Phoenix has become a destination for popular events. Most recently, the downtown Phoenix area served as the main hub for the 2015 Super Bowl, hosting an array of events, concerts, and activities related to the big game. Photo from City of Phoenix.

Downtown Phoenix is hot in more ways than you can imagine!  As the urban heartbeat of the city, downtown is pulsing with activity. Riding the wave of the recent Super Bowl successes including Super Bowl Central and the NFL Experience, downtown is a vibrant sought after destination!

“The Super Bowl was the perfect event to showcase Downtown Phoenix and we really opened a lot of eyes,” said Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton. “Over the past decade, there have been nearly $4.7 billion in investments to revitalize the downtown core. The results speak for themselves — world-class shopping, entertainment and restaurants, METRO Light Rail, a top 25 convention center and more than 3,500 hotels rooms with a lot more to come.”

The new amenities in the area allows visitors to experience the Downtown Difference!

The Downtown Difference consists of more than 800,000 square feet of retail space featuring popular brands, professional sports, live entertainment, great food and fun activities.  CityScape, a 5-acre, mixed-use development that blends urban living with work, shopping and entertainment, includes notable restaurants, a hotel, offices and outdoor event space.

The Arizona State University Downtown Campus is home to more than 10,000 students. The downtown area is home to the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, College of Public Programs, College of Nursing & Health Innovation and the future home of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Photo from City of Phoenix.

Downtown Phoenix has more than 4,800 residential units, 9,000 permanent residents, and a workforce of 64,000 daily.  The Arizona State University Downtown Campus, which opened in August 2006 with 2,766 students, now has more than 10,000 students enrolled. The campus, which is continuing to expand, is home to the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, College of Public Programs, the College of Nursing & Health Innovation and other notable programs.  The new law center, which will house the Sandra Day O’Conner College of Law, is expected to open in the fall of 2016.

Serving as an education capital, Phoenix is home to remote campuses of rival universities, Arizona State University and University of Arizona. The Phoenix Biomedical Campus provides advanced training to students from the U of A College of Medicine. Photo from the City of Phoenix

Education thrives in Downtown Phoenix!  The Phoenix Biomedical Campus (PBC), the city-owned campus sits on 30-acres providing advanced medical training to students at the UA College of Medicine and doing cutting-edge research at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGEN). The campus looks forward to the opening of the 220,000 square foot $100M outpatient cancer treatment clinic operated by the UA Cancer Center and the St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, later this year.

Downtown Phoenix is hot and attractive to new residents.  High-rise projects such as 44 Monroe, Arizona’s tallest residential high-rise, opened its doors in 2008 offering 196 condos.  The Summit at Copper Square, the second tallest residential tower, overlooks Chase Field, offers 165 condo units. Downtown Phoenix residential developments continue to grow.  Portland on the Park, is the anticipated urban project that will include 170 luxury condos and lofts in 3 structures ranging from 4, 12 and 14 story towers. The property is within walking distance of the Light Rail, Margaret T. Hance Park, and the Japanese Friendship Garden.  The West Fillmore redevelopment project, which began taking proposals from private sector developers in spring 2015, will be one of the largest developments in downtown history. The 7.5-acre site is expected to meet the demand for downtown living, providing provide homes for 1,000 new downtown residents in addition to retail shops and restaurants.

Phoenix is seeing many new residential high-rises opening in the downtown area.      Photo from City of Phoenix.

The METRO Light Rail runs right by Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Photo from City of Phoenix

New employers and their employees are making Downtown Phoenix home.  Jay Geier, CEO of The Scheduling Institute recently opened his Arizona Headquarters in the Warehouse District and cited that the location’s close proximity to restaurants, hotels, and entertainment is ideal for his clients when they fly in to town. Convenient transportation is key to the explosion of downtown development.  The METRO Light Rail connects Downtown Phoenix to points throughout the city and the world.  The commuter train launched in December 2008 provides reliable transportation connecting passengers from West Phoenix to the East Valley through Downtown Phoenix with dedicated stops at the Convention Center and Sky Harbor International Airport.

Speaking of the Convention Center, the expansion of the facility and construction of the 1,o00-room Sheraton Hotel enables Phoenix to accommodate 80% of the association meetings market and attract high profile events such as the MLB All Star Fanfest, NBA All Star Jamfest, WWE Fan Axxess and notable conventions such as the NRA and U.S. Greenbuild.  In 2015, the Phoenix Convention Center welcomed the Super Bowl NFL Experience and looks forward to hosting fan fests for the College Football Playoffs in 2016 and the NCAA Final Four in 2017.

