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Monthly Rent
$1,640 - $3,999
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Bedrooms
Studio - 2 bd
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Bathrooms
1 - 2 ba
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Square Feet
543 - 2,114 sq ft
Pricing & Floor Plans
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Unit 3017price $1,640square feet 543availibility Now
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Unit 3015price $1,645square feet 543availibility Now
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Unit 4025price $1,650square feet 543availibility Now
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Unit 2009price $1,686square feet 574availibility Now
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Unit 3012price $1,686square feet 574availibility Now
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Unit 3020price $1,721square feet 719availibility Now
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Unit 2006price $1,773square feet 693availibility Now
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Unit 1044price $1,806square feet 693availibility Now
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Unit 2040price $1,818square feet 693availibility Now
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Unit 2041price $1,799square feet 739availibility Now
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Unit 4042price $1,847square feet 739availibility Now
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Unit 1064price $1,826square feet 753availibility Now
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Unit 1060price $1,836square feet 753availibility Now
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Unit 1014price $1,886square feet 753availibility Jan 17, 2025
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Unit 2070price $1,830square feet 900availibility Now
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Unit 1035price $1,713square feet 695availibility Jan 8, 2025
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Unit 4032price $2,337square feet 1,206availibility Now
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Unit 3023price $2,327square feet 1,206availibility Dec 30
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Unit 1038price $2,287square feet 1,206availibility Feb 1, 2025
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Unit 1004price $2,388square feet 1,087availibility Now
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Unit 3024price $2,699square feet 1,087availibility Now
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Unit 3028price $2,733square feet 1,087availibility Now
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Unit 2022price $2,712square feet 1,286availibility Now
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Unit 3022price $2,712square feet 1,286availibility Now
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Unit 4022price $2,747square feet 1,286availibility Now
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Unit 2026price $2,723square feet 1,090availibility Now
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Unit 1033price $3,999square feet 2,114availibility Now
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Unit 3017price $1,640square feet 543availibility Now
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Unit 3015price $1,645square feet 543availibility Now
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Unit 4025price $1,650square feet 543availibility Now
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Unit 2009price $1,686square feet 574availibility Now
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Unit 3012price $1,686square feet 574availibility Now
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Unit 3020price $1,721square feet 719availibility Now
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Unit 2006price $1,773square feet 693availibility Now
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Unit 1044price $1,806square feet 693availibility Now
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Unit 2040price $1,818square feet 693availibility Now
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Unit 2041price $1,799square feet 739availibility Now
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Unit 4042price $1,847square feet 739availibility Now
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Unit 1064price $1,826square feet 753availibility Now
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Unit 1060price $1,836square feet 753availibility Now
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Unit 1014price $1,886square feet 753availibility Jan 17, 2025
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Unit 2070price $1,830square feet 900availibility Now
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Unit 1035price $1,713square feet 695availibility Jan 8, 2025
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Unit 4032price $2,337square feet 1,206availibility Now
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Unit 3023price $2,327square feet 1,206availibility Dec 30
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Unit 1038price $2,287square feet 1,206availibility Feb 1, 2025
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Unit 1004price $2,388square feet 1,087availibility Now
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Unit 3024price $2,699square feet 1,087availibility Now
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Unit 3028price $2,733square feet 1,087availibility Now
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Unit 2022price $2,712square feet 1,286availibility Now
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Unit 3022price $2,712square feet 1,286availibility Now
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Unit 4022price $2,747square feet 1,286availibility Now
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Unit 2026price $2,723square feet 1,090availibility Now
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Unit 1033price $3,999square feet 2,114availibility Now
About VELA Apartments
Vela luxury apartment homes is surrounded by the beautiful waters of Tempe Town Lake where you can enjoy the most remarkable urban waterfront experience. We are just steps away from sophisticated dining and vibrant beach lifestyle living. Vela offers brand new studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom luxury apartments for rent. One of the most enticing amenity is our ground-level pool and deck with an unobstructed view of the lake, the marina, and the beautiful surrounding area. Vela is an 21 and over community.
