Chateaux on Central has stopped construction. I imagine this will be a temporary setback until a new owner emerges. But it's a useful reminder how real-estate can be risky.
The Lath House is being relathed (?). Anxious couples wanting a nice place to get married probably will have to wait a couple more months.
Here's a model of Artisan Haus inside the sales trailer on Central. I thought the project was dead but it's actually on life-support. Engle Homes has decided to reduce the units from 80 to 48, raise the ceiling height to 12 feet, take out one floor, and remove the underground parking. Unfortunately, they have yet to sell one unit.
215 E McKinley is topping out. This is one project where the actual building looks better than the rendering.
Matt Pool's new tavern, The Roosevelt is days away from opening. The New Times had an in-depth report of his travails with city bureaucrats. It looks great with the old Queen Anne bungalow appearing ideal for some lazy beer drinking. But parking? You're on your own.
The aquamarine building is the Biomedical Collaborative, or something, attached to the new medical school. Love the color.
Peaked into the big pit where Phase II of the convention center is going. Stuff is happening.
111 Monroe's recladding is done on the west side. The matte-gray sheaths look very textured in that overlapping style. The fiber-optic lighting should be spectacular (fingers crossed). The elevator core is now being prepped.
This eyesore is going to be a yoga studio. They've rehabbed and cleaned it up nicely. This is one of those positive signs that downtown is actually beginning to generate new, upscale businesses on its own. It's a small step but it's exciting too.
This lovely Willo bungalow is home to a local celebrity. Guess who?
Tapestry on Central's Phase III, the Central Avenue building is almost done. Ground-floor retail space is for lease. So far, no tenants that I know of. There are a huge number of units for sale in this complex, mostly investor-owned. The last phase on the Encanto side is apparently all owned by the builder. When those units get done (it looks like about 6 months), there'll be a glut.
This water feature, a water curtain as it were, is at the new entrance to the art museum. It muffles the traffic noise on Central, and it does it beautifully.
Here you see the Diocesan center, a modern building that could almost be misaken for a motel with the backdrop of cranes constructing the city-owned Sheraton Hotel.
Light-rail construction at 3rd Avenue and Camelback. Here the tracks take a broad swooping curve to Central, leaving a whole lot of space for Park 'n Ride.
44 Monroe, the 34 story condo tower downtown, is now rising above its parking podium. The recessed floors are all residential. The floor plates reduce by about 40% here, so this building should really start going vertical now.
The Century Plaza condo conversion is now de-skinned on its backside. Construction is now full bore.
The folks who brought you The Coronado Cafe, one of the most romantic restaurants in Phoenix, now operate this Heritage Square (the Silva House) restaurant, Circa 1900. It's even MORE romantic. Downtown's culinary renaissance over the past few years has been remarkable.
The Summit at Copper Square is up to the 19th floor with three remaining. I'm surprised how tall it looks. Work is speeding along, with insulation now being applied to the lower floors.
I wish I knew the story behind this piece of vernacular architecture. It's a house at 3rd St and Columbus, and seems almost like a Woodstock House in its handcrafted homeliness. I hesitate to call this thing a treasure, but it's certainly sui generis. May the gods preserve it.