End in sight for long-delayed One Camelback apartment project
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
One Camelback in central Phoenix. Photo: Courtesy of Kinella Capital
A long-delayed office-to-apartments conversion in the heart of Phoenix appears to be finally nearing the finish line.
Why it matters: The former BMO Harris Bank tower at Central Avenue and Camelback Road has been an eyesore for years as roadblocks stymied the One Camelback project.
Driving the news: Kinella Capital purchased the building for $36 million in December and promptly resumed construction.
- Kinella expects to finish by the end of the year, hopefully sooner, according to TK Stratton, principal at the Mesa-based company.
Zoom in: One Camelback will have 163 luxury apartments, a rooftop pool and nearly 11,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor.
- The building's interior includes an atrium in the middle and 11-foot-high, floor-to-ceiling glass windows in all apartments, Stratton said.
- Stratton said the layout works better for apartments despite its original use as office space.
- "It's an irreplaceable piece of property," he said.
Catch up quick: Redevelopment of the former BMO Harris Bank building began in 2019 under former owner Sagamore Capital, with plans to open in 2021.
- But the developer defaulted on its loan, and the building went into foreclosure in late 2023 and was sold at auction.
- Stratton said the pandemic, high interest rates and supply chain issues caused further delays, and he noted that restarting a project under a new contractor after work stops is difficult.
- "Unfortunately the market has turned on everyone with interest rates and everything else. No one did anything wrong. It's just where the market went," he said.
State of play: Work on One Camelback was about 80% finished when Kinella bought the building, according to the Arizona Republic,
- Converting office space to apartments is often more trouble than it's worth and it's usually more economical to tear down and rebuild, Stratton said.
- But that wasn't the case with One Camelback, particularly given how much work had already been done, he said.
What they're saying: "I don't think most people have been inside to see how far along the previous development team got. It's a beautiful building," Stratton said.