City by Design The Landmark

The Landmark Pioneered North Scottsdale Luxury Condos

Times change. Everywhere we look these days in the Kierland area, there’s a new high-rise residential development of one kind or another — some of them huge. We have to wonder what this neighborhood is going to look like in ten years…

It’ll be different. That’s certain — just as different as it is today compared to what it was in 1995 when the Kierland Commons project began or in 2000 when that project was completed. This neighborhood seems to be a change magnet, now attracting developers from Chicago and New York.

But back in 2000, it was a local guy who had an idea for a new kind of condominium development. He knew Kierland would continue to thrive and evolve, and he had a sense that there was a class of home buyers ready for something special.

That guy was Ed Lewis, and by 2000 his Butte Companies was already a major player in Kierland, having developed the successful Kierland Corporate Center. In retrospect, it seems obvious that an area with an award-winning mixed-use “lifestyle center” like Kierland Commons, a Four-Star golf resort like the Westin Kierland, and just five minutes from Arizona’s largest private airport, would be a perfect spot to build a luxury condo community. He called it The Landmark and it went up instead of out — vertical, two “mid-rise towers.”

Obvious or not, Ed Lewis had the vision, and he acted on it. He broke ground on the six-story Tower I on May 27, 2003, and by November of the following year, the first residents were moving in. Sales were brisk, reflecting latent demand for upscale condominium living in an urban setting. Resort-style amenities and lock-and-leave convenience appealed to empty-nesters, second home buyers and down-sizers of all kinds.  By 2007 the seven-story Tower II was completed, offering two floors of custom penthouse units with large floor plans.

Recognition follows vision and action, and The Landmark earned its share of attention. The 5,800-square-foot clubroom won an ASID award for Design Excellence, and in 2009 Arizona Business Magazine named The Landmark #1 Real Estate Residential: Condominium.

Also in 2009, The Landmark was selected as the cover feature for City by Design: an architectural perspective of the greater Phoenix valley, a book exploring “…the fine works of architecture found throughout metropolitan Phoenix.”

For those of us at The Landmark watching our neighborhood relentlessly transformed by new construction, we understand the new stuff will now get all the attention. That’s just the way things work. When we were new, leading the way, we had our turn in the limelight.

But there’s something else we know. When a residential community is new, it’s unsettled, a little chaotic, especially if it’s a large development. It takes a while for it to come into itself, to settle down and find its personality. Here at The Landmark, we’re there. We know who we are, and we’re happy to be here. This is home. We’re proud of it. It’s no accident that “those who have lived a little, live at The Landmark.”