From the Rooftop: Why Optima’s Sky Decks Are Unlike Any Other in the City

There is a moment that happens to almost every new resident of an Optima community. They take the elevator to the top for the first time, step out onto the sky deck, and stop. Not because they weren’t expecting something good, they were. But because what’s actually there exceeds what they imagined was possible from the roof of a residential building.

That reaction isn’t accidental. It’s the result of a design philosophy that has treated the sky deck not as a finishing touch, but as one of the most important spaces in the entire community.

A Design Decision, Not an Amenity Package

At Optima, the rooftop is designed with the same intentionality as any residence. Every sky deck begins with a fundamental question: what does the specific setting of this building demand, and how do we build something that honors it? The answer at each community is different, shaped by the landscape, the climate, the views, and the particular character of the neighborhood below. The result is that no two Optima sky decks are alike. They share a standard, but not a template.

David Hovey Jr. has described how the sky decks have evolved over time in direct response to how residents live, with bigger pools, more shaded gathering areas, yoga studios with open sliding glass walls, saunas and cold plunges, outdoor theaters, and the quarter-mile running track that made its debut at Optima Kierland. Each iteration built on the last. Each one asked: what would make this better?

Optima Kierland: A Sky Deck for Every Tower

At Optima Kierland, the sky deck isn’t a shared amenity, it’s a private one. Each of the five towers has its own dedicated sky deck, exclusive to that tower’s residents. It’s a design decision that transforms a rooftop from a communal convenience into something that genuinely feels like yours.

The 7190 tower’s sky deck is the most recent evolution: an Olympic-length heated pool, a quarter-mile running track that follows the perimeter of the roof, a spa and cold plunge, lounge seating, fire pits, an outdoor bar and kitchen with TVs, and the most breathtaking unobstructed views of the McDowell Mountains in North Scottsdale. In the earlier towers, glass-enclosed saunas, heated lap pools, yoga studios, outdoor theaters, and rooftop gardens round out sky decks that have set the standard for what rooftop living in the desert can be. Arizona’s first rooftop running track was born here, because the architects who designed the buildings also designed the life that happens on top of them.

Optima McDowell Mountain: Six Decks, Six Panoramas

At Optima McDowell Mountain, every one of the six buildings will have its own rooftop sky deck, each one will offer a 50-meter Olympic-length pool, a running track that follows the building’s perimeter, outdoor fire pits, lounge seating, arbors covered in vines, and outdoor kitchens with barbecues and dining spaces. The views rotate with the desert compass: the McDowell Mountains to the east, Camelback Mountain to the south, Pinnacle Peak to the north, and sunsets to the west that light the sky in every shade of amber, rose, and gold. No seat on any of these rooftops offers the same view twice.

Optima Lakeview: Chicago, Unobstructed

In Chicago, the sky deck takes on an entirely different character. At Optima Lakeview, the rooftop sky deck places residents above the Lakeview neighborhood with panoramic views that sweep from the lakefront to Wrigley Field, a cityscape that is one of the most extraordinary in the country. The heated pool is designed for year-round use, a deliberate choice that ensures the deck never closes regardless of what a Chicago winter decides to do. Fire pits, lounge seating, a glass-enclosed party room, an outdoor theater, and barbecue areas ensure that whether the evening calls for a quiet drink above the city or a gathering of neighbors, the space is ready.

Optima Signature: Elevated Living Across Four Amenity Levels

At Optima Signature, the experience is different, and intentionally so. Rather than a single rooftop sky deck, Optima Signature distributes its amenity spaces across four floors, giving residents multiple ways to engage with the city depending on the hour and the occasion. The heated indoor and outdoor pools sit within an amenity experience that spans 1.5 acres and includes a 40-yard indoor running track, multiple spas, indoor and outdoor saunas, and men’s and women’s locker rooms with steam rooms, as well as a Level 20 library and residents’ lounge with views of the lake and the skyline, and the exclusive Club 52 sky terrace for Apex residents. From 57 stories above Streeterville, Lake Michigan stretches unbroken to the east, the Chicago River winds through the city to the south, and the skyline fills every other direction. The result is not one elevated moment but a building-wide experience of height and light and city, one that changes with every season, every floor, and every time of day.

Optima Verdana: The North Shore, Elevated

At Optima Verdana, the sky deck takes its cue from the particular quality of North Shore light and the intimate scale of Wilmette’s village character. The glass-enclosed heated lap pool with retractable walls opens to fresh outdoor air when the season allows, year-round swimming in a setting that frames sweeping views of the Wilmette treetop canopy and the Bahá’í Temple to the north. A sun deck, barbecues, herb gardens, a bocce court, fire pits, and a party room with a chef’s kitchen make the rooftop at Verdana a space that reflects both the ambition and the quieter, more considered pace of North Shore living.

Optima Sonoran Village: A Desert Oasis, Ground to Rooftop

At Optima Sonoran Village, the elevated outdoor experience is distributed across the community rather than concentrated at a single point. Tower 15, the community’s most recent tower, offers its residents an exclusive rooftop sky deck with views of Camelback Mountain, an outdoor kitchen, fire pits, a spa, and a sun deck scaled for intimacy rather than spectacle.

For the broader community, the outdoor life unfolds across 6.1 acres of lushly landscaped grounds: two resort-style pool areas with spas, saunas, outdoor kitchens, fire pits, and lounge seating under the Scottsdale sky. The glass-enclosed 19,000-square-foot fitness center overlooks the lap pool, dissolving the boundary between inside and out even in the middle of a workout. A sculpture garden of five original David Hovey Sr. works in natural Cor-Ten steel, a putting green, and courtyard walking paths complete an outdoor experience designed to make the desert feel like an amenity, one that rewards every hour of the day differently, from the blue cool of early morning to the amber light of an Arizona evening.

Why the Sky Deck Becomes the Heart

A building can have extraordinary residences and still feel anonymous. What turns a building into a community is the shared space, the place where neighbors become familiar, where a Sunday afternoon becomes something worth looking forward to, where the city or the desert or the lake reminds you why you chose to live here. At Optima, the sky deck is designed to be that place.

It works because it’s never designed generically. It works because the pool is the right size, in the right place, oriented to the right view. Because the fire pit is close enough to the lounge seating to make a conversation easy, and far enough from the pool to give the space room to breathe. Because the running track goes where the best views are. Because every detail, from the shade structure to the bar placement to the choice of materials underfoot, was considered by the same people who designed the building below.

At Optima, the sky deck isn’t the amenity at the top. It’s part of the design from the very beginning.

Come see the view for yourself. Schedule a tour at an Optima community today.