Phoenix has more large-scale development happening at once than most people realize. Each week, I will be digging into some of the larger projects that have promised big changes, and trying to uncover whether they will come to fruition anytime soon. This week: the old Metrocenter Mall site.
I keep seeing renderings and announcements about what's coming to the old Metrocenter site, a walkable village with shops, restaurants, apartments, townhomes, the works. Every time one crosses my feed I ask myself the same question: is this actually going to happen, and when? So I went and looked at the actual timeline.
Here's what was originally pitched. In 2021, Concord Wilshire Capital and Hines announced a $750 million redevelopment with roughly 3,200 housing units and close to 400,000 square feet of retail, restaurants, and office space. The deal to actually buy the property didn't close until the second half of 2022. Demolition was supposed to start shortly after that. It didn't start until late 2024, delayed more than a year by higher interest rates making the numbers harder to pencil.
Demolition finally wrapped in September 2025. The project has since been rebranded The Metropolitan, with the price tag now at $850 million. Construction broke ground this past April on three of five planned residential communities: Terra Court (144 townhomes, starting in the low $400,000s), Luna Villas (314 townhomes, low $500,000s), and Levante, a 350-unit apartment building. The remaining townhome community and the retail/dining district, the part that actually makes this feel like a village instead of another subdivision, aren't scheduled to start until April 2027 at the earliest.
Worth noting: the original 2021 pitch was around 3,200 units total. What's been named and under construction so far adds up to a smaller number, though the last two residential phases haven't had their unit counts published yet, so it's not fair to say the plan's been scaled back, just that the full picture isn't finished.
On the housing side, the builder is already reporting strong interest, Terra Court fully spoken for, Luna Villas about half. That's the builder's own number, not something independently verified, and pre-sale claims on a brand-new community are standard marketing before a single house is finished. Worth knowing about, not something I'd treat as proof this is a sure thing.
The one piece of this that's on solid, independently confirmed footing is the light rail. Valley Metro is extending the line 1.6 miles west along Dunlap and across I-17, including the system's first elevated station, a $400 million public project running on its own timeline separate from anything the developer promises.
The honest read: real construction is happening on the ground right now, and that part isn't hype. This project has already been announced, delayed, and reworked once before it got this far, so I'd treat any specific "grand opening" date as a target, not a guarantee. First homes could realistically be ready within the next year or so. The retail and entertainment piece, the part that would actually make this feel like a destination, is still further out.
Have you driven past the old Metrocenter site recently, or are you holding out to see if this one actually delivers?
Sources: City of Phoenix, KJZZ, AZBEX, AZ Big Media, Arizona Foothills Magazine, Phoenix New Times
