Macerich eyes 10-story office building at upscale Phoenix mall

Macerich aims to add a 10-story office building to its luxury outdoor mall in Phoenix, with a possible 13-story residential tower to follow.

The Santa Monica-based real estate investment trust filed plans to build the 330,000-square-foot building in Biltmore Fashion Park at 2502 East Camelback Road, the Phoenix Business Journal reported. It would replace a parking lot.

The city’s Planning Hearing Officer will hear the proposal on Feb. 21.

Plans also call for a 13-story housing highrise at the shopping center at 24th Street and Camelback Road, not included in the office application.

Macerich, owner of some of the top shopping centers across Greater Phoenix, wants to add the offices at the southeast corner of the 32-acre Biltmore mall, home to such tenants as Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Anthropologie and Life Time.

The 140-foot tall office building would include an unspecified number of ground-floor shops and restaurants. Its floor plates would span 40,000 square feet each.

Macerich said in an earnings call two years ago that it was considering building a combined 750,000 square feet of Class A offices at Biltmore Fashion Park and its Scottsdale Fashion Square mall. Plans for an office building have yet to be filed in Scottsdale.

Phoenix’s Camelback Corridor is seeing a surge in commercial development, according to the Business Journal.

The Esplanade campus across the street from the Biltmore Fashion Park is undergoing a $45 million renovation.

George Oliver Companies plan to pour $52 million into renovations at its 250,000-square-foot Biltmore Commerce Center, to be renamed Bond. It bought the office building at 3200 East Camelback Road in the summer of 2022 for $61 million. 

The Grove by Red Development on 44th Street and Camelback Road  is a top office destination in the Valley, according to industry experts.

The Camelback/Piestewa Peak submarket ranked second in Greater Phoenix for office lease rates, which were $37 per square foot in the fourth quarter, according to CBRE. Tempe, at $39.65 per square foot, ranked first.

Read more

Tri-State

Macerich pitches apartments for failing mall, but town objects

Los Angeles

How Macerich dodged default on its Santa Monica mall

Los Angeles

Simon and Macerich poised to pause on outlet mall in Carson

Brokers say trophy offices in areas like the Camelback Corridor can rent in the mid-to-upper $50 per square foot range. Camelback was also tied with the Northeast Valley/Scottsdale submarket for lowest office vacancy in the Valley at 20.7 percent, according to CBRE.

Macerich, founded in 1964, has become the third-largest mall owner in the nation. It owns 47 million square feet of real estate in 44 regional town centers in California, the Pacific Northwest, Phoenix/Scottsdale and the Metro New York-to-Washington, D.C. corridor, according to its website. 

— Dana Bartholomew