Peek inside: Media tour reveals interior of SkySong

When SkySong’s first tenants start moving in later this year, they will look out of wall-to-wall windows, enjoy a second-floor outdoor deck and walk out onto a narrow street and see a mirror image of their building under construction.

A tour of the SkySong property for news media Friday revealed for the first time how the inside of the first 157,000-square-foot building looks.

Carpet and desk samples were set up, while the interior walls were being constructed as the building prepares to welcome its first tenants in December, a couple of months past the original targeted opening date, said SkySong spokeswoman Michele Irwin.

In addition to Arizona State University, which will lease about half the space, the first building will house Qwest Communications, Canon and international technology companies from China, Singapore, Turkey and Mexico.

The first floor is being built for retail stores, but no tenants have been signed with the exception of a Canon showroom, which will not be open to the public as a retail store.

“Once the tenants are here, the retail users will follow,” Irwin said.

Outside the first building is SkySong Boulevard, which runs east and west between Scottsdale Road and 74th Street. It features on-street diagonal parking.

Directly south from the first building is a second commercial building that will feature the same design and first-floor retail. The building is under construction and the first steel beams are now visible.

Some landscaping has been installed, but more is to come after the shade structure — the project’s namesake — is installed in May 2008.

The structure will cover an intersection toward the middle of the project and the four corners will have pedestrian amenities and water features, Irwin said.

The first four-story, 157,000-square-foot building is primarily rented out. Irwin said no tenants have been signed for the second commercial building, but that there was sufficient interest for construction to begin.

The second commercial building is due to be complete by May, with tenants moving in next summer.

The 37-acre project on the southeast corner of Scottsdale and McDowell roads is expected to have 1.2 million square feet of research, office and retail space. It’s a collaboration between Scottsdale, the Arizona State University Foundation and private developers. Scottsdale has spent about $80 million for land and infrastructure, a cost that could rise to $120 million with interest.

The site is the former home of Los Arcos Mall as well as failed proposals for the Phoenix Coyotes hockey arena and a “big-box” center.

Construction on a 950-space parking garage will begin later this year with completion coming in the middle of next year. The 325-unit apartment complex that will wrap around the garage is expected to be complete by mid-2009.

The project is also starting plans for a third commercial building that will be closer to the intersection of Scottsdale and McDowell roads. Design plans are expected to be submitted to the city next year, Irwin said.