Walk through downtown Phoenix right now and you’ll see it. It’s hard to miss. A massive, 483-foot clover-shaped monolith that basically defines the skyline. But if you look closer, something feels off. There are no lights in the windows at night. No suits rushing through the plaza with lukewarm lattes. The Chase Tower Phoenix—the tallest building in the entire state of Arizona—is essentially a ghost ship.
Honestly, it's kind of wild. We’re talking about 40 stories of prime real estate sitting vacant while the rest of the city is exploding with new apartments and overpriced cocktail bars. You've probably heard the rumors. Is it being torn down? Is it becoming a giant hotel? Or is it just stuck in some weird legal limbo?
The truth is a bit more complicated than a "For Lease" sign.
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The Rise and Fall of the Valley's Giant
To understand why the Chase Tower Phoenix is currently wrapped in a fence and silence, you have to go back to 1972. Back then, it wasn't even called Chase. It was the Valley Center, the crown jewel for Valley National Bank. The architects, Welton Becket and Associates, gave it that iconic "three-leaf clover" footprint. It was a statement. It said Phoenix wasn't just a desert outpost anymore; it was a financial hub.
For decades, it worked. The building swapped names as banks ate each other—becoming Bank One Center in the 90s and then finally Chase Tower in 2005. At its peak, it was a vertical city. There was even a public observation deck on the 39th floor. You could go up there and see all the way to Camelback Mountain.
Then, the world changed.
Why Chase actually left
In 2021, JPMorgan Chase decided they’d had enough of the high-rise life. They moved thousands of employees to a massive, sprawling corporate campus in Tempe. It’s a trend you're seeing everywhere: big companies ditching the "vertical" downtown office for "horizontal" suburban campuses with better parking and more "collaboration" spaces.
When the last Chase employee packed their desk in September 2021, the building didn't just lose a tenant. It lost its soul. 724,000 square feet of office space went dark overnight.
What’s actually happening inside Chase Tower Phoenix right now?
If you walk past 201 North Central Avenue today, you'll see construction fencing and security guards. People assume work is happening, and they're right, but it's not the "new paint and carpet" kind of work. It’s the "gut the whole thing" kind of work.
The Asbestos and Infrastructure Nightmare
One of the biggest hurdles for the current owner, billionaire Vincent Viola (who also owns the Florida Panthers, by the way), is that the building is old. Like, 1970s old. That means asbestos. Lots of it.
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Before any grand "re-imagining" can happen, crews have been painstakingly stripping the interior. It's a slow, expensive, and honestly pretty boring process that doesn't make for great headlines, but it's why the building looks like a skeleton.
The "Boundless-Use" Vision
There is a plan. Or at least, a vision. The architecture firm DAVIS has floated some pretty aggressive renderings for a renovated Chase Tower Phoenix. We’re talking:
- Residential units: Converting those high-up office floors into apartments with the best views in the city.
- A "Heat Chimney": A techy architectural feature to help the building breathe in the 115°F summers.
- Solar tubes: Using the facade to actually generate power and heat water.
- Retail Plaza: Turning that weird, sunken underground concourse into something people actually want to visit.
The problem? Money. Converting a massive office building into apartments is incredibly hard. You have to figure out how to get plumbing to every single unit when the building was originally designed for two big bathrooms per floor. It's a logistical jigsaw puzzle that costs hundreds of millions of dollars.
Is it still the tallest building in Arizona?
For now, yes. But it’s about to lose its crown.
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A project called Astra Phoenix is slated to break ground (potentially by late 2026 after some delays) just a few blocks away. That tower is planned to hit 541 feet. When that happens, the Chase Tower Phoenix will officially be the second-tallest kid on the block.
It’s a bit of a blow to the ego, but honestly, it might be the kick in the pants the owners need. Nobody wants to own a vacant, second-best tower.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Tower
I hear people say all the time that the building is "abandoned." It’s not. It’s "decommissioned." There’s a big difference.
- The owner isn't broke. Vincent Viola paid $107.5 million in cash for it back in 2018. He’s not hurting for lunch money.
- It’s not structurally unsound. The concrete and steel are fine. It’s the "guts"—the AC, the elevators, the plumbing—that are the problem.
- The city wants this to happen. Phoenix leadership is desperate to see this building come back to life. They don't want a 40-story paperweight in the middle of their "revitalized" downtown.
Actionable Insights: What this means for you
If you’re a local or looking to move to downtown Phoenix, here is the reality of the situation:
- Don't expect a grand opening soon. Given the scale of the interior demolition and the financing environment of 2026, we are likely years away from anyone actually living or working in the tower.
- Watch the Astra project. The progress (or lack thereof) on the Astra tower will likely dictate how fast the Chase Tower renovation moves. If Astra proves there is a huge demand for ultra-luxury high-rise living, the money for Chase will follow.
- Keep an eye on the plaza. Often, the first sign of real life in these projects is the ground-floor retail or the public plaza. If you see landscaping and new glass going in at the street level, that’s when you know the project is for real.
- Check the Maricopa County Assessor records. If you’re a real estate nerd, you can track the ownership and permit filings for 201 North Central Avenue. It’s the only way to get the real story without the marketing fluff.
The Chase Tower Phoenix remains the most important piece of the downtown puzzle. Until those lights come back on, the city's "urban transformation" isn't quite finished. It’s a waiting game, but in a city that literally grew out of the ashes, it’s probably a mistake to bet against a comeback.