Posted Jan 22, 2026, 2:24 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2013
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Empire Group plans $1.22B in Phoenix apartment towers
Quote:
Originally Posted by ASU Diablo
Good catch. Here's the rendering for reference:
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Lots of information/updates to unpack here, including updates on The Astra.
- The Whitney (Central/McDowell) breaking ground next month
- Revelry (955 E University in Tempe) breaking ground later this year (Q3 2026)
- Astra - Permits being pulled in the 2nd half of this year
https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2026/01/22/empire-group-2-billion-phoenix-pipeline.html
Quote:
Empire Group of Cos. plans to break ground next month on a 24-story apartment tower near the Phoenix Art Museum.
The $165 million project in midtown is part of $1.22 billion in total development costs the Scottsdale-based developer has on its plate across four apartment tower projects — along with another $1.07 billion in build-to-rent projects totaling 3,500 units across 15 properties in metro Phoenix.
To be called The Whitney, that 24-story project will include 328 apartment units. Brinkmann is general contractor for the project, which is set to rise at the southwest corner of Central Avenue and McDowell Road in downtown Phoenix.
Also breaking ground this year will be the $280 million Revelry, which spans two apartment towers at the southeast corner of University Drive and Rural Road in downtown Tempe. A 17-story tower is connected to a 15-story tower by a 27,000-square-foot pool deck on the second floor.
Selected as general contractor, Layton will break ground during the third quarter on Revelry, said Randy Grudzinski, partner and head of capital markets for Empire Group. Amenities for Revelry will include a clubhouse with spa and fitness center, a 2-lane bowling alley and rooftop pickleball courts.
"It will be the highest-end rental product in that downtown Tempe market," Grudzinski said.
Empire exec: City's tallest tower project moves forward
Meanwhile, Empire Group is moving forward with construction on Astra, the tallest building planned in Arizona. Plans call for securing permits during the second half of this year, he said, after working through some financing issues.
The 541-foot Astra tower was delayed when interest rates were on the rise and lenders pulled back amid an oversupplied market, Grudzinski said.
"They tightened up underwriting and cut back on loans they were making," he said. "That's why you saw the number of permits falling by such a large number."
As a result, apartment unit deliveries will drop by 60% overall, he said. Lenders see that supply has been reined in and are beginning to open up their wallets, Grudzinski noted.
"There is a lot more construction credit now out there compared to where it was a year ago, if not two years ago," he said.
The biggest demographic group for these luxury towers are ages 25 to 35, Grudzinski said, adding that the average age of the first-time homebuyer is now 40 years, compared with only 28 two decades ago. With mortgage rates still hovering around 6%, people are renting at record levels.
"We absorbed more multifamily units in 2024 and 2025 than were absorbed in the five years prior to that," he said. "We always knew this excess inventory was going to get eaten up, which has happened."
As a result, 2026 will be a transition year from a renters' market to a landlords' market, he said. "As developers, you can't look at where the market is now," Grudzinski said. "What you care about is what it's going to be two to three years down the road when we're delivering units and leasing up."
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Last edited by ASU Diablo; Jan 22, 2026 at 3:01 PM.
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