TSMC, ASU medical school among Phoenix's biggest projects to watch in 2024
Phoenix, now home to the state’s largest foreign direct investment project, is a hotbed for notable developments across industries, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s plant leading the way in both value and scope.
The city’s downtown had seven tower cranes in use in the third quarter of the year, building high-rise residential projects that continue to be in demand as the city’s downtown matures. Phoenix has also been a primary market for projects that convert malls to new uses or redevelop vacant malls, which will continue to bring some of the area’s most anticipated developments in 2024.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
Company officials said in October that the plant is on track to begin producing its semiconductors in early 2025, meaning there will be flurry of construction activity at the north Phoenix site for the entirety of 2024. The first phase of the $40 billion plant will produce the company’s four-nanometer chips.
In early December, TSMC and union leadership representing construction workers announced they had agreed to a framework to guide practices around workplace training, safety, communication and foreign workers. About 12,000 construction workers across a variety of trades are on site most days at the massive plant.
Metrocenter and other mall redevelopment projects
There are grand redevelopment plans for the long-vacant Metrocenter Mall, which was once the largest mall in the state. Three groups out of Florida − Concord Wilshire Capital, TLG Investment Partners and CDS International Holdings Inc. − bought the site and will partner with Hines in the $850 million redevelopment.
The mall, located at Interstate 17 and Peoria Avenue, is planned to mostly be demolished to make way for an “urban village,” which will focus on housing. The Walmart store and a self-storage building will remain on the site, and the developers have not acquired the former Sears store on the site.
The former Paradise Valley Mall, now simply called PV, is one of the other major mall redevelopments underway in Phoenix. Construction has already begun on the site, and the first phase includes an apartment complex, a Whole Foods Market and a Harkins dine-in theater. Life Time, a luxury gym, announced plans to open a luxury residential and fitness concept at PV. The 11-story development will include 300 apartment units, planned to open in 2026.
Also slated for redevelopment but on a much longer timeline is Christown Spectrum Shopping Center. The first piece of the redevelopment plans, an apartment complex planned for the parking lot of the shuttered Costco, was submitted to the city in early 2023.
A new mall in Laveen
Not all malls are out. Phoenix-based Vestar, the developer of Tempe Marketplace and Desert Ridge Marketplace, is planning to break ground in mid-2024 on Laveen Towne Center. The 40-acre development will be at 59th Avenue and Dobbins Road and plans to incorporate and reuse a historic farmhouse that sits on the land.
Plans call for about 375,000 square feet of retail buildings on the site. Vestar officials said in early 2023 that the open-air shopping center will include landscaped open space, sit-down restaurants and other community uses, like musical performances and public events.
ASU Medical School
Arizona State University announced in October that it plans to build a medical school in downtown Phoenix but did not name an exact location or timeline for construction. The medical school would be part of a large expansion of ASU’s health offerings in downtown Phoenix.
Although no location has been confirmed for the school, in May 2022, Phoenix City Council’s economic development and equity subcommittee discussed the city’s master lease agreements with ASU in downtown, and discussed the Mercado site on Fifth and Van Buren streets. At the meeting, leaders from the city’s economic development department said the site was planned to be included in the university’s plans to expand the “healthcare core” in downtown, making it a likely candidate for the medical school’s location.
The university was originally expected to transfer ownership of the site to the city, but in June the City Council amended the agreement and ASU will continue to own it.
Midtown projects
An 18-acre site adjacent to Steele Indian School Park has long been slated for development, but the pandemic put a pause on plans that had previously been approved. This year, Pivotal Group, the Phoenix-based developer, revamped its plans for the site to shift from an office-heavy project to include more apartments, condominium units and senior living. In total the site could include 1,450 residential units, an office tower, a grocery store and retail and restaurants.
Across the street, Petree Development has plans to build on a 15-acre site on the west side of Central Avenue.
The project is planned to be built over the next decade and will include a 22-story high-rise, planned to bring 1,500 apartments and 20,000 square feet of commercial space. The proposal calls for four phases, with a major emphasis on apartments. The site will develop in quadrants, with the first building planned for the northwest corner of the site.
Roosevelt Row projects
Rainbow Road, a Mario-Kart inspired apartment complex, is planned to break ground in January, kicking off a series of new projects planned in the Roosevelt Row Arts District for Intersection Development.
The group is also planning another residential mixed-use project, called Manzana, planned to break ground in early 2025. According to real estate database Vizzda, the group has been actively acquiring other sites in the Roosevelt Row area, including closing on a one-acre site on Central Avenue and Roosevelt Street in early December, near where the company’s other planned projects will be.
Turf Paradise
Redevelopment or reopening plans for the north Phoenix horse racetrack have come in stops and starts this year, but the track’s owner announced he would delay his retirement and run a racing meet beginning in January. Jerry Simms, the owner of Turf Paradise, said he is still under contract to sell the site, and a pending zoning case at Turf Paradise will not impact the track’s ability to host a meet.
The zoning case would allow a business park or commerce uses to be built on the site, which is already allowed on most of the property, priming the land for a potential redevelopment. However, Simms said the buyers intend to keep horse racing at the track, so it is yet to be determined the scale or timing of any development plan.
Reach the reporter at cvanek@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter @CorinaVanek.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: TSMC, Metrocenter among Phoenix's biggest projects to watch in 2024
