Quote:
Originally Posted by somethingfast
Obviously hope this thing gets built and anything new even remotely close to this height/size is great...but, can't help but ask the obvious question - why can't Phoenix get something taller than, I dunno, 600-700 feet as a new tallest? This is the 5th largest city and something like 13 largest metro and we still have a stature more akin to a Tulsa or San Antonio. It's like zero pride in the bloodstream of developers and civic leaders...
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There's no real incentive to build vertically. We do have corporate HQs in town, recent ones to move/upsize are Sprouts, Dutch Bros, Axion, etc. But the preference these days are for a dedicated campus building, vs an office tower. Office towers would then be more for small-mid sized companies -- perfect for law/real-estate firms but that market's been cornered by the Biltmore corridor, or easily handled by existing office inventory.
If we look past commercial real estate, then we're left with residential development. There are limits to how luxury you can get before people stop paying it. The most expensive ones to come online recently is the Ray which I believe is coming in at about $1.5k for a 400 sqf studio which is about $45 per sqft/yr. Almost double the average. Structured that way because construction has gotten so expensive in the last 5 years that to build a tower, you have to charge higher which puts you in the luxury territory. That's the only way a developer is able to secure financing. So between how expensive construction is, and the state's largely anti-condo-for-sale stance with the 7-year liability clause (Optima is the only one who figured this out but again, luxury developments), there's no incentive to build taller than what we can get right now.
The last group is going to be hotel and hospitality. This is where it could be possible, but the city wants to build new ones closer to the convention center which has height restrictions due to the FAA flight paths. Ultra luxury hotels have been popping up in downtown towers worldwide occupying their top floors: intercontinental in dtla, the Park Hyatt at Merdeka in KL to name a few. But the only spots workable in downtown (with basically unlimited height restrictions) are on 7th avenue... And that's just not a place to be. I mean the city allowed the Chik-fil-a with what seems like the biggest drive thru ever be built right there so....
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