911 operators will be the first Phoenix Police Department employees to move into new headquarters.

The department’s communications bureau will take up the top three floors of the former Wells Fargo tower. Right now, dispatch center employees work out of two outdated locations. 

Jeremey Legg is overseeing construction and retrofitting of the 27-story building at First Avenue and Washington Street. He recently told a council subcommittee that employee input is shaping the 911 center’s design.

“We want to provide spaces for staff to decompress within the floor so we’ll have both wellness places for some light exercise as well as some quiet rooms to decompress in,” he said.

Legg said architects and project staff have been working with about 20 different bureaus and work units within the department, “to understand not only what are your business needs today, but what does your future ten, twenty years from now look like so we can anticipate those needs and try and try and build in the flexibility on future expansion space in advance so we’re ready to handle that growth.”

Move-in for all department employees will happen in phases, likely starting in fall 2024. Phoenix paid more than $46 million for the skyscraper and two parking garages. In July 2021, the city estimated it would cost another $90 million to update the building. The new location offers triple the space of current headquarters at Seventh Avenue and Washington Street, which is nearly 50 years old.