Monday, February 10, 2020 / by Juan Grimaldo
23-story high-rise planned for downtown Phoenix 'opportunity zone'

A partnership between True North Studio and Hatteras Sky plans to build a high-rise near First Avenue and McKinley Streets.
PROVIDED BY SVN DESERT COMMERCIAL ADVISORS
By Corina Vanek – Reporter, Phoenix Business Journal
A local developer is partnering on a project in downtown Phoenix that could land a 23-story high-rise featuring luxury apartments and restaurants.
True North Studio, the downtown Phoenix real estate developer with several projects in the works in the Roosevelt Row Arts District, and Atlanta-based developer Hatteras Sky bought 1.68 acres in downtown Phoenix to develop a mixed-use high rise.
The project, called First McKinley at First Avenue and McKinley Street, will include 385 luxury apartment units and 15,000 square feet of street level retail. It's design would preserve the historic McKinley Medical Center building on the site.
The parcel is in an “opportunity zone,” which gives preferential tax treatment to capital gains that are reinvested in the federally designated zones. According to Hatteras Sky, the companies will use opportunity zone fund money to develop the $140 million project.
True North Studio and Hatteras Sky bought the property from Drapac Capital Partners for $7 million. Justin Horwitz and Paul Borgesen of SVN Desert Commercial Advisors represented the seller in the transaction.
“Phoenix has exhibited dramatic job and rent growth, especially in downtown, where the population has soared in recent years and is expected to double in the next five years,” said Oz Friedmann, managing director of development for Hatteras Sky, in a statement. “We are excited to be a part of the changing skyline. The property will provide future residents with immediate access to the best of Roosevelt Row’s art scene and downtown’s business and entertainment corridor.”
Construction on the building is expected to begin this summer.
True North Studio is behind a handful of other projects in the Roosevelt Row area, and most recently was announced to be the developer of the first Atari hotel, which will be built on a vacant parcel adjacent to the Ten-O-One office building on Central Avenue and Roosevelt Street.