After changing hands multiple times over the course of the last decade, the Arizona Center, located on the Downtown Phoenix campus, is being reimagined. ASU's partnership with the mall dates back to the previous owners and will now be expanded under the new regime.
ASU signed a 94,000 square foot lease in January to move offices and classrooms onto the second and third floors of the Arizona Center in addition to the preexisting ASU presence, according to Arizona Center Director of Special Projects Faith Burton. Previously, these spaces were second-floor retail that had either been left empty or filled with business offices during the first remodel.
"ASU is a really important component. Even when you see the people that are sitting around here right now, I think half at any time is ASU students," Burton said. "The retail thing we were going to get figured out regardless, but ASU is really just going to make this a whole concept versus 'Oh, let's throw a bunch of restaurants in here and see who makes money.'"
Currently, multiple spaces on the property are under construction, including a 10,000 square foot steakhouse and a 5,000 square foot high-end concept from Mexico, according to Burton. Additionally, multiple new restaurants such as Chocolate Bash and Dough Boy have opened within the past year.
Lizbeth Dominguez, a senior studying integrative health and nursing, attends class on the Downtown Phoenix campus and often visits the Arizona Center.
"(I) just hang around, grab a quick drink (and) hang with friends," Dominguez said.
To fill spaces that do not have permanent tenants, the Arizona Center is hosting pop-ups ranging from a roller rink to an art installation. A First Friday celebration has been introduced recently, as well as various other community and cultural events.
"We need to reintroduce people to the center and we're doing that through events," Burton said. "We had Picker's Playground here on Sunday and that was a vintage market and it was hopping with clothing sales. There hasn't been a casual clothing store in Arizona Center in like 15 years."
Gabby Cera, a junior studying interior design, visited the Arizona Center for the first time because of Picker's Playground.
"We just saw that they were having this today and wanted to check it out," Cera said.
The Presson Corporation purchased the property in 2023 and has continued the renovations started by the previous ownership in 2019, which were cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, Burton said. The project will continue for the foreseeable future, but it is going to be kickstarted by the addition of a steakhouse, which will replace the closed Hooters as the anchor of the Arizona Center.
"We’re a local family that owns this and so we only take on retail projects when it's something that we personally have skin in the game and want to see get better," Burton said. "When we took this on, COVID had ended, things were starting to bounce back and we're trying to take it that final 20%."
Edited by Senna James, Sophia Ramirez and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at allipper@asu.edu and follow @lippert_audrey on X.
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Audrey is a sophomore studying journalism and mass communication with a minor in Spanish. This is her first semester with The State Press. She has also worked at Blaze Radio.
