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 1989–1990 as a festival marketplace and office complex. However, as of February 2026, the mall portion has failed, and is currently being redeveloped into a community space. PALMTower, part of the redevelopment, was completed in 2024.

Layout

Arizona Center features two office buildings, retail and a 24-screen AMC Theater.

One Arizona Center is 260 ft 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 ft 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.

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.[1]

History

Pre-construction and development

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.[2]

The Phoenix Community Alliance (PCA) found a 16-acre site (then known as the "Superblock"[3]) at the city's strategic core and assembling the necessary land parcels, which then sold it to Columbia-based 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.[2] Rouse founded the subsidiary, Rouse-Arizona Center, Inc. for the development.[4]

Opening and early years

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,[5] 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.[6]

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.[7] 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,[8] as an effort by The Rouse Co. to revitalize it, but that was not enough.[3]

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.[11] 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.[12][11]

Despite being renovated, a major blow occurred when Arizona Center took huge hits from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020[13] 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

location	455 N 3rd St, 85004
status	Largely vacant and undergoing redevelopment
opened date	1990 (office; retail was completed in November)
completion date	1990
renovation date	2017–2019
construction start date	1989
roof	290 ft
top floor	20
floor count	20
architect	HNTB Architecture
main contractor	HuntCor Inc.
building type	Mixed-use (Shopping mall · Office building)
developer	The Rouse Company
owner	Presson Corporation
operator	Presson Corporation

Layout

History

Pre-construction and development

Opening and early years

Decline, ownership changes and attempted revitalization efforts

2010s renovation

Redevelopment

PALMTower and additional revitalization efforts

See also

External links

References

2010s renovation