This month's issue of Monocle magazine is a special edition focused on property. And that's because this month was also the annual MIPIM festival in Cannes, which is apparently the largest real estate boondoggle, I mean conference, in the world.

One of the development projects that is featured in the special is Culdesac Tempe (which is located just east of Phoenix). This is a development that has received a lot of press over the years, including here on this blog, as it was developed as a car-free neighborhood in a city region known for the opposite.

But to be fair, it does have some parking.

There are 150 parking spaces (all surface) for 760 homes. So a parking ratio of just under 0.20 spaces per suite. This is still a remarkably low figure compared to what I would expect in Phoenix, which would be something closer to 1 to 1. I'd be curious to know how it's leasing/performing.

The entire development was also designed to be responsive to Arizona's climate. The buildings are close together so they shadow the circulation spaces, and no asphalt was used anywhere in the project in order to minimize heat retention. The architect for the project, Dan Parolek, refers to this as "desert responsive urbanism."

I'd love to visit one day, but until then, there's YouTube. Here's a full walkthrough by Kirsten Dirksen.

Cover photo by Joe Cook on Unsplash