VELA Apartments is an apartment community located in Maricopa County and the 85281 ZIP Code. This area is served by the Tempe attendance zone.
Unique Features
- Ev Charging
- Resident Perks and Exclusive Offers
- Furnished units available
Community Amenities
Pool
Fitness Center
Furnished Units Available
Clubhouse
Controlled Access
Business Center
Grill
24 Hour Access
Property Services
- Package Service
- Controlled Access
- Maintenance on site
- Property Manager on Site
- 24 Hour Access
- Furnished Units Available
- Dry Cleaning Service
- Guest Apartment
- EV Charging
Shared Community
- Business Center
- Clubhouse
- Lounge
- Storage Space
Fitness & Recreation
- Fitness Center
- Spa
- Pool
- Walking/Biking Trails
Outdoor Features
- Cabana
- Courtyard
- Grill
- Picnic Area
- Waterfront
- Lake Access
- Dock
Student Features
- Shuttle To Campus
Apartment Features
Washer/Dryer
Air Conditioning
Dishwasher
High Speed Internet Access
Hardwood Floors
Walk-In Closets
Granite Countertops
Microwave
Highlights
- High Speed Internet Access
- Washer/Dryer
- Air Conditioning
- Heating
- Ceiling Fans
- Cable Ready
- Tub/Shower
Kitchen Features & Appliances
- Dishwasher
- Disposal
- Ice Maker
- Granite Countertops
- Stainless Steel Appliances
- Kitchen
- Microwave
- Oven
- Range
- Refrigerator
- Freezer
Model Details
- Hardwood Floors
- Vinyl Flooring
- Dining Room
- Views
- Walk-In Closets
- Linen Closet
- Furnished
- Window Coverings
- Balcony
- Patio
- Deck
Fees and Policies
The fees below are based on community-supplied data and may exclude additional fees and utilities.
- One-Time Move-In Fees
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Administrative Fee$200
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Application Fee$50
- Dogs Allowed
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Monthly pet rent$45
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One time Fee$150
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Pet deposit$150
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Weight limit100 lb
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Pet Limit2
- Cats Allowed
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Monthly pet rent$45
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One time Fee$150
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Pet deposit$150
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Weight limit100 lb
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Pet Limit2
Details
Lease Options
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1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 4 months, 5 months, 6 months, 7 months, 8 months, 9 months, 10 months, 11 months, 12 months, 13 months, 14 months, 15 months, 24 months
Property Information
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Built in 2016
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290 units/5 stories
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Furnished Units Available
- Package Service
- Controlled Access
- Maintenance on site
- Property Manager on Site
- 24 Hour Access
- Furnished Units Available
- Dry Cleaning Service
- Guest Apartment
- EV Charging
- Business Center
- Clubhouse
- Lounge
- Storage Space
- Cabana
- Courtyard
- Grill
- Picnic Area
- Waterfront
- Lake Access
- Dock
- Fitness Center
- Spa
- Pool
- Walking/Biking Trails
- Shuttle To Campus
- Ev Charging
- Resident Perks and Exclusive Offers
- Furnished units available
- High Speed Internet Access
- Washer/Dryer
- Air Conditioning
- Heating
- Ceiling Fans
- Cable Ready
- Tub/Shower
- Dishwasher
- Disposal
- Ice Maker
- Granite Countertops
- Stainless Steel Appliances
- Kitchen
- Microwave
- Oven
- Range
- Refrigerator
- Freezer
- Hardwood Floors
- Vinyl Flooring
- Dining Room
- Views
- Walk-In Closets
- Linen Closet
- Furnished
- Window Coverings
- Balcony
- Patio
- Deck
| Monday | 9:30am - 5:30pm |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 9:30am - 6:30pm |
| Wednesday | 9:30am - 5:30pm |
| Thursday | 9:30am - 5:30pm |
| Friday | 9:30am - 5:30pm |
| Saturday | 9am - 5pm |
| Sunday | Closed |
Formerly known as the Mill Avenue District, Downtown Tempe serves as the central hub for Tempe shopping, dining, nightlife, and recreation. Built around Arizona State University, the area thrives by embracing the college culture and building a city ideal for home, work and play. Several large businesses offer jobs in Downtown Tempe and housing ranges from quaint historical homes to modern waterfront condos and apartments for rent that overlook Tempe Town Lake.
