Work to Begin on Phoenix-Area Workforce Housing

Greenlight Communities and Holualoa Cos. are breaking ground this week on Cabana Kyrene, a 229-unit workforce housing project in Tempe, Ariz. It is Greenlight’s first development in Tempe and the first workforce multifamily property in the South Tempe area.

Only a handful of new multifamily communities have been built in South Tempe since 2010, many of which are either luxury Class A properties or government-subsidized affordable housing. Cabana Kyrene’s rents will be for residents earning between 60 to 100 percent of the Area Median Income.

Patricia Watts, co-founder and senior partner of Greenlight Communities, said that Cabana Kyrene is designed to fill the gap for the individuals and small families who earn too much to qualify for subsidized housing or are priced out of luxury options, such as teachers, healthcare workers, city employees and those in the service and hospitality industries.

“We’re proud to be contributing to the city’s housing solution with Cabana Kyrene, and now that we’ve completed the approvals process and are moving forward with construction, we’d welcome the chance to bring more attainable housing to other areas of the city if sites and partnerships make sense,” Watts told Multi-Housing News.

Cabana Kyrene highlights

Greenlight initially received approval from the Tempe City Council in October for the development. Located on a 7.7-acre site at 515 W. Guadalupe Rd., Cabana Kyrene will have six three-story residential buildings. The layout mix will feature 90 studios, 93 one-bedroom homes and 46 two-bedroom units ranging from 468 to 828 square feet.

Apartment features will include keyless entry, stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops, European wood-style cabinetry, undermount stainless steel sinks, pull-out kitchen faucets and wood-style vinyl plank flooring. Units will have carpeting in bedrooms, natural light via oversized windows, a workstation desk in studio and one-bedroom apartments and a front-load washer/dryer.

Community amenities will include a pool, fitness center, Wi-Fi-enable coworking spaces, landscaped courtyards with exercise stations and hammocks and two large U-shaped park areas.

Cabana Kyrene will be situated within 3 miles of major employers with more than 60,000 jobs, including Kyrene School District 28, Honeywell, Consumer Cellular, Swire CocaCola, Charles Schwab and American Airlines. The site is 2 miles from highways including Interstate-10 and U.S. 60, also known as Superstition Highway, and about 3 miles from Loop 101. Downtown Tempe and Phoenix around roughly 5 and 14 miles away, respectively.

Residents will also be close to Arizona State University, Mesa Community College and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Recreational assets nearby include Kiwanis Recreation Center, Legacy and Raven Golf Clubs, South Mountain Park & Preserve, Tempe Diablo Stadium and The Farm at South Mountain, a modern farm and agritourism destination with farm-to-table restaurants. New commercial development is under way in the area.

Spotlight on Greenlight

Greenlight and real estate investment firm Holualoa Cos. have teamed up on other projects, including Villa Cielo Cortaro, a 196-unit project in Tucson, Ariz., which came online in July 2024. The joint venture partners broke ground on the project in the spring of 2023. It was Greenlight’s second development in the Tucson market.

The firm has developed more than 3,500 units and had a record year in 2024, delivering 696 apartments.

In September 2023, Greenlight sold Cabana Happy Valley, a 292-unit asset in Phoenix to Ideal Capital Group for $79.2 million. A month earlier, the company sold Cabana Encanto, a 286-unit community in Goodyear, Ariz., to a partnership of Ascent Equity Group and Sunrise Multifamily for $61 million.