Article originally posted in the CoStar on Nov. 11, 2026.

The developer that’s bringing video-game-themed apartments and hotel rooms to a rebounding stretch of downtown Phoenix is taking a more traditional focus for its latest project on the block.

Phoenix-based Intersection Development broke ground Nov. 6 on a pair of projects that will add more apartments along with restaurants and shops to the growing resident pool and nightlife entertainment in the Roosevelt Row walkable arts-and-culture district.

The latest projects, called SISU Roosevelt and Arcada, join Intersection’s newly built Rainbow Road Apartments and the now under-construction Atari Hotels Phoenix in Roosevelt Row.

SISU Roosevelt is a 12-story ground-up development on a surface parking lot that is slated to ultimately include 125 apartments on top of ground-floor boutique retail shops and offices. Arcada will be an adaptive reuse of the historic, 1910-built Stoddard-Harmon House and existing bungalow-style buildings into a collection of restaurants.

“People should come downtown on purpose and stay because the area gives them a reason to,” said Zac Cohen, co-founder of Intersection, in a statement. “A century-old house on one end, and Atari, a futuristic hotel on the other, and the arts district all around it. That’s a destination, not a project.”

Cohen, who has lived in Arizona “off and on” throughout his life, told CoStar News his goal as a developer is to create memorable buildings that resonate with visitors and serve as destinations in their own right.

The latest projects represent more than $70 million in investment and add to Intersection’s portfolio across the block. Arcada is expected to open in May 2027 while Intersection expects SISU Roosevelt to open in April 2028.

The Atari Hotel is slated to open in 2028, bringing classic video-game themes throughout the 91-key hotel, along with a more than 2,000-person capacity esports and concert venue, a sportsbook, immersive bars, restaurants and shopping. In total, the hotel is designed to have more than 90,000 square feet of entertainment space.

Just a few blocks away, Intersection has opened the 36-unit boutique Rainbow Road apartments, named after Nintendo’s Mario Kart final and most colorful track. Intersection and design partner Räkkhaus made the structure 12 sided, creating a shifting visual profile as one navigates the building.

Cohen said the motivation behind the Atari Hotel and Rainbow Road was to also evoke emotion with the design while tapping into nostalgia from the older video games.

SISU Roosevelt and Arcada will be linked to the Atari Hotel through a pedestrian path called “Fascination Street.” In restoring a 100-year-old building, building a project from the ground up and developing a first-of-its-kind hotel, Cohen said, the path takes one “on a journey from the deep past into the future.”

Arcada will house three restaurant concepts from Clive Collective on the property: Ada, a chef-driven Coastal American restaurant with a raw bar and wood-fired cooking; Love Call, a cocktail-forward neighborhood bar; and Kuza Tori, a sushi handroll bar and HiFi Japanese listening lounge.

The venues will be connected by a 3,500-square-foot outdoor dining and lounge space called Mode.

Additionally, Clive will move its headquarters to Arcada and open a shared kitchen for the three restaurants, said Mikis Troyan, managing partner with Clive.

“I’m born and raised in Phoenix, and I’ve always wanted to be part of something downtown. I think the timing is now right,” he said.

SISU Roosevelt’s 125 units will join one of greater Phoenix’s most competitive multifamily segments. Downtown Phoenix has been attractive to younger renters who gravitated to the area with enrollment gains at Arizona State University’s downtown campus, the expansion of Light Rail and a growing concentration of retail and entertainment options.

Net absorption, the net change in the number of occupied units, reached 2,600 units during the most recent 12 months, the strongest demand figure in the area’s history while roughly 1,600 units opened over the same period, causing the overall vacancy rate to reach 12%, according to CoStar data.

The groundbreakings of SISU Roosevelt and Arcada came just as demolition got underway at the Atari Hotel. The development is expected to be completed in 2028.

Moving forward, Cohen will scout for more opportunities to bolster Roosevelt Row.

“We’ve got about $370 million of projects built or planned in the neighborhood, and we’re definitely looking to do more,” he said. “So, stay tuned.”

Intersection Development is the lead developer for both SISU Roosevelt and Arcada. The architecture and design are led by Räkkhaus. Harris Associates is the general contractor for SISU Roosevelt, while Rafael Construction is overseeing the build-out of Arcada.