From street level, Phoenix’s tallest skyscraper is less landmark and more question mark. Chase Tower still looms over downtown as a fenced-off, mostly empty hulk, and neighbors keep wondering when something, anything, is actually going to happen. There is a redevelopment plan on the table, and key players say they are working on financing, permits and tenants, but no one should expect the building to spring back to life overnight.
Current status of the tower
The 40-story Chase Tower at 201 North Central Avenue has been largely vacant since J.P. Morgan Chase wrapped up its move to a new campus and left the building in 2021. The property has technically been in new hands since 2018, when it was purchased by Viola Lordsmeer L.P. The owner has already stripped out interior finishes and completed environmental clearance work, according to Arizona PBS. City officials say those early gut-job steps line up with preparing the tower for a major conversion, rather than a simple refresh.
Who's steering the plan
Local firm JDM Partners is acting as the asset manager for the Chase Tower project and already counts several major Phoenix properties in its portfolio. The company recently brought in new leadership to bulk up its deal-making firepower, a move reported by ORION. Observers say that shift could help the team assemble the substantial financing a full-blown conversion requires. JDM’s involvement has stirred interest from potential office, hotel and residential operators, but so far no binding tenant agreements have been made public.
What the plan includes and the city's timeline
Local coverage says the working vision for Chase Tower is a classic mixed-use makeover: hotel rooms, office floors, residential units and ground-floor commercial space, according to Phoenix New Times. Detailed renderings and formal entitlement filings, however, have not yet surfaced. On the public side, the City of Phoenix’s Department of Community and Economic Development has flagged the tower and its parking garage as key “activation” targets in an Entertainment District update presented at City Hall, assigning them a medium-term three-to-five-year timeline. When residents complained about fencing and blocked sidewalks, the city’s Street Transportation inspector found spots where the fencing created a trip hazard and had those problem areas fixed, the outlet reported.
Why it’s taking longer than expected
At roughly 668,000 square feet and more than four decades old, Chase Tower is a beast to retrofit. Converting its floors will mean installing new mechanical, life-safety and circulation systems, according to building records on Wikipedia. Developers and analysts have pointed out that office-to-residential conversions are gaining traction in the Valley and across the Sun Belt, a trend that can chip away at stubborn vacancy but only with serious capital and strong market confidence behind it, as noted by ConnectCRE. Put together, those technical, financial and market hurdles go a long way toward explaining why people have been talking about the tower’s future for years without seeing much visible change.
So what should downtown residents actually watch for? The big tells will be formal zoning or entitlement filings, splashy developer renderings or a major tenant announcement. Those are the signs that Chase Tower is finally graduating from demolition-and-prep mode to something closer to occupancy. Until then, it remains a hard-to-miss reminder that large-scale urban redevelopments rarely move at the speed of the surrounding boom, even in a hot Sun Belt market.