Located 19 miles from Downtown Phoenix and close to other large suburbs, Downtown Tempe provides an accessible location for community events for residents across the Phoenix metropolitan area. Events such as the Tempe Festival of the Arts draw in nearly 225,000 visitors over a three-day weekend.
Learn more about living in Downtown Tempe| Colleges & Universities | Distance | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Colleges & Universities | Distance | ||
| Drive: | 5 min | 1.8 mi | |
| Drive: | 5 min | 1.8 mi | |
| Drive: | 10 min | 5.3 mi | |
| Drive: | 13 min | 6.8 mi |
Transportation options available in Tempe include Marina Heights/Rio Salado, located 0.9 miles from VELA Apartments. VELA Apartments is near Phoenix Sky Harbor International, located 5.2 miles or 10 minutes away, and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway, located 23.8 miles or 35 minutes away.
| Transit / Subway | Distance | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Transit / Subway | Distance | ||
|
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Walk: | 16 min | 0.9 mi |
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Drive: | 4 min | 1.5 mi |
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Drive: | 4 min | 1.5 mi |
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Drive: | 4 min | 1.6 mi |
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Drive: | 4 min | 1.6 mi |
| Commuter Rail | Distance | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Commuter Rail | Distance | ||
|
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Drive: | 43 min | 31.4 mi |
| Airports | Distance | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Airports | Distance | ||
|
Phoenix Sky Harbor International
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Drive: | 10 min | 5.2 mi |
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Phoenix-Mesa Gateway
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Drive: | 35 min | 23.8 mi |
Time and distance from VELA Apartments.
| Shopping Centers | Distance | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopping Centers | Distance | ||
| Walk: | 11 min | 0.6 mi | |
| Walk: | 16 min | 0.9 mi | |
| Walk: | 17 min | 0.9 mi |
| Parks and Recreation | Distance | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Parks and Recreation | Distance | ||
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Desert Arboretum Park
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Walk: | 14 min | 0.7 mi |
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ASU Center for Meteorite Studies
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Drive: | 5 min | 1.6 mi |
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Papago Park
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Drive: | 5 min | 1.7 mi |
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Phoenix Zoo
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Drive: | 9 min | 3.3 mi |
|
Desert Botanical Garden
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Drive: | 7 min | 3.4 mi |
| Hospitals | Distance | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Hospitals | Distance | ||
| Drive: | 7 min | 4.1 mi | |
| Drive: | 9 min | 5.7 mi | |
| Drive: | 10 min | 6.2 mi |
| Military Bases | Distance | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Military Bases | Distance | ||
| Drive: | 17 min | 10.0 mi | |
| Drive: | 41 min | 30.9 mi | |
| Drive: | 108 min | 83.4 mi |
Property Ratings at VELA Apartments
Do not move here. Let me succinctly tell you why: 1) There's a pool alarm that goes off 3-4x a week in the middle of the night waking everyone up. Management wants to fix it but told me they don't have the budget to lock the gate at midnight and stop the alarm. 2) I know of at least 8 car burglaries in the past two months - windows smashing. No one feels safe. 3) I've seen my neighbors being hauled out in handcuffs and sent to jail. 4) Homeless sleep next to the property regularly and we don't have the budget for real security they say. I loved living here before but I'm tired of hearing "I can't fix it" when it comes to safety.
