The city of Phoenix will sell a 101-year-old historic downtown building to a developer for $2.28 million.

Jun 23, 2016

Barrister Building in downtown Phoenix sale approved and will be renovated

The Arizona Republic reports that the city-owned Barrister Building, which sits on the corner of Jefferson Street and Central Avenue, will be sold to Crescent Bay Development Services LLC. The developer plans to renovate the century-old building, which the city bought in 1990.

Development plans include at least 88 condos in the existing six-story building as well as two new buildings.

This is the latest effort to renovate and preserve the historic building, which originally opened in 1915, and at one time was the tallest building in the state. The city had approved another project plan two years ago but it eventually fell through.

The building was long home to the Jefferson Hotel, featured in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 movie “Psycho.”

“We’re really excited about the project,” said Geoff Beer, a principal with Scottsdale-based Crescent Bay.

Beer said plans calls for construction of two new six-story buildings to go along with the six-story, 100-year-old Barrister building. The Jefferson Hotel/Barrister building was built in 1915.

Beer expects condos to be priced between $250,000 and $650,000 with an average unit size of 1,170 square feet. He said Crescent’s bid calls for buying the city-owned building for $2.28 million. It will also include some ground level retail and restaurant space.

Phoenix could reimburse Crescent Bay up to $1.9 million for infrastructure and preservation improvements, according to the Republic.