Mega projects will dominate 2025 Article originally posted on HERE on January 7, 2025 If you’re driving around Scottsdale this first week of 2025, take a mental picture of the landscape. The scene is going to look very different by the end of the year. Dozens of projects of varying scales are in process or prepping to change the view around the city. Here are the top 25 Scottsdale construction projects to watch in 2025: Optima McDowell Mountain Village Unlike several of its prominent neighbors along “development row,” this 1,300-unit apartment complex is moving full-speed ahead. And, unlike massive projects bankrolled by Californians, Texans and other out-of-towners, this one – though the glammy apartments are far from rustic – has a certain “hometown vibe.” The North Scottsdale face changer was imagined by David C. Hovey and David Hovey Jr., the superstar father-son Scottsdale architects. Construction crews have been excavating, laying foundations and putting beams in place for the last year on this multi-building behemoth – the largest apartment complex in Scottsdale history. The new “environmentally friendly neighborhood” promises it “will also be a destination for Scottsdale residents with 36,000 square feet of commercial and retail offerings, 75% open space on grade level and 100% underground parking. The property will feature a bicycle/pedestrian path.” Optima is working on the first luxurious apartment building – they all will have rooftop pools – on former desert land just south of the Loop 101 on Scottsdale Road. The first apartments should be ready-to-rent by fall. One Scottsdale On the other side of the Loop 101, this 120-acre “mixed-use development” has already started changing the scenery. The first One Scottsdale commercial tenants are up and running on 3 million square feet of retail space. Meanwhile, construction crews are hammering the finishing touches on residential buildings. One Scottsdale is currently home to One North Scottsdale and Avion on Legacy, two communities with 750 units. The Beverly, an apartment complex on Legacy Boulevard, is the next planned phase. Facing the fenced-off project, one can see the towering crane working on Optima McDowell Mountain Village across the freeway. Eventually, One Scottsdale plans 2,000 total residential units. And, according to a spokesperson for the project, the City of Hope Cancer Center will open its new facility at One Scottsdale “in early 2025.” Axon This is the big question mark looming over Scottsdale. Six weeks ago, Scottsdale City Council gave Rick Smith and Axon the green light for an unheard of – in Scottsdale, at least – live-work-play development. Axon bought 74 acres from the state in 2020, with plans only for a new headquarters on land zoned for industrial/commercial use. Last year, Axon began the process of rezoning to allow for five apartment-condo buildings with 1,800 units as well as a hotel surrounding the planned office. With a five-year construction plan, Smith told Council he wanted to start building right away. But former Councilman Bob Littlefield is leading a group that submitted more than 26,000 signatures – demanding the issue be decided by Scottsdale voters. The challenge window lasts about a month before City Council may have to make another decision: Hold a special election or put the issue on the November 2026 ballot. Whatever happens, Smith’s plan is delayed indefinitely. ASM Right next door to Optima, Netherlands tech giant ASM has all the approvals to build a new North American headquarters – double the size of its current Phoenix facility. On its 20 acres, semiconductor equipment supplier ASM plans a $300 million office and research lab. A five-story parking garage will be used by up to 1,300 ASM employees. Four months ago, City Council approved a development agreement with ASM for 21 acres on Miller Road – which will be expanded with a roundabout, per the agreement. Banner Health And, right next door to ASM … Banner Health was part of a $7 million water-sewer line reimbursements agreement with the city. In September, the Scottsdale Development Review Board unanimously approved Banner’s plan for a three-story medical office building. Banner Health Center Plus is the first – and most modest – part of a $400 million “medical campus” plan for the 48-acre site. Banner Health must receive rezoning approval to build its planned hospital here. Rival HonorHealth is putting up a public relations and legal fight. Mack Innovation Park Here’s another off-the-Loop-101 mega project, about 3 miles down the freeway from Axon and company. Two-and-a-half years ago, the Mack Real Estate Group won a bid and paid $125 million for 124 acres of state land in North Scottsdale. The proposed 11 buildings combining for 1.2 million square feet of industrial space is one of the largest commercial projects to hit Scottsdale. Clearing, leveling and other prep work on the former desert land on the north side of the Loop 101 started in the fall. Later this year, a new lane will be constructed on the adjacent freeway frontage road and a right turn lane added from the frontage road onto Pima Road. Residents who take the Pima/Princess exit from the Loop 101 are bracing for what some predict will be “traffic nightmares.” Maya/Remi Construction started in 2023 and ramped up last year on the newest addition to Old Town’s hot-hot-hot Entertainment District. But, unlike the bars that lure revelers with thumping bass music, the dominant feature that looms a dozen floors above them is a hotel. First called the Maya Hotel, a nod to Stockdale Capital’s Maya Day and Nightclub next to it, the venue is now called the Remi. The rebranded hotel hopes to have an enormous “digital sculpture” on its exterior – but is locked with the city in a battle for permission. The Parque A similar massive “live-work-play” concept topped only by Axon in scope, this is the site of the old CrakerJax amusement park on Scottsdale Road across from Scottsdale Quarter. Developer George Kurtz, the CrowdStrike founder who also recently purchased the nearby Promenade, plans to build a corporate campus here to the tune of $1 billion. The plan: 1,236 apartments or condos, a “five-star hotel” with 223 rooms and 253,000 square feet of restaurants and shops – with a dozen buildings, each up to 10 stories tall. The big question: When will the Parque rise? Project planners “are working on their design and construction plans for submittal to the city in early 2025,” said Susan Bitter Smith, a Parque spokeswoman. “After city staff review those plans will then proceed to the Development Review Board for their review.”