Condo Plan Shifts The Site Story In Tempe

A fresh tower idea is taking shape near Tempe Town Lake, and the pivot says a lot about where The Valley is heading. The plan feels tighter, taller, and tuned to a new market mood. You can see the shift right from the street. You can feel it in the numbers. And you can sense the wager the developer is making on how people want to live near the lake. This could be VERY good news for those who have been waiting for word on the South Pier condo project for many years now.

Quick Points

• New concept grows to 16 stories

• Condo count lands at 110

• Site once earmarked for an office tower

• City review hits the calendar in December

Also Read: Shorehaven Tops Off At South Pier But Condos Still Years Away

New Scale That Resets Expectations

This proposal jumps out fast. A taller shape. A heavier footprint. A full reset of what the corner might hold. The project now rises to 16 stories, and the interior count points straight at ownership, not desks or cubicles. You get a clear sense that demand shifted. The blueprint changed with it.

• Total area at 437,153 square feet

• Mix of two, three & four bedroom units

• 75 two-bedroom, 23 three-bedroom, and 12 four-bedroom units

• On-site garage offering 226 vehicle spaces

• Bike area stacking 113 spaces

• Layout crafted for a residential tower

The tone here is simple. The developer leaned into a clean residential push, and the massing follows that. It plants a sizable new presence at the lake’s edge.

Backstory Of The Ground Beneath It

The land carries a quiet twist. The price tag hit $5 million when the developer grabbed it in 2021. The seller was American Airlines. And the site itself covers 1.8 acres tucked into a sharp corner of Rio Salado Parkway & Ash Avenue in Tempe, Arizona. You can picture the fork in the road. You can picture the traffic hum.

• Parcel spans 1.8 acres

• Sold by a major corporate owner

• Purchased during a period of shifting office patterns

• Strategic corner next to the lake

This backstory sets the stage. New ownership saw fresh utility in the dirt. And that opened the door to this reinvention.

Location Framed By Offices & The Lake

Stand on the sidewalk here and you see how the area fits together. Tempe Beach Park stretches just to the north. Tempe Town Lake rings the space with water activity. And right next door sits Hayden Ferry Lakeside III. It’s a pocket filled with offices, trail access, and new foot traffic patterns.

• Near Tempe Beach Park

• Steps from Tempe Town Lake

• West of a major office tower

• Inside a major office submarket

The spot pulls steady movement. The surrounding streets feel pedestrian friendly, which is part of the draw. People linger here. Developers know it.

Early Ideas & The Sudden Pivot

The first plan looked nothing like this. A 14-story office tower was the headline back then. But 2024 hit, and the region’s office math shifted. Sublease availability grew. Demand thinned. The developer took a second look. And that second look reshaped the entire direction.

• Original blueprint centered on office floors

• Updated design grows the height

• Condo approach replaces workspace

• Shift tied to post-pandemic market reassessment

• New strategy responds to sublease volume

The pivot feels bold. But in The Valley, bold moves often map closer to the market than the old models.

What The City Will Review Next

A big date sits on the calendar. The Tempe Development Review Commission will weigh in on the amended planned-area development overlay on Dec. 9. Without that overlay change, the height & use shift won’t fly. Landscape updates also need a fresh check. And there’s no firm timeline to break ground yet.

• Overlay required for new height

• Overlay also needed for residential shift

• Landscape updates must be approved

• Construction schedule still unknown

It’s a layered review, though nothing out of the ordinary for an area this prominent. The process shapes the final edges of the tower.

Also Read: Tempe To Allow Duplexes And Fourplexes In More Areas By 2026

Who’s Behind The Push

Hines leads the charge. The Houston firm is no stranger to The Valley, and its work nearby proves it. The company teamed with Cousins Properties to deliver 100 Mill, the 18-story tower neighbors know well. Firms like Amazon, Deloitte, Imagine Learning, & IBM work inside it. The new tower would sit close to offices tied to names like Cognite.

• Led by Hines

• Past work includes 100 Mill

• Tenant mix in that tower spans tech & services

• New site sits near major HQ offices

You can quickly see why Hines feels confident in this slice of Tempe. They already built a stake here.

Conditions Tied To A Green Light

If the city signs off, the developer must follow through with site upgrades. That includes landscape updates and improvements tied directly to the zoning tweak. These conditions are part of the deal. They shape the feel of the street edge. They also help the project blend with the lakefront block.

• Required landscape changes

• On-site improvements tied to zoning shift

• Updates must be finished before final approval

So the proposal keeps moving. The details keep sharpening. And the project inches closer to showing how a post-office era tower might look at the lake.

Also Read: First Look At Interior Renderings Of Tempe’s Vedana Townhomes