Developer Buys Land at Central & McDowell, Plans 24-Story Tower Near Phoenix Art Museum

Article originally posted on AZ Central on April 26, 2024

A Scottsdale-based developer bought 3.3 acres of vacant land on the southwest corner of Central Avenue and McDowell Road and is moving forward with a plan to develop a 24-story apartment tower with ground-floor retail and restaurant space.

Aspirant Development, a development arm of Empire Group, the developer of several high-rise apartment towers in downtown Phoenix, bought the land from Donnelley Financial Solutions for $13 million, according to real estate database Vizzda. The sale closed in late March. Donnelley had long had an office building on the site, but the building was razed before the sale.

An artist's rendering shows a planned high-rise apartment building at McDowell Road and Central Avenue. A Scottsdale-based developer bought the site and plans to break ground next year.

“We are a huge believer in that area,” Randy Grudzinski, a partner at Empire, said. “We love being on Central, that’s right on the light rail line.”

Aspirant developed the Stewart at Central and McKinley Street, which is less than a mile south of the new site.

“You’d be hard-pressed to find a better site,” Grudzinski said of the Central and McDowell location, which is within walking distance to the Phoenix Art Museum, Margaret T. Hance Park and many nearby restaurants.

Retail and restaurants planned on ground level

Aspirant plans to develop an “L-shaped” building, with the tower on the hard corner of the site, and lower-rise commercial space along McDowell. Grudzinski said the company would like to see a large anchor retail tenant, like a specialty grocer, lease some of the commercial space, but said so far there has not been any commercial leasing activity for the project.

The smaller spaces are likely going to be mid- to higher-end dining, he said.

The lobby of the apartment will have a small public art gallery to complement the art influence of the area, he said.

Groundbreaking will happen around the first quarter of 2025, he said, and construction is expected to complete about two years later. The building will include about 320 units.

Grudzinski said the developer expects most tenants in the building to be “renters by choice,” people who choose to live in a luxury building near amenities when they likely could afford to buy somewhere else if they chose.

“That’s what you are seeing in most of these high-rises,” he said about the tenants who live there.

The site is slightly north of downtown Phoenix, but Grudzinski said the project and others underway in downtown show the continued evolution of residential development in the downtown area.

“Right now, we have a fraction of the amount of downtown living options as other cities,” he said.

Developer also planning state’s tallest tower

Aspirant is also the developer of Astra, a project slated for Second Avenue and Van Buren Street. That project, which includes plans for what would be Arizona’s tallest tower, will have a luxury hotel, office space, apartments and ground-floor restaurant and retail space.

The company is also getting ready to break ground on an age-restricted development in Scottsdale. The project is planned to replace a now-shuttered Olive Garden restaurant at Scottsdale and Osborn roads.