Phoenix | Ray (formerly Vela) Phoenix | 291 FT | 26 Floors

[MMDelon]

I’m loving the green glass on this project but I don’t like facade at all.

[plinko]

It reminds me of the Southern Bank Building in Orlando (which is a bit shorter). I've always liked that building for some reason...


160416 ORLANDO 374 by Michael Stroh, on Flickr


ORLANDO 049 by Michael Stroh, on Flickr

[az_daniel]

I think the building has nice proportions and the green color will add to what is turning into quite a colorful city. I think the N/S orientation will be a nice addition to this area's urban landscape.

I still believe VeLa's relationship with Central will be absolutely atrocious. The step back in its massing from Central will mean the experience of the building from the street will be almost entirely parking podium infilled with awful fiberglass mesh (per the elevations). This will be one of downtown's most interesting residential towers, but it will be sitting on what might be downtown's worst podium. It sucks to see so much disregard for Central. I'll be happy to be wrong!

Also, an interesting tidbit from that web page: "This is the first of possibly three integrated Lamar Johnson Collaborative and Clayco design-build, high-rise towers."

Anyone know anything about those other projects? Are they in Phoenix?

[dillsquad]

Originally Posted by az_daniel

I think the building has nice proportions and the green color will add to what is turning into quite a colorful city. I think the N/S orientation will be a nice addition to this area's urban landscape.

I still believe VeLa's relationship with Central will be absolutely atrocious. The step back in its massing from Central will mean the experience of the building from the street will be almost entirely parking podium. This will be one of downtown's most interesting residential towers but it will be sitting on what might be downtown's worst podium. I'll be happy to be wrong!

Couldn’t agree more. We need street level retail, especially on central. Don’t get why the city would approve this…

[CrestedSaguaro]

It's hard to know if this is what was approved for Vela. This is from one of the early fact findings I requested from a few years ago. There may have been changes since then.

However, Sol Modern (formerly Realm)will have a TON of retail fronting Central:

[dillsquad]

That’s great. Hoping for a grocery store at sol modern.

[combusean]

The massing for Vela hasn't significantly changed from what they've proposed, leading me to believe that the submitted site plan above is accurate and substantially up to date (with the exception of minor corrections as DSD and other CIty departments note).

[TJPHXskyscraperfan]

What are the complaints about? The building shows that it will have retail. But it seems so hard to fill up all the retail these days anyway. So much empty suites in these buildings are taking years to fill the retail spots.

[combusean]

Because if there's one street retail should be on it's Central. Instead, Vela dedicates a significant portion of its ground floor to cars.

Empty suites are much more a factor of commercial mortgages and greed than lack of inherent demand anyways.

[TJPHXskyscraperfan]

Originally Posted by combusean

Because if there's one street retail should be on it's Central. Instead, Vela dedicates a significant portion of its ground floor to cars.

Empty suites are much more a factor of commercial mortgages and greed than lack of inherent demand anyways.

The map shows the suites facing Central though.

[ASU Diablo]

Originally Posted by TJPHXskyscraperfan

The map shows the suites facing Central though.

The last rendering that Crested showed is for Sol Modern.

Here is for Vela, which is the project that is currently being discussed:

[locolife]

D

[locolife]

https://www.azcentral.com/story/mone...n/72964347007/

It's AZC official now. The project, called Ray Phoenix, a 26-story art-focused downtown Phoenix apartment tower begins construction

[combusean]

Anything new in that article that hasn't been covered? Not subscribed to AZC here.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by combusean

Anything new in that article that hasn't been covered? Not subscribed to AZC here.

The gardens and food concept sound really cool, I don’t think the floor count, unit count or dates have changed. Not sure if the rendering is new or not. I’ll be really interested to see how this color scheme stands out from the rest of the buildings. Overall sounds pretty cool.

The project is located at 777 N. Central Ave. on a site that is a surface parking lot. Construction is expected to finish around the second quarter of 2026.

The project, called Ray Phoenix, is a joint venture between development firm Ray and VeLa Development Partners. The Phoenix location will be the third Ray development nationwide, the company has developed a building in Philadelphia and is constructing a complex in Harlem in New York City.

The building will have 401 apartment units, ranging in size from studios to two-bedrooms, and includes penthouse options.

Rents at the development are expected to vary greatly, ranging from $1,550 per month to $7,500 per month. The company will begin taking reservations for select units immediately after groundbreaking, a company spokesperson said.

The Phoenix building was designed by Johnston Marklee & Associates, in partnership with Lamar Johnson Collaborative. It will include a fitness studio, resort-style pool, dog washing stations, indoor and outdoor gardens and a 4,500-square-foot food and beverage concept with art exhibition space on the ground floor. The developer did not announce a tenant for the restaurant space yet.