One Camelback is officially open for business
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One Camelback at Central Avenue and Camelback Road, in the former BMO Harris Bank building. Photo: Jeremy Duda/Axios
One Camelback's seven-year development saga is officially over and the luxury apartment building's first tenants have moved in.
Why it matters: The shuttered BMO Harris Bank building was an eyesore for years, standing in disrepair on some of central Phoenix's most prime real estate.
State of play: The first tenant moved into One Camelback on Thursday night, with several more following Friday, per TK Stratton, principal at Mesa-based Kinella Capital, the project's developer.
- Nearly 20% of the building has already been leased, he tells Axios.
Zoom in: One Camelback has 163 luxury units ringed around the building, with a skylight helping illuminate an atrium in the middle and rooftop pool and spa at the top.
- It offers studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units with floor-to-ceiling windows.
- Wellness company EverSpan is on the ground floor, and other retail partners will be announced shortly.
What they're saying: "It's a really neat time for Uptown and for Phoenix. This is a building that sits on Main and Main and has had a fence around it for … years," Stratton says.
Catch up quick: BMO Harris announced in late 2015 that it would move its regional headquarters out of the building, which was erected in 1985 for the bank.
- Sagamore Capital began a redevelopment project aimed at opening luxury apartments in 2019, but issues including the pandemic, high interest rates, supply chain problems and the general contractor going bankrupt hampered its plans.
- The building went into foreclosure in 2023.
- Kinella bought the building for $36 million last December and resumed construction the following month.
The bottom line: "It's just great to have it there across the line," Stratton says.
- "You've seen the changes that have already been made to Uptown," he adds. "I think the area is just going to continue to get better and better."