Centerpoint will feature 700 condos, retail venues in downtown Tempe

The skyline of downtown Tempe is going to change with the addition of what will be the city’s tallest buildings, two 22-story residential towers to be built on the western edge of Sixth Street.

The towers are part of Centerpoint, an 800,000-square-foot project that will build 700 condominiums and pedestrian-based retail venues, including a gourmet market.

The project is being developed by Avenue Communities, which has built Scottsdale’s Third Avenue Lofts and Grayhawk’s Venu and Edge.

"This is really a true, urban design," said Ken Losch, Avenue Communities principal. "We’re marrying the services of a hotel and the ownership of a condominium together."

Centerpoint will be built in four phases and once finished is expected to add about 2,000 residents to downtown Tempe. Construction on the project’s first phase, including the two towers, is expected to begin this spring and should be finished by the end of 2006.

An economic impact study revealed that the project’s residents and visitors could result in $20 million in additional retail sales throughout downtown, Losch said.

Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman said he supports the project because it will "help stabilize the economy and return to Mill Avenue a residential and social environment that will be inviting to all our residents."

The city is allowing Avenue Communities to keep 70 percent of the retail sales and new construction taxes generated at the site, said Neil Calfee, Tempe’s redevelopment manager.

The five-acre property includes a 343-space guarded public parking lot just west of Z Tejas. The lot will be reshaped, reserved spaces eliminated and parking assignments changed so that about 250 spaces will still be available during the first phase of construction, said Rod Keeling, executive director of Downtown Tempe Community.

The project will ultimately overtake the lot, but roughly the same amount of public parking will be included in Centerpoint’s parking garage, Calfee said.

Because the goal is for people to leave their cars behind, Losch said the project creates public spaces to walk, shop and "do the best people watching in town."

With a wine bar, bakery and deli, Losch compares the market to the golf courses and fitness clubs of other developments. His firm will retain some ownership in the 16,000-square-foot venue that will host wine tastings, cooking demonstrations and other culinary-based events.

"This is our golf course," Losch said. A large video screen, similar to those found in New York’s Times Square, will be a key public focal point of the project with free movies on some weekend nights.

The development will also have an open-air pool between the two towers on the project’s seventh floor. That level will also have a spa, fitness center and activity area where chefs will host classes and weekend brunches. Prices for condominiums range from $160,000 to $2 million, with an average price of about $300,000, Losch said.

"We’ve got 23 floor plans that range from a 560-squarefoot one bedroom to several thousand square feet," Losch said.

If not obvious so far, Losch said the development isn’t geared toward Arizona State University students or their parents looking for an investment to offset their child’s housing costs. "Our buyers are a mind-set. They’re 26 or they’re 85. We have an activated community that’s full of things to do," Losch said. "It all combines and creates an energy. An unexpected moment."