GMH Communities, CBRE Investment Management and Medistar Break Ground on Central Station, a One Million Square Foot Mixed-Use Development in Downtown Phoenix
The transit-oriented development will introduce apartments, student housing, office, and retail space offering a vibrant urban hub adjacent to Arizona State University’s Downtown Phoenix Campus
PHOENIX, AZ – (April 14, 2022) – Medistar Corporation, GMH Communities (“GMH”), and CBRE Investment Management (“CBRE IM”) were joined by Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, Vice Mayor Laura Pastor, and Councilwoman Yassamin Ansari and an audience of business and community representatives, to celebrate the ceremonial groundbreaking of Central Station, a dynamic one-million-square-foot mixed-use development that will sit adjacent to Civic Space Park and Arizona State University’s Downtown Phoenix Campus.
Designed to merge seamlessly with the existing transit station to create a bustling urban hub, Central Station will establish two residential towers, 30,000 square feet of retail space focusing on food-oriented concepts; 70,000 square feet of state-of-the-art flexible creative office space; and two levels of below-grade parking with 430 spaces.
“Downtown Phoenix is a rising hot spot, and Central Station sets a new standard for transit-oriented development elevating the vibrancy of our city,” said Mayor Kate Gallego. “The care and thoughtful design sets a tone for the City’s future. It’s projects like this that are among the reasons more people choose Phoenix as their new home than any other U.S. city.”
One tower, a 22-story student housing building will be fully furnished and comprised of 655 beds. Fostering a collaborative living environment, the development will be equipped with smart technology, amenities, and services designed to meet the unique needs of urban residents. This component of the Central Station development will also feature a diverse array of residential options ranging from micro studios to four-bedroom units, catering to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as young professionals.
The second, a 33-story residential tower, includes 362 units and features smart-tech throughout. All residents will have access to an outdoor amenity deck that includes barbeque grills, fire pits, and a resort-style pool.
“At GMH, we have been actively pursuing opportunities to expand our footprint and develop Class-A, smart-tech apartment communities across the country,” says Steve Behrle, Chief Development Officer of GMH. “With Central Station, our plan is to transform Downtown Phoenix, providing students and the local workforce with the living accommodations necessary to support their unique live-work-play-learn-thrive lifestyles.”
“Downtown Phoenix is an entirely different place today than it was just five or six years ago. It is a vibrant urban hub,” said Phoenix Vice Mayor Laura Pastor. “Every week, new restaurants are opening. New tenants are filling apartments downtown four times faster than anywhere else in the Valley. Central Station is a community that brings even more vibrancy to downtown with diverse housing choices and a variety of uses to meet the needs of those living and working in Downtown Phoenix.”
“With Downtown Phoenix booming, Central Station is the centerpiece we need and deserve,” Councilwoman Yassamin Ansari said. “Mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented, and aesthetically pleasing projects with a range of units that include workforce-priced housing are exactly what a city of our stature should be building and encouraging. I cannot wait to see this project completed and bring even more vibrancy to the center of our city.”
Central Station, which is slated to open in 2024, will reimagine the city’s primary downtown bus and light rail transit center that serves two million passengers annually. It will also link to the city’s Civic Space Park in a unified public space for the vibrant heart of Phoenix. Poised to capitalize on the development’s strategic location, Central Station keys off robust transit ridership and proximity to the urban core of the fifth-largest city in the United States.
Central Station is a public-private partnership with the city of Phoenix retaining ownership of the land and the development partners entering into a long-term lease for the project. The project was designed by Gould Evans, and Layton Construction will serve as general contractor.
“Central Station is ideally positioned to benefit from the expanding knowledge cluster formed by the Phoenix Bioscience Core and ASU’s downtown campus,” said Ben Green, Managing Director, Residential Transactions, CBRE Investment Management. “It fits well within our fund’s ‘Eds and Meds’ investment theme as a premier rental option catering to the substantial, growing demand generated by higher education and life science employment.”
“Central Station will be a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly addition to downtown Phoenix with its densely landscaped pathways,” said Monzer Hourani, CEO of Medistar. “Its connection to Civic Space Park will provide another amenity bringing people together to experience events, dining, music and green space.”
ABOUT MEDISTAR
Medistar Corporation is a full-service commercial real estate development company headquartered in Houston, Texas. Medistar delivers innovative solutions to clients, investors and partners across the U.S. As it has for over 45 years, Medistar specializes in the design, development, financing acquisition and construction of healthcare, hospitality, multifamily and mixed-use projects. For more information, please visit www.MedistarCorp.com.
ABOUT GMH COMMUNITIES
Headquartered in Newtown Square, PA, GMH Communities is a dynamic, privately held real estate company specializing in the acquisition, development and management of exceptional living communities throughout the United States. Since 1985, GMH has participated in over 300 transactions representing more than $8 billion of gross asset value across all major property types. For more information, visit www.gmhcommunities.com.
ABOUT THE CITY OF PHOENIX
America’s fifth-largest and fastest-growing city, Phoenix covers an area nearly half the size of Rhode Island. The city offers a balanced urban lifestyle with the shortest U.S. big-city average commute time between work and home. Phoenix is among the nation’s leaders in new job creation and ranked first in the nation in 2021 for life science hiring. The city is home to three of the five largest city parks in the world. Phoenix has an experienced workforce in manufacturing, business and financial services, bioscience healthcare and technology. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, rated by as the best airport for flyers by the Wall Street Journal, is ten minutes from Downtown Phoenix.
ABOUT CBRE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
CBRE Investment Management is a leading global real assets investment management firm with $141.9 billion in assets under management* as of December 31, 2021, operating in more than 30 offices and 20 countries around the world. Through its investor-operator culture, the firm seeks to deliver sustainable investment solutions across real assets categories, geographies, risk profiles and execution formats so that its clients, people and communities thrive.
CBRE Investment Management is an independently operated affiliate of CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2021 revenue). CBRE has more than 105,000 employees (excluding Turner & Townsend employees) serving clients in more than 100 countries. CBRE Investment Management harnesses CBRE’s data and market insights, investment sourcing and other resources for the benefit of its clients. For more information, please visit www.cbreim.com.
*Assets under management (AUM) refers to the fair market value of real assets-related investments with respect to which CBRE Investment Management provides, on a global basis, oversight, investment management services and other advice and which generally consist of investments in real assets; equity in funds and joint ventures; securities portfolios; operating companies and real assets-related loans. This AUM is intended principally to reflect the extent of CBRE Investment Management’s presence in the global real assets market, and its calculation of AUM may differ from the calculations of other asset managers and from its calculation of regulatory assets under management for purposes of certain regulatory filings.
ABOUT GOULD EVANS
Gould Evans is an award-winning design firm recognized for specificity to people and place, expanding the practice of architecture, brand experience, city design, and interiors to serve complex, and even contradictory needs of our clients and communities. The diversity of thought, people, and disciplines helps us explore place and spark possibilities of economic, social, and environmental change. To learn more, visit www.gouldevans.com.
ABOUT LAYTON CONSTRUCTION
Layton Construction, founded in 1953, is an employee owned and second-generation family operated construction firm with proven experience in virtually every industry, including healthcare, retail, hospitality, manufacturing, distribution, education, office, industrial, detention, tenant improvement and public facilities. We specialize in construction management, design-build construction and general contracting. Headquartered in Utah, Layton has regional offices in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho and Tennessee. As a part of the STO Building Group, we bring project experience throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. For more information, visit www.laytonconstruction.com.