By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
A 2.38-acre midtown Phoenix infill site at the NWC of Central Avenue and Thomas Road once planned for a 15-18-story mixed development has come back to life after undergoing major revisions.
Documents obtained by BEX Companies Research staff under a public records request show developer Bond Companies now plans a 31-story apartment tower with 360-units and a build area of 964.7KSF. The site has been owned by Pederson Group since 2002.
Project History
Pederson submitted the original development plans back in 2019. Those plans, approved by Phoenix City Council in Dec. 2019, called for a 244-foot mixed use tower with a lobby and retail on the first floor totaling 22.5KSF. The remainder of the project would have consisted of 324KSF of office space.
The 2019 plan featured Pederson Group as the developer and SmithGroup as the design firm. Construction was planned to begin sometime in 2021.
After the original project was heard and approved by Council in 2019, Pederson Group owner Jim Pederson told BEX staff the plan was to rezone the site and either sell it or structure a joint venture with a developer with expertise in high-rise development. The project was partially overturned with additional stipulations by the Phoenix Board of Adjustment in Aug. 2020.
In an April 2021 update, Pederson told BEX it was still working through entitlements and would sell once those were complete. In May of that year, Pederson said the project would likely not be moving forward.
The last update BEX received was in Feb. of this year, when Pederson said demolition permits at the site under review by the Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission were for an existing building that had been damaged by a fire and that the company would still most likely be selling the parcel.
New Developer, New Vision
In the pre-application currently under consideration by Phoenix planning staff for the Central and Thomas Apartments, Bond Companies’ revised plan features ground floor commercial and 360 apartments in one 31-story tower. The planned unit mix is 76 studios, 155 one-bedroom, 115 two-bedroom and 14 three-bedroom apartments. DAVIS is now named as the design firm.
According to the new site plan, construction will be completed in a single phase with the apartments over the at-grade commercial portion and structured parking.
The site is adjacent to the light rail station and falls under the City’s Transit Oriented Development framework. The Planning staff review of the Pre-application Site Plan shows a zoning variance will be required to reduce the minimum open space requirement from the standard 5%.
Some of the other considerations and stipulations noted by staff include:
- Location of a pedestrian plaza,
- An enhanced bus shelter,
- A pedestrian accessway from the parking garage to the public area along Central Avenue,
- Decorative paving and shading elements,
- Street Transportation Department approvals for right of way changes,
- A 75% shading requirement for all sidewalks and pedestrian ways,
- Conformance with landscaping and streetscape standards, and
- Sidewalk and street enhancements in conformance with the Transit Midtown Character Area.
No hearings have scheduled yet for formal plan reviews or approvals.
