More apartments planned near Chase Field in downtown Phoenix
Ridgehouse Cos. is in the early stages of planning an apartment building just south of Chase Field in downtown Phoenix.
This proposed project would add to nearly a dozen projects in the construction pipeline totaling more than 3,200 units within a 1-mile radius of Chase Field, according to Peter O’Neil, research director for Northmarq.
“Since the ballpark opened in 1998, more than 7,000 apartment units have delivered within a 1-mile radius of Chase Field,” said O’Neil, an expert researcher in the multifamily sector.
About 3,600 of those units have been completed within the last three years, he said.
St. Louis, Missouri-based Ridgehouse has submitted an application to the city to develop a seven-story structure on 1.6 acres at the northeast corner of Fifth and Lincoln streets, according to city documents.
This Google map shows the parcel to be developed south of Chase Field, surrounded by parking lots.
While company officials could not be reached for comment, city documents show plans call for building 235 units, along with retail, gallery, leasing office, a small dog park and large amenity deck with a pool.
This rendering looking south shows how the pool is shaded during the heat of the afternoon.
Public records show LR 5th and Lincoln Investors LLC, which traces to Ridgehouse, paid $9.5 million in cash for the vacant parcel at 514 E. Lincoln St.
Downtown Phoenix has a lot more energy than it did when O’Neil moved here in 1998, about two weeks before opening day of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ first season.
“While there’s still more work to be done, downtown is definitely a lot more of a live-work-play destination than it was when the Diamondbacks first got here,” O’Neil said. “And the area south of the ballpark seems like a pretty logical place for the next chapter of the downtown Phoenix story to be written.”
Ridgehouse has other Valley projects in the works
This isn’t Ridgehouse’s first project near a sports complex. Among its active communities are:
- A 240-unit apartment facility near the Major League Baseball spring training facilities for the Kansas City Royals and the Texas Rangers is within the Surprise City Center master-planned community in Surprise
- Ridgehouse also has a 234-unit project at 99th and Northern avenues in Glendale near State Farm Stadium
- The firm also has a 185-unit community on the northeast corner of McDowell Road and 107th Avenue in Avondale.
A subsidiary, Ridgehouse Construction, specializes in building wood-frame multifamily communities.
These developments come at a time when rents fell 0.7% in Phoenix in September, compared with a 0.5% decrease nationwide, according to Apartment List.
Year-over-year rent trends in Phoenix now stand at an overall decline of 4.7%, compared with a 3.1% increase measured a year ago.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, rents across metro Phoenix have risen a total of 26.9%, according to that Apartment List report.
Today, the median rent in metro Phoenix is $1,166 for a one-bedroom unit and $1,411 for a two-bedroom unit. That ranks No. 52 in the nation, among the country’s 100 largest cities.
Across the metro, the apartment vacancy rate stands at 6.9%, up 1 percentage point form this time last year.
For a closer look at rents in specific cities across metro Phoenix, click here to see the Apartment List report.
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