A developer who has already made his mark in downtown Phoenix with one condominium tower is now proposing a second, 32-story residential project in the heart of the city.

The $100 million development, called Omega, would be located at Second Avenue and Adams Street, behind the Orpheum Lofts. Once built, it would be the third urban housing high-rise downtown.

It is the brainchild of Chicago native David Wallach, who is taking an increasingly active role in the redevelopment of Phoenix’s core.

Wallach, principal of W Developments LLC, was the first to take a chance on downtown’s urban-living appeal when he announced plans to build the 165-unit Summit at Copper Square condominium tower in 2004. Today, the project, located next to Chase Field, is 85 percent sold, and its first residents won’t even move in until this summer.

Wallach is also one of a consortium of local businessmen who recently announced plans to create a blocks-long entertainment district along Jackson Street, on downtown Phoenix’s southern edge.

That could explain why Wallach is bullish on the need for residential housing in the heart of the city despite lingering concerns about the health of Phoenix’s real estate market.

“The premise that the housing market is soft in downtown is not the right place to start,” Wallach said Tuesday. “The right product, in the right neighborhood, has a really good chance of succeeding.”

Wallach said he hopes to break ground on Omega later this year and said the tower could open in 2009. It would feature one-, two- and three-bedroom units, starting at about $400 a square foot. That would put the smallest residences, at 750 square feet, in the $300,000 price range.

Penthouse dwellings would be as large as 2,400 square feet, meaning that they would likely be offered at close to $1 million.

Each of the 214 units will contain amenities like marble baths, granite countertops, and all-wood cabinets. The tower will boast a 12th-floor pool, a rooftop party room and meeting rooms, workout facilities, six floors of parking and ground-floor retail. Wallach hopes to fill that space with an upscale restaurant.

But he believes one of the project’s biggest selling points will be its location. The tower is located across the street from the Orpheum Theatre, and close to Phoenix City Hall. It is also within walking distance to many of downtown’s biggest draws, including Dodge Theatre, US Airways Center and Chase Field.

“It’s all about location, location, location,” Wallach said. “The sightlines from every part of the building are spectacular.”

The plans for the Omega tower come only six months after money constraints and the Valley’s flagging real estate market helped kill a mixed-use development known as Central Park East. That project, which would have combined an office tower with high-rise condominiums and academic space for Arizona State University’s downtown Phoenix campus, has since been retooled into a plan for high-end commercial office space.

Wallach quickly douses any suggestion that his development might meet a similar fate.

“Projects don’t get built for a variety of reasons,” he said. “But I have never announced a project that I didn’t actually build.”

Information from: www.azcentral.com

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