Andrea Galyean

Special for The Republic | azcentral.com

If change is the only constant, downtown Phoenix is undergoing a moment of great constancy. In addition to prominent additions like the University of Arizona Cancer Center and the Arizona State University law building, an unprecedented level of residential construction is altering the cityscape from McDowell to Jefferson.

Dan Klocke, vice president for development at the Downtown Phoenix Partnership, described this surge as the single-most dramatic trend in downtown Phoenix. "Residential construction is just booming," said Klocke, who estimates that downtown has more than 1,800 new apartments and condominiums under construction right now, with another 1,400 units in preconstruction.

Klocke attributes the boom to people increasingly looking for an urban lifestyle.

But an urban lifestyle requires more than just new apartments. Adaptive reuse projects are also thriving in the area, as architects and developers seek creative rebirth for historically interesting buildings.

Local developer Chuckie Duff, who has restored several older properties for retail shops, sees the move toward downtown boosted by people who are rejecting the suburbs in favor of "living closer to something exciting, something that has real character."

In turn, small business owners are migrating to downtown spaces, providing everything from coffee and yoga to vintage clothing. Some are moving from other locations, some are expanding an existing business and some are starting from scratch, drawn by the possibilities of a new growth spurt in the center of the city.

Here is just a sampling of the newest projects and businesses shaping the urban experience in downtown Phoenix.

iLuminate and Linear Apartments

Third and Roosevelt streets

Among the most visible construction projects in the city core are the pair of apartment complexes rising above the Roosevelt Row arts district at Third Street