where they could ca…
The home of Dr. and Mrs. Christopher Guarino was photographed in 1962 for the Tucson Citizen. A recent addition and uplift of the existing spa…
The Tucson Citizen photographed the home of the Arthur Grunewald family. The house was a backdrop for many paintings and other works of art, b…
The home of Mrs. Frank Griffin was photographed in 1965 for the Tucson Citizen home section. Frank and Gay Griffin donated the land in Tubac t…
The ranch house of Col. and Mrs. Ernest Greene on East Speedway was photographed for the Tucson Citizen home section in 1957.
Alvin Gordon's home was photographed for the Tucson Citizen home section in 1963. The home had Spanish, Mexican and Native American accents.
The Tucson Citizen photographed a home for a 1966 home section that showed what an interior designed can do for his own home. In this case, a …
The home of the Gilbertsons was photographed by the Tucson Citizen in 1960. The family called the home "Casa de Monte Cielo" or "House of the …
The home of F. T. "Limie" Gibbings was photographed by the Tucson Citizen in 1963. It was a treasure trove of antiques.
The home of Mrs. Laura Ganoung was photographed by the Tucson Citizen for its Home section. Mrs. Ganoung's home was filled with antiques inclu…
The Tucson Citizen photographed the home of Alfonso P. Garcia and his family in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, in 1961. The style of the home was…
The home of Frederic Galbraith and his family was decorated with items gathered from travels. Four large Oriental rugs had camel footprints in…
Dr. and Mrs. Walter Franklin of Globe, Arizona, reconstructed a house in Alamos, Sonora, Mexico, and made it an estate with strong Greek influ…
The Tucson Citizen photographed the home of the J.R. Fleming family in 1965. The house on West Ina Road had doubled in size and had plenty of …
The growing Fishburn family meant making a decision to move or enlarge their home. They chose to make changes to their home and the Tucson Cit…
The Tucson Citizen photographed the home of Mrs. John Fell in 1959. The home was compared to a Mediterranean villa.
The Tucson Citizen photographed the home and State House of Governor Luis Encinas in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, in 1963.
The home of Ernesto V. Felix in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, was photographed by the Tucson Citizen in 1964.
The C. J. Farringtons found that life in a mobile home suited them after having lived in a larger home. The ease of maintenance made the small…
The Tucson Citizen photographed the home and State House of Governor Luis Encinas in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, in 1963.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Eggleston was photographed for a May 27, 1961 feature in the Tucson Citizen's home section.
A vacation to Alamos, Sonora, Mexico, had the DuVal family so enchanted with the place that they bought a restored home there.
The home of Dr. and Mrs. Calmes was photographed for the Tucson Home section in 1963. The home was decorated with care for the holidays each year.
The Tucson Citizen photographed the home of Agnes Duggan for its Home section June 8, 1957.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Ken Duffy was photographed by the Tucson Citizen in 1961. Native rock collected from the property provided many of th…
The home of Kenneth Dimmick and his family was photographed in 1965 by the Tucson Citizen for its home section. The family wanted a house that…
The Indian Ridge home of Dr. and Mrs. Paul DeVries was photographed by Tucson Citizen photographer Bill Sears in 1959.
In 1960, the Tucson Citizen featured photos of the home of Ralph de Rose. The home reflected the influence of the two years the family lived i…
The Tucson Citizen photographed the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Denton in 1960. The house was designed by Josias Joesler and was a good fit for …
On Nov. 9, 1963, the Tucson Citizen featured the El Encanto home of Tucson's mayor, Lew Davis, in the Home section.
The Harlan Davis family home was photographed by the Tucson Citizen for the home section in 1964 The home features a playground outside and a …
The Tucson Citizen showed photos of the home built in about 1896 by George Roskruge. In 1961, his niece Mrs. Beppie L. Culin had lived in the …
The Tucson Citizen ran a spread of photos of the M.P. Craven home in 1961. The home was built of burnt adobe and situated in the desert.
The home of Gordon Cox and family was called a palace by the craftsmen who worked on it. The home was photographed in 1965 for the Tucson Citi…
Photographed and featured in the Tucson Citizen in 1964, this remodeled home featured touches of the past with modern features.
In 1964, the home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Costello was photographed for the Tucson Citizen home section. The house's design was inspired by a m…
The home of Dr. and Mrs. Howard D. Cogswell was photographed in 1960 for the Tucson Citizen home section.
The home of writer Walt Coburn and his wife was photographed in 1958. The photos showed a home filled with hand-carved furniture and relics fr…
In 1960, the Tucson Citizen featured the home of Ed and Evelyn Carmack, who remodeled their home in the Catalina Foothills Estates so it would…
The family home of Roy Laos, Jr. and Anna Laos on 4th Avenue in Tucson, as photographed by Bill Sears in 1963.
A remodeling project at the John Taylor Braddock home in 1964 gave the home more space and a lighter feel. These photos ran in the Tucson Citi…
Mr. and Mrs. James R. Blake designed a home that would serve the needs of their active youngsters and also their desire to entertain. The home…
In 1962, Mrs. Walter C. Bischoff, had taken her time furnishing her home in early American antiques because she collected authentic pieces. Th…
This home is a modern version of the old adobe hacienda. Photos were taken in 1957 for the Tucson Citizen home section.
The home of Mrs. J.S. Bernard in Tucson Country Club Estates was the subject of a Tucson Citizen article on Oct. 17, 1959. The house combined …
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Bauder, in the Catalina Foothills Estates, was a part of the Tucson Fine Arts Association home tour on March 26,…
The Bailey home was photographed in 1960. It had been built as an experimental house — one of five homes in Tucson built of perlite block. The…