Absolutely HELL of an experience here. This is worth the read… Day 1: Vela gave up our apartment we paid to have held, told us to take a less desirable one or take a hike. This apartment has been the worst place I have ever stayed in, and I’ve been in 27 difference places. The upstairs renters used their patio as a poop/pee spot for their animals, which leaked down to our patio and rendered our patio a useless/uninhabitable BIOHAZARD that could easily make our dogs sick or even worse. 9 months of constant communication with management and they never solved this issue. They kicked out the upstairs renters and put in new ones. THEY DID THE SAME THING! After emailing management with plenty of proof, videos and pictures of them washing their poopy/pee balcony with chemicals down to our balcony, MANAGEMENT STILL HAS DONE NOTHING! Emailing the manager and REGIONAL MANAGER and they have done nothing but ignore me and make false promises saying they will “talk” to the tenants. This is 8 months going on 9 months now with no solution. Over 50 emails begging for something to be done and nothing. Resident events: If you have a normal job, you will never be able to attend resigned events as they only schedule them 3-5pm. The staff at this community puts in the BARE MINIMUM and calls this place “luxurious.” Along with dirty hallways, constant break-ins, stolen packages, trash NEVER being picked up on time, I have absolutely nothing good to say about this community. Paying a few hundred dollars a month in amenity fees for WHAT? Broken gym equipment, no cleaning supplies ever in the gym, gross facilities, hot tubs full of foam and chemicals that can burn you, a fountain bigger than the pool? Is that necessary? Doors unlocked by key fobs always broken, elevators constantly broken, smell of weed everywhere. I can keep going on and on about how awful this place is, but I think you get the point. Management will most likely try to respond to this saying none of it happened, but I have all the emails, all the photos and videos to back up everything I’ve stated. Please stay away from this place!
Run away as fast as you can. I wrote out all of our problems with Vela and its staff, but it was too many characters to fit in the review. Some highlights: - It routinely takes more than a week or two for any maintenance requests to be completed. - Multiple exterior doors are frequently left open for anyone to come in and out as they please. This has been brought to the attention of the staff who say they are “trying” to fix it, but nothing has been done. This complex is absolutely not secure. - omeone threw a bunch of sauce (probably marinara, who knows) on the wall of one of the public hallways. This was left there by the staff for nearly a week. Once is was brought to their attention they simply painted over the sauce on the wall, while leaving all the residual sauce on the floor, INCLUDING THE CONTAINER THE SAUCE CAME IN. We had to contact them AGAIN to clean up the floor and the sauce container, and they didn’t clean that part up for another 36-48 hours.
This was an outstanding place to live. New, clean, great amenities, location, well maintained. Since Shelton Cook took over a couple months ago it’s gone immediately downhill. Maintenance is now as bad as I’ve ever seen, workout area is constantly in disarray and filthy, packages aren’t held in the office, properly is generally dirty, parking rules aren’t enforced making with cars parking wherever they want and often blocking other cars in, pet waste everywhere and a generally feeling of apathy from the staff. No longer worth the high end $ for rent. Prospective renters beware.
I have been a resident of VELA since August 2017. I wanted to write this review to let future renters know exactly what you are getting. There are really three issues: the developers, the City of Tempe and the new management company. Each of the following points are based on fact - not opinion. I will update this review anytime with new, updated information. 1. The developers have taken over the area by VELA. They close walkways by the lake, it is noisy, lots of small bugs and driving/biking is dangerous in some cases. I most recently had to the complain to the City of Tempe about The Watermark developer closing a major walkway. The city took care of the issue, but it is clear that the developers around VELA care only about themselves. 2. Everyone who lives on the lake pays additional fees/assessments to the City of Tempe. Since the city regularly has events on the lake, they have little sympathy for those who actually live and have to get around. I have talked with numerous city officials and city council members. They are nice, but nothing gets done. 3. The new VELA management team. You expect transition issues with any new management company. However, the lack of communication to residents and the general disorganization by the property management is concerning. A good example: they changed the company that handle billing for water. No EMAIL or notification to residents, and now I have been billed for double the amount of previous months -- no resolution at the time of writing this review. Certainly you expect more for the monthly rental price.
