The nearly 100-year-old Coronado Hotel in downtown Phoenix is headed for demolition, cleared out to make room for a multi-phase housing project that will add to the wave of infill reshaping the Roosevelt Row arts district. The modest old motel, along with a nearby house that once served breakfast to the neighborhood, is slated to disappear in favor of new apartments and public art woven into the block.
As reported by The Arizona Republic, artist renderings show both phases of the Herrera project: two buildings already standing and two more planned to replace the Coronado and a neighboring historic home. The paper notes that the Coronado dates back nearly a century and sits on a narrow, walkable strip near First Street and the heart of Roosevelt Row.
Developer Plan And Design
Developer True North Studio is pitching the work as part of its Roosevelt Row-focused portfolio, with an emphasis on smaller-scale, amenity-forward apartments and a look that nods to the surrounding arts scene. True North Studio describes The Herrera as a compact, art-minded development, with private outdoor spaces and a mix of smaller units that is intended to match the low-rise character of the block.
Art, Demolition And What Will Be Lost
Renderings and developer descriptions highlight planned decorative touches, including iron artwork, colored tile pieces and other public-facing details that are meant to give the new buildings some visual flair at street level. Those same materials make it clear that the existing Coronado structure and the small historic house next door would be removed to open up the site for the new construction, according to True North Studio.
Roosevelt Row Context
The project is the latest in a steady stream of infill that is transforming Roosevelt Row, as developers add housing close to Arizona State University’s downtown campus and the light rail corridor. Downtown Phoenix lists The Herrera as an under-construction, 24-unit development on the same block, underscoring how a series of relatively small projects is gradually redrawing the streetscape.
Neighbors and preservation advocates routinely weigh the trade-off between adding apartments and losing older buildings, and this block is likely to attract scrutiny as the plan moves toward formal review. Permit filings and demolition timelines have not yet appeared in public records, and the next steps will depend on how the city signs off on the proposal.
