Arizona Center

Arizona Center is a mixed-use development consisting of an open-air shopping center and enclosed office complex located in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, opening in 1989 and 1990 as a festival marketplace and office complex. However, as of February 2026, the mall portion has failed, and is being redeveloped into a community space. PALMTower, part of the redevelopment, was completed in 2024. Overview Arizona Center features two office buildings, retail and a 24-screen AMC Theater. One Arizona Center is 260 feet (79 meters) tall and has 19 floors. It was completed in 1989. This tower houses various legal firms with Snell & Wilmer being the largest. Other tenants include the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitor's Bureau (Visit Phoenix) and ASU. Two Arizona Center stands at 290 feet (88 meters) tall and has 20 floors. It was completed in 1990 and is the headquarters of local electric utility Arizona Public Service or APS. Retail once offered a variety of restaurants, boutiques and tourist shops, most of which are now closed. The large central plaza at Arizona Center includes richly landscaped courtyards and fountains designed by SWA Group, which won a National Merit Award by the American Society of Landscape Architects for its work on the plaza. Nearby, a 30-story Sheraton Phoenix Downtown hotel opened in the fall of 2008. Also, several high-end condominium projects in the downtown area are under construction, newly opened, or in the planning stages. History Late 1980s: Planning and construction The planning for the Arizona Center began in the late 1980s during broader efforts to revitalize downtown Phoenix, which was heavily suffering from urban decay as population flight to the suburbs, and a lack of residential density, sports facilities, office buildings and retail centers. The Phoenix Community Alliance (PCA) found a 16-acre (6.5 ha) site (then known as the "Superblock") at the city's strategic core and assembling the necessary land parcels, which then sold it to The Rouse Company for development into a mixed-use complex emphasizing office space, specialty restaurants, high-quality retail, and entertainment to attract visitors and tourists, which would aim to save downtown. Rouse founded the subsidiary, Rouse-Arizona Center, Inc. for the development. 1990: Opening and reception Arizona Center had its grand opening on November 15, 1990, with great fanfare and high expectations, as it was considered one of the original components of the ongoing downtown revitalization efforts in Phoenix taking place since the early 1990s. Arizona Center featured a second-story food court, boutiques, galleries, tourist-oriented shops, and restaurants including the first Hooters location at Arizona, which opened on October 2, 1990, to draw visitors with casual dining options. The complex also included lush waterways, green spaces, and event areas like a garden grotto, supporting revitalization efforts of downtown Phoenix. Decline, ownership changes and attempted revitalization efforts The expectations were high since it was developed by the same firm that created the highly successful Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston and Harborplace in Baltimore. Arizona Center was expected to be a retail, dining and entertainment magnet which would jump-start interest in downtown redevelopment, but some critics felt suburban-oriented Phoenix was not ready to embrace a downtown development of this caliber. Critics have also pointed out the relative scarcity of permanent upscale apartment and/or condominium housing in the immediate vicinity as a factor in the lackluster performance of the mall. Most of the residential districts surrounding the downtown area are middle-to-lower income, not adequate to support the middle-to-high-end marketing mix that Arizona Center set out to provide. A 24-screen AMC Theater opened at Arizona Center on March 6, 1998, as an effort by The Rouse Co. to revitalize it, but that was not enough. Many of the initial retailers struggled to attract customers, and by 2003, The Rouse Company announced that the large second-story food court, similar to those found in suburban shopping malls, would be closed and reconfigured into the Phoenix regional office of Detroit-based architectural firm SmithGroup. The Rouse Company was acquired by Chicago-based General Growth Properties (GGP) in November 2004. After going through bankruptcy and struggles from the 2008 Great Recession, GGP sold Arizona Center to CommonWealth REIT in 2011. 2010s renovation In December 2015, Arizona Center was acquired by a joint venture between Parallel Capital Partners and New York-based Angelo Gordon & Co. for $126 million. The struggling complex then underwent a major $25 million renovation from 2017 to 2019, aiming to revitalize it and attract tourists and shoppers again. The renovation added new modern features such as creative office spaces, outdoor work stations and a 60-foot LED jumbotron. Despite being renovated, a major blow occurred when Arizona Center took huge hits from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. The white collar office workers from One Arizona Center, the APS high rise, and other downtown Phoenix office buildings started to work from home during the pandemic, and have never fully come back. Arizona Center lost 12 restaurants and all retail establishments during that period, including major, previously highly popular tenants such as Starbucks, Hooters and Subway. The complex is now struggling as foot traffic fell to almost nothing. The local management office admittedly does not expect to see foot traffic revive for several more years. Following the pandemic, tenant vacancies exacerbated, including Kwench Juice Cafe, which closed permanently in November 2020 due to a lack of revenue. In March 2022, Hooters permanently closed its Arizona Center restaurant. As of February 2026, the former Hooters space remains unleased. Redevelopment Arizona Center was acquired by local developer Presson Corporation in mid-2023 and is undergoing community-centered redevelopment. PALMTower and additional revitalization efforts Part of the Arizona Center redevelopment includes the PALMtower project, which represented a significant expansion of the Arizona Center's mixed-use offerings, introducing a 28-story residential tower with 352 luxury apartment units ranging from studios to three-bedroom layouts. The tower began construction in early 2022, was topped out in the summer of 2023 and opened in early 2024. It is located at the northwest corner of E. Van Buren St and N. 5th St. PALMTower also features a 17,500-square-foot seventh-floor amenity level that includes an outdoor pool, spa, indoor-outdoor commons, fitness center, yoga studio, residents' club, and lounge spaces with panoramic views of the Phoenix skyline. PALMTower also includes a seven-level parking podium with space for 350 vehicles and a ground-level secure bike storage room for urban commuters. Beyond PALMTower, Arizona Center is also being revitalized with the addition of new restaurants and stores. Pretty Decent Concepts, a restaurant development group known for winning two Foodist Awards (Best Signature Dish and Best Chef for the group's Wren & Wolf restaurant in Phoenix) for its creations, has announced that it is opening a pair of new restaurants and a martini bar in Arizona Center. Two steakhouses—Cleaverman and Uppercut—have been announced to be coming to the complex. Fitness-related amenities, such as Jiu Jitsu gym and a roller rink, will also be added. A 31-story apartment tower, known as Palm Tower (not to be confused with the recently completed PALMTower) has been announced to begin construction soon. See also Downtown Phoenix List of historic properties in Phoenix, Arizona References External links AZ Center – Shop, Dine, Live in the Heart of Downtown Phoenix Arizona Public Service homepage Help Center – The Arizona Republic This is Phoenix, Arizona