The Maryland Apartments is a new 60-unit multifamily development located at Maryland Avenue and North 27th Avenue within Phoenix’s Alhambra Village. The surrounding neighborhood is defined by post-World War II ranch-style housing, much of it long held by multigenerational and aging residents. Originally farmland and desert, the area developed rapidly after the war and has seen limited reinvestment in recent decades. Today, Alhambra’s economy is supported by a stable mix of healthcare, education, retail, public services, and neighborhood-scale businesses.

To minimize the project’s impact on the surrounding neighborhood, a single-story rental office and amenity building anchors the street edge, establishing a pedestrian-scaled presence and softening the project’s perceived height. An entry portico further reduces the visual impact of increased density and mass by clearly separating apartment access and activity from adjacent residential properties. From this point, the residential buildings step and curve incrementally upward—one story at a time—toward the center of the site, forming a helix-like massing that orients lower building elements and surface parking toward neighboring homes while directing taller forms away. This stepped configuration encloses a central courtyard with a pool and shared amenities, reinforcing community within the project while buffering the surrounding neighborhood.

The project introduces market-rate and workforce housing on a narrow infill site bordered by commercial uses to the north and east and single-family homes to the south and west. The design strategically concentrates density along the commercial frontages while pulling building mass away from adjacent residences to limit visual exposure and preserve neighborhood scale. Through varied building heights, careful setbacks, and a form responsive to its context, the Maryland Apartments reimagines an underutilized parcel as a compatible and integrated addition to the neighborhood. The project supports incremental reinvestment in Alhambra Village by providing needed housing while respecting the scale, character, and lived experience of the surrounding community.