North and south, these developments in 2026 will reshape Phoenix

Article originally posted on AZ Central on December 30, 2025

Some of the biggest projects around Phoenix made major strides in 2025.

Those developments are sure to capitalize on this past year’s advancements by making more important leaps in 2026.

From the city’s burgeoning Loop 101 corridor in the north to its most southern reaches, Phoenix is seeing significant growth that will deliver much more needed housing. It will also offer additional retail and corporate office space for more commercial and economic activity.

Here are the developments that are continuing or set to make major breakthroughs in the coming year.

TSMC’s expansion plans to spur more ripples

TSMC is another step closer to expanding its footprint in north Phoenix.

City leaders in mid-December unanimously OK’d a rezoning case for 7,400 acres of land south of Loop 303 and west of Interstate 17.

The chipmaker has its eyes on a 900-acre portion, which sits directly south of its existing campus — on the north side of Loop 303. It plans to buy the property from the Arizona State Land Department during a public auction in early January.

The opening price is set at $197.25 million.

Securing the land means the company and PulteGroup can proceed with their NorthPark project, which includes a mix of about 15,000 single-family homes and apartments, as well as schools, commercial developments and roughly 2,000 acres of natural open space.

The planned expansion and new development would represent another ripple from TSMC’s effect on north Phoenix.

Already surrounding the company’s original site is Halo Vista — the soon-to-be “city within a city.”

While the 2,400-acre master-planned development is still in the early stages of planning, big-name brands like Costco Wholesale and Marriott announced their commitment this past October to become the first retail and hospitality projects there, respectively.

When fully built, Halo Vista could hold nearly 30 million square feet of buildings, such as hotels, offices, apartments, shops and education facilities.

Metrocenter Mall evolving into The Metropolitan

Now that the shuttered Metrocenter Mall has been dismantled, work can continue on the next phase of Phoenix’s new up-and-coming “urban village,” The Metropolitan.

The 68-acre project is meant to be a pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use development at I-17 and Peoria Avenue. It will include 1,000 housing units, mostly for-sale townhomes, as well as parks, rooftop amenities, and 115,000 square feet of retail and restaurants.

Residents and visitors there will also have easy access to the light rail, allowing them to downtown and south Phoenix, to the east Valley, and potentially the west Valley.

Construction on the planned housing units is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2026.

Development officials said they want to have about 80% of the retail and restaurant space pre-leased by the second half of 2026, with construction of those buildings expected to start in early 2027.

CityNorth continues taking shape

The 100-acre CityNorth development along the burgeoning Loop 101 corridor in north Phoenix is continuing to take shape.

Sitting near 56^th Street and Deer Valley Drive, directly to the east of Desert Ridge Marketplace, the master-planned project by Crown Realty Group will include about 3,000 apartment units, a hotel, shops and corporate offices.

A 272-unit luxury apartment complex called Sunela was the first completed building, opening over the summer of 2024.

Republic Services’ new corporate headquarters, a 250,000-square-foot office building, is one of the next projects expected to wrap soon.

Afterward is Sprouts Farmers Market’s 180,000-square-foot headquarters, which will include a large office building and a new grocery store. When open by August 2026, the corporate office will feature a gym, yoga studio, Press Coffee café, culinary kitchens, tasting rooms and a garden.

By 2027, CityNorth is also expected to welcome a dual-branded AC Hotel by Marriott and Element by Westin. Construction of the eight-story, 240-room hotel got underway in summer 2025.

Big things happening in Laveen

While most of the major projects in Phoenix are happening in or near the city’s northern reaches, a pair of large developments will soon reshape its southern village of Laveen.

First is Vestar’s long-awaited Towne Center project. The 40-acre retail development at 59^th Avenue and Dobbins Road is an open-air shopping center that will have shops, restaurants and family entertainment.

It’s part of a larger 90-acre development that will include housing.

Vestar, the Phoenix-based developer of Tempe Marketplace and Desert Ridge Marketplace, partnered with Brio Investment Group to develop a mix of 1,456 apartments, single-family homes and senior housing.

The company told news outlets this past September that it plans to break ground in summer 2026 and expects the Towne Center to open by winter 2027.

About 3 miles south — a roughly four-minute drive down Loop 202 — plans are underway for Gila Foothills, a 300-acre development off Estrella Drive and the freeway.

Phoenix leaders approved the project in May 2024 after a polarizing fight between the neighbors and the developer, the Lines family, a longtime landowner in the area. The family and the neighbors reached a compromise to deliver the residential development in phases.

The agreement allowed the Lines to build a total of up to 2,200 housing units, a hospital, an auto mall and a resort on the site. The first phase is for 1,200 units. An additional 500 units can be built after a hospital is constructed.

If at least 15 acres of retail and restaurants are constructed, then 250 more housing units can follow. Another 150 units can be developed if age-restricted housing for those 55 and older is designated.

The final 100 units will be allowed if the Lines develop platted, for-sale townhomes.

Laveen’s first Level 1 trauma center is also planned for the project.

Republic reporters Corina Vanek and Taylor Seely contributed to this report.