DAVIS CEO Maps the Next Decade of Phoenix Design, With Tempe’s Shorehaven as a Model

What will Greater Phoenix look like in 2035? Mike Davis, CEO of Phoenix-based DAVIS Architects, took on that question in an October 1 piece for AZ Big Media, and his answer is an optimistic one for anyone who builds housing in the Valley. Rather than asking only how much the region will grow, Davis asks what kind of city that growth will create, and he points to multifamily design as one of the places where the change is already visible.

From mixed use to orchestrated use

Davis describes a shift toward “a more concierge-oriented, amenity-driven approach to development.” In his view, mixed-use projects will move past simply placing different uses side by side. Designers will deliberately shape how residential, hospitality, retail, and workplace environments interact, so that apartments and senior living share services and gathering spaces with the retail and hospitality around them. He expects office design to keep borrowing from hospitality, sees the Valley becoming a set of interconnected hubs with the West Valley and Deer Valley gaining ground, and cites projections that the metro area could reach about 6.2 million residents by 2035.

Shorehaven as the example

The project Davis uses to illustrate the residential side of that trend is Shorehaven, the mixed-use community Silverstein Properties developed along Tempe Town Lake. DAVIS completed design and construction administration for the project, which he describes as three towers holding 724 residential units within 1.3 million square feet of residential, amenity, retail, parking, and green space, with running trails and waterfront amenities at the door.

When the towers topped out in October 2024, Connect CRE reported Clayco as general contractor on the 3.3-acre site, along with 840 below-grade parking spaces, 750 bicycle spaces, about 20,000 square feet of indoor amenities (fitness centers, yoga studios, game rooms), 30,000 square feet of outdoor amenities including pools, spa facilities, and dog runs, and roughly 26,000 square feet of ground-level retail. World Construction Network noted that Shorehaven is Phase 1 of South Pier, a $1.8 billion master-planned waterfront destination planned in seven phases over 15 years.

Why it matters to JFN

Amenity-driven, mixed-use residential buildings put more of the project inside the walls. Pools and spas, fitness and yoga rooms, resident lounges, and ground-floor restaurants each carry their own plumbing and mechanical demands, from pool equipment and grease interceptors to dedicated ventilation, and they sit alongside hundreds of stacked residential units that all have to perform. When architects plan for residents, retail, and hospitality to share space, domestic water, drainage, and HVAC systems have to be zoned and coordinated just as carefully. We like hearing Arizona architects talk this way about the next decade, because it describes the kind of complex, people-first buildings our crews are organized to deliver.

Sources: AZ Big Media, October 1, 2026; Connect CRE, October 31, 2024; World Construction Network, October 29, 2024