Phoenix City Council OKs project that will bring tallest building in Arizona to downtown

Phoenix City Council voted 8-1 to approve what will be the tallest building in the state at 541 feet. The Astra tower, at Van Buren Street and Second Avenue, will have 2 million square feet of space on two acres and include 697 apartments (300 of which will be co-living with shared common spaces), a luxury hotel, office space and ground-floor restaurant and retail space. The developer, Empire Group, will receive a government property lease excise tax, or GPLET, which deeds the property to the city for a period of usually eight years and pauses property tax. Also, the developer will commit $5.5 million to affordable housing.