Downtown Phoenix high rise housing development continues to grow at a steady pace as developers and realtors work at breakneck speed to meet the rapidly increasing demand for apartments. In an effort to house the increasing number of university students, professionals, and retirees several projects can already be seen popping up around the downtown area and several more are currently in the planning stage.
The Mortenson Company of Minnesota, has just recently submitted their proposal to build an impressive 20-story apartment tower to the City of Phoenix Planning and Development Service. As Steven Totten of the Phoenix Business Journal reported, the site chosen is at 333 N. Central Avenue. Right next to the selected hotel site is one other major development by Mortenson Co., Hampton Inn & Suites, which began undergoing construction on March 17, 2017.
Designs for the new apartment tower has been delegated to the Smith Group JJR, who has proven to be a major asset in the $25 million development project of the Arizona Center shopping plaza and office complex. Mortenson hopes that the apartment construction can begin later this year and plans to open in 2019.
Mortenson Company’s Phoenix Development Executive, George Forristall, is confident that the Phoenix community will embrace the appropriately scaled apartment complex. While some towers in the area are breaching several hundred feet into the air, the new Mortenson apartment is a much better aesthetic fit for the downtown area.
However, Totten reports that the residents of the region have already shown quite a bit of opposition to the new abundance of multifamily and apartment development projects. For example the Angel’s Trumpet Ale House and the Goldwater Institute issued a co-suit against the city over the development of a nearby 19-story apartment, and the arts community near Roosevelt Row has also expressed concerns over development projects.
The next few years may show an interesting shift in the local culture and business development, but Forristall is still confident that the apartment project will be a welcome addition to the area.
