Apartments, Retail Proposed for 15 Acres near Steele Indian School Park in Phoenix

A conceptual site plan by Petree Properties to develop a 15-acre site in Midtown Phoenix.

PETREE PROPERTIES VIA CITY OF PHOENIX DOCUMENTS

A California-based developer is looking to build 1,500 apartment units and more than 20,000 square feet of retail on a 15-acre site in midtown Phoenix.

Earlier this month, Petree Properties met with the Encanto Village Planning Committee to propose a multi-phase mixed-use development on a vacant site at Central and Glenrosa avenues. The site is across the street from Steele Indian School Park and adjacent to George & Dragon English Pub and the Valley Metro rail line. The site was most recently used as a community garden and plant nursery.

“There’s a lot to do. I started working on this in May of 2021,” said Eric Kenney, managing director of Petree. “There’s a lot of lead time and all of the various investigations and the things you have to do just to put yourself in a position to have a cogent plan to submit to the city.”

Initial plans for the four-phase project call for four buildings, including a 22-story high-rise apartment and retail building, that will contain 1,500 new apartment units and 20,000 square feet of commercial space, Kenney said.

“Each [phase] stands on its own. It has its own parking, amenities and so forth. They’ll be developed sequentially over a 10 to 11-year time period,” Kenney said. “It’s a mixed-use project with a heavy emphasis on residential.”

Two apartment and retail buildings, one being the 22-story high-rise, are proposed for the east end of the property that faces Central Avenue, and two solely residential buildings are planned for the west end of the property. The number of residential units for each phase is to be determined, Kenney said. Petree will start phase one build-out on the northwest corner of the site.

Neighborhood feedback led Petree to amend the project before seeking city approval, particularly when it came to the retail component.