A nighttime view of the Phoenix Convention Center. Photo from City of Phoenix
Speaking of the Convention Center, the expansion of the facility and construction of the

Downtown has something for everyone!  The redevelopment of Downtown Phoenix has redefined our city.  The Downtown renaissance provides lasting memories with lively indoor and outdoor activities at CityScape, including Lucky Strike bowling alley, Stand Up Live Comedy Club and a host of bars, restaurants and shops.  Sports fans will feel right at home at Chase Field where the Arizona Diamondbacks play and Talking Stick Resort Arena, home of the Phoenix Suns. Theater goers will enjoy visiting the Herberger Theater, Symphony Hall and the historic Orpheum Theatre.  Downtown Phoenix is more than a destination, it is a community that makes residents and visitors from around the globe feel right at home!

A view from above. The City of Phoenix is home to professional sports facilities Chase Field and Talking Stick Resort Arena. Photo from the City of Phoenix.

Downtown Tucson is a hub for University of Arizona students, residents, businesspeople and visitors to enjoy the unique attractions and gorgeous weather. Photo from City of Tucson

Tucson has perhaps focused their downtown area on three major t’s: transportation, trade and tourism.

A southern Arizona paradise, Tucson draws visitors throughout the year to encounter its unique attractions and gorgeous weather. The city embraces its position as a tourism hot spot, as tourism continues to be a significant driver of the local economy. Visit Tucson is a high-performing organization that works diligently to bring tourists, conferences, trade shows, and sporting events to the Tucson area. Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild and the City Council have found a way to provide additional funding to Visit Tucson by having them share equally with the city any lodging tax dollars over and above current levels.

The continued renewal of downtown will no doubt bring even more visitors to the Tucson area. A proposed 136-room, $36 million upscale boutique hotel is proposed that will forever change the landscape in downtown Tucson and will additionally generate an influx of tourism dollars. Another highly anticipated hotel project will bring another 180 rooms right to the Sunlink Streetcar Line.

The Tucson Sunlink Streetcar is a 3.9-mile streetcar that connects major activity centers in the city. The streetcar saw its millionth passenger in May 2015. Photo from the City of Tucson

The City of Tucson is also fast becoming known as a logistics center due to I-10, I-19, and proximity to Mexico, Union Pacific Rail Line, the Tucson International Airport, and the Port of Tucson. In the International trade arena, the city has partnered with Visit Tucson to utilize their office in Hemosillo, Sonora as an extension of the economic development office located in Tucson. The city’s international trade specialist travels to the office monthly to meet business owners interested in exploring how to expand into the Tucson market.

The Tucson Sunlink Streetcar. Photo from the City of Tucson

Additionally, the city collaborates with Pima County and supports plans to construct a new limited access road from I-19 to I-10 called the Sonoran Corridor. This large infrastructure project will open up large tracts of land for industrial uses in the future, and will further solidify the Tucson region as a prime logistics center.

The city’s purposeful partnerships with other local organizations continue to bring more business and more visitors to the downtown area.

Downtown Tucson continues to be one of the hottest development markets in the region. City infrastructure expenditures and the Sunlink Modern Streetcar are certainly primarily contributors to the private investment the city is now experiencing. Downtown Tucson has been transformed in the last few years thanks to well-placed public and private investment dollars. However the lure to downtown extends beyond on-trend restaurants and housing. The area has welcomed many new businesses from the well-established to creative newcomers. These newest professional tenants have generated new construction, converted warehouses and breathed new life into historic homes and buildings. They are the next wave of newcomers to downtown Tucson and their presence will attract talented entrepreneurs and high-quality jobs to the available office space downtown.

The Rialto Theater is a mainstay of the Downtown Tucson area. Photo from the City of Tucson

The City of Tucson has driven the revitalization of downtown. Policies and incentives put in place by the mayor and city council have been geared toward turning downtown into an economic development engine. The city currently has 21 incentive tools that have made new development projects a reality in downtown.

Students are also injecting life into downtown like never before, with students from the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management using co-working space downtown to house their student-run companies. Student-run businesses are part of a burgeoning innovation district and shared work environments are quickly becoming the new way to office for young professionals and startups.

The City of Tucson has also established the Small Business Assistance Line, which attracts callers on a daily basis. The help provided ranges from how to obtain a city business license to how to establish a new business in Tucson. The Economic Initiatives Office also staffs the Small, Minority and Women Owned Business Commission, which meets monthly to facilitate the success of small businesses.

Tucson City Hall. Photo from the City of Tucson.

The Tucson City Council have led the economic development effort for the city by proposing incentives and assistance programs, bringing new businesses to the city and supporting those that are already operating there.

Downtown Tucson is once again becoming a vibrant urban core and both seasoned and young professionals want to be part of its future.