Gensler

A developer plans to build six towers on the privately owned land near Steele Indian School Park, which includes three historic Phoenix Indian School buildings.

Big changes are coming to a key intersection in Phoenix. On Wednesday, the City Council approved a zoning change for the northeast corner of Central Avenue and Indian School Road.

A developer plans to build six towers on the privately owned land near Steele Indian School Park, which includes three historic Phoenix Indian School buildings. The project is in Councilwoman Laura Pastor’s district.

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“I have spoken to the Native American community regarding the property and it has been blessed by them to move forward and to be able to be cultivated and something to be built on there,” she said.

Central Park is the working name for the development on the northeast corner of Central Avenue and Indian School Road. Fifteen-acres would house office space, retail and restaurant space, a movie theater, a hotel and apartments and condos.

Speaking to the council, Margaret Dietrich with the Midtown Neighborhood Association described the project as "astounding."

“The best part of it is there are no walls around it. It is completely open to anybody and everybody to walk through,” she said. “It’ll be a gateway to the park and there are a whole lot of people in Phoenix that don’t even know that park is there.”

After the meeting, Jason Morris a zoning attorney representing the developer, Pivotal Group, told KJZZ the project is a game changer, "Because it is the link between uptown and midtown. So, it’s that transitional gateway project that hopefully will be iconic and that’s why the architecture is so important.”

Conceptual renderings by architecture firm Gensler show two 355-foot residential towers as the tallest buildings. A general rule of thumb to determine the number of stories is to divide the total height by 15, so in this case it would be between 23 and 24 stories.

Morris said combining the cost paid for the land and the cost to build the 2.3 million square foot mixed-use project adds up to a billion dollar investment overall. 

The developer will work with archaeologists to protect and preserve any historic items. Construction will be done in phases as the market dictates with full development likely 10 to 20 years away.