Block Of Phoenix Houses To Be Demolished, Apartments Coming

PHOENIX, AZ — A block of houses is about to be torn down in Phoenix, according to reports, to make way for a 329-rentals. The twenty homes built between 1915 and 1950 are set to be demolished in June, according to AZ Central.

The properties are north of downtown Phoenix, in the block between Third and Fifth streets and Early Drive and Cheery Lynn Road. Crescent Communities, a North Carolina-based firm, bought the properties in late March.

The block is now fenced in, AZ Central reported. Crescent paid nearly $7 million for the properties from several owners, closing all of the sales on the same day.

Construction on the new complex is set to being later this year, AZ Central reported. It will be called Midtown.

Before the houses are demolished, Crescent is making them available to the Phoenix police and fire departments for training.

While there's enthusiasm over the project, not everybody is happy with the development, especially due to two other new large apartment complexes. "We must do everything we can to protect the few pockets of historic homes and buildings we have,” Stacey Champion, a historic-building advocate and public relations consultant in Phoenix said, AZ Central reported.

Champion agrees that high-density housing is needed, but also thinks "the onslaught of large, stick-frame, stucco boxes with overpriced rent is out of control."

AZ Central reported nearly 18,000 apartments are under construction in the Valley, and over a third of those are being erected in Phoenix.

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