Catching Up with Central City Planning & Development, June 15, 2023

Did you know Downtown Phoenix has (and continues) to come a long way?

In 1983, Phoenix Community Alliance formed around reviving Downtown’s supercore, as urban sprawl took people and activity away. As we celebrate 40 years of advocacy and placemaking, our Central City Planning and Development Committee's topics serve as benchmarks for transformation over time.

Under the initial development boom, the Committee gave a platform for developers to preview their changes to the transforming skyline.

Flash forward to the present, and the Committee continues to discuss pressing matters. An interconnected electrical grid to weather increased power usage, creating additional housing supply with what is preexisting, and the new tallest building in Arizona, to name a few.

Growth comes in cycles, and here are highlights of what’s happening now.

Interconnected (and it feels so good)

In recent years, the interconnected electric grid powering Downtown has been fortified to ensure that a single substation doesn’t bear the burden. Two upcoming substation projects by Arizona Public Service - APS provide additional power to replace aging infrastructure.

Throughout the rest of the year, APS is engineering the infrastructure for their Grant Park Substation, located between Lincoln Street and 3rd Avenue, with completion in 2025. The updated substation takes inspiration from their last Downtown project, ‘Welcome to Roosevelt Row,’ which used community art activations and murals as a fa?ade for the electrical substation inside.

The project follows the same path but reflects the character and history of the Grant Park Neighborhood. The Garfield Substation, initially built in the 1960s, is also set for an upgrade. The substation's elements will reflect the neighborhood's character, such as a solar shade structure complementing the nearby Carly’s Bistro.

The final product, from the physical location to the type of public art for all three substations, draws exclusively from months of community input. PCA Member Ashley Harder , Harder Development, has helped lead these conversations and a call for artists with Espiritu Loci Incorporated , a local planning and development firm.

Enter Astra Phoenix

Over the last five years, the future Astra Phoenix development has been in the works to surpass Chase Tower as the tallest building in Arizona.

Nicholas Wood , Partner, Snell & Wilmer , presented ways the project would extend the footprint of the Downtown core to the west. Changes include widening the road on 2nd Avenue, south of Fillmore Street, to allow for increased traffic, including emergency responders.

The future luxury hotel, residential housing, and office complex include a ground-level pedestrian paseo to contiguously link the ones at Civic Space Park and Taylor Mall.

Because of updated government property lease excise tax standards (GPLETs), the developer will donate a historic $5.5 million toward the city’s affordable housing fund.

Astra Phoenix will be completed in 2025.

The Low-Hanging Fruit of ADUs

After the last legislative session failed to produce any new laws to combat the local housing crisis, the City of Phoenix began a process to amend the zoning ordinance to allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs), or guest houses, to be used as a means of housing.

The proposed code requires ADUs to have alternative means of entry into the house. However, other detached structures in the backyard, like garages, can be considered ADUs under the proposed change. The height is capped at 15 ft.

After moving through City of Phoenix subcommittees in the summer, City Council will vote on the measure on September 6.?