Phoenix OKs Building of $231M Downtown Transit Hub

PHOENIX — Downtown development continues with plans to upgrade 300 North Central Avenue with two towers and a revamped transit center.

The $231 million project was approved by the Phoenix City Council April 17. Part of the plan includes two towers, one at 30 stories, the other at 18. The mix includes parking, 300 apartments, 35,000 square feet of offices and student housing.

It also includes two towers. A 30-story tower on the southeast portion of the site will house a 150-room hotel, 300 apartments, and 35,000 square feet of office space. An 18-story tower on the west side of the site will include student housing and 9,000 square feet of office space for the city’s public transit department. Both towers will be situated on top of three levels of underground parking.

An attorney for the developer says 5% of those 300 units include affordable housing, but The Phoenix New Times reports that policy was not in place when the request for proposal was issued:

Workforce housing was not included in the original proposal, according to city officials. However, the developer's attorney, Nick Wood of Snell & Wilmer, said during Wednesday's meeting that five percent of the 300 units would meet the city's affordable housing policy. That policy was not in place when the RFP was issued

The developer still has to enter into a formal agreement with the city before the plan is finalized in the next eight months. Once that happens, work would begin mid-April 2021.