Pivotal Group submits proposal for reimagined “The Central Park” mixed-use project

Article originally posted on Phoenix Business Journal on July 24, 2023

A rendering of the redesigned ‘Central Park’ project being proposed in midtown Phoenix on Central Avenue.

Three years after starting the marketing process for a massive mixed-use project in midtown Phoenix and a lengthy reevaluation during the Covid-19 pandemic, Pivotal Group is set to bring “The Central Park” back in front of city officials. Pivotal Group Inc., a high-profile Phoenix real estate investment firm run by CEO F. Francis Najafi, filed a stipulation modification application to the city’s planning and development department in late June and has a hearing date set with Phoenix’s Planning Hearing Officer on Aug. 16.

While the original version of the project adjacent to Steele Indian School Park off Central Avenue leaned heavily into office use with 850,000 square feet of Class A space targeted for the tech industry, the mixed-use project appears to have flipped strategies as the new application shows that multifamily and housing are top priorities.

Julia Najafi, a principal with Pivotal Group, told the Phoenix Business Journal that the firm was still pursuing an urban mixed-use development that was more residential-focused than the commercial-centric plans the company moved forward with in 2019. Covid-19’s disruption on the business world shortly thereafter made Pivotal take a step back and find a new direction for The Central Park, Najafi said.

“In the four years that have passed since this project was originally approved, the world has changed dramatically — and along with it the market and demand for land uses across the spectrum both locally and globally. The city of Phoenix is in the midst of a serious housing supply crisis, and a global pandemic has forever changed the way people work, shop, and dine,” the project’s application read. “The new land-use plan reflects these new realities — responding to the city’s housing supply challenges with a more robust residential component, reducing the commercial office offerings, and reimagining the retail and restaurant experience to reflect consumer preferences and patterns.”

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