But there’s little argument ASU has the most expensive. Housing at Mirabella requires one-time fees that go from $440,000 to more than $1 million. Residents pay another $4,000 to $8,000 a month, which includes classes and meals.
Mirabella also is restricted to seniors. Residents must be 62 or older. It is one of the country’s few senior-living facilities set on a college campus, mixing older and younger generations by design. It hasn’t gone as well as hoped.
For the kind of money Mirabella’s 260 residents are paying, some are asking why they can’t get a little peace and quiet.
Some have complained about music that blasts late into the night. The vibration of bass notes has rattled the windows and walls of Sharon Murry’s apartment at all hours, the 72-year-old said. “That unrelenting bass thumping sound makes it difficult to concentrate or do anything else,” including sleep, she said in a court filing.
One hot spot, Shady Park, is across the street from Mirabella. Well within earshot, according to a lawsuit from Mirabella and five residents, including Ms. Murry. The seniors are trying to get the popular venue, which plays electronic dance music, to turn down the volume of its outdoor concerts. The suit alleges Shady Park violates nuisance laws, which both the proprietor and city officials deny.
During depositions, the plaintiffs from Mirabella were asked if they liked electronic dance music. They all said no or had never heard of the genre.
Mirabella, with towering views of the city and desert mountains, opened during the pandemic, when most Tempe restaurants and bars, including Shady Park, were closed. Restrictions eased in spring last year, reopening downtown entertainment, including Shady Park, along with its concerts and dancing.
Complaints blared from Mirabella.
“We want to be neighbors, we want to coexist and we just couldn’t get them there,” Tom Dorough, the executive director of Mirabella, said of talks with Shady Park. “So they really left us no choice but to file a lawsuit.”
Who Let Retirees Move on Campus at Arizona State?
Senior citizens who moved into a pricey housing complex at ASU, once named the America’s No. 1 party school, want more quiet, less loud music. “There will be parties. There will be loud noise. It’s ASU.”
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