First off I’m very hard to impress because i am a clean freak and this is my complete and honest opinion ,and I’m very impressed with how clean and well maintained the property is I’ve actually told all my family and friends about how clean this place is and my family that has came over to visit and who are equally as clean as I am have been impressed. Your maintenance team has done a outstanding job.
Friendly staff, very quick to respond. Very clean atmosphere. Love it. Greg is a pleasure to talk to every single day as well. I love him.
Would recommend for location, amenities. Would not recommend for ongoing construction noise/traffic. People in marina are noisy and disrespectful, especially with loud cars at night.
Would recommend Vela because of the professional help that is given as well as the neatness and location of the community.
Absolutely, we the residencenter appreciate all the updates regarding the construction and between me and yall, we appreciate the compensation for everything that's affecting us like the sounds of the construction bright and early and such. The team at Vela is truly trying their very best to accommodate for any inconvenience.
Obviously the property and amenities are beautiful. The community, including residents and staff, is very nice and everyone is friendly. We love it!
Alex was amazing from start to finish and was the main reason I chose this property over the others near you. I will have my other co-workers ask for her personally.
The community is just very expensive, and people can be loud in the courtyards at night. Other than that I love it!
I think it's a little over priced, considering there is a strip club a street away (haha), especially the valet trash and pet rent. I have legs and would rather not pay 300$ a year to have someone take it out for me, I also think it's gross that people's trash is just like in the hall way for hours waiting to be picked up. I like it but those are a few cons for me, along with the light colored carpet that shows everything.
These are nice apartments. Pros... Feel safe, even at night (coming home late) Modern Mostly quiet Pretty Great amenities Friendly/ caring staff Maintenance is on point Amazing sunset veiw on lake, foot steps away Parking garage Very secure Negatives... Pet charge is highest I've ever paid Valet trash cost (I have legs, I take out my own but still have to pay for it) Light colored carpet in bed room (shows every peice of dirt and pet fur lol)
I was not home to meet the maintenance personnel but the slip they left indicated they completed my request within a very reasonable time.
This is, by far, the nicest apartment I've lived in. Location is great, units are beautiful, spacious, and well appointed, community has great amenities, and staff is courteous and competent. Highly recommend.
The community is very well kept and the amenities inside the apartment are great!
So far, we're very happy here. The complex is very nice and getting nicer by the day; the staff is very friendly and helpful, our apartment unit is beautiful, the complex is centrally located, and we LOVE that it's a 21+ community.
I would totally recommend Vela to anyone who wants great management, pristine conditions of the building, amenities and apartments, and a central location.
VELA Apartments Photos
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Map Image of the Property
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Clubhouse
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Models
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Vela Tempe E1 Studio
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Vela Tempe A1 One Bedroom
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Vela Tempe A2A One Bedroom
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Vela Tempe A2C One Bedroom
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Vela Tempe A2 One Bedroom
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Vela Tempe A3N One Bedroom
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VELA Apartments has studios to two bedrooms with rent ranges from $1,640/mo. to $3,999/mo.
You can take a virtual tour of VELA Apartments on Apartments.com.
VELA Apartments is in Downtown Tempe in the city of Tempe. Here you’ll find three shopping centers within 0.9 mile of the property. Five parks are within 3.4 miles, including Desert Arboretum Park, ASU Center for Meteorite Studies, and Papago Park.
What Are Walk Score®, Transit Score®, and Bike Score® Ratings?
Walk Score® measures the walkability of any address. Transit Score® measures access to public transit. Bike Score® measures the bikeability of any address.
What is a Sound Score Rating?
A Sound Score Rating aggregates noise caused by vehicle traffic, airplane traffic and local sources
555 N College Ave
Tempe, AZ 85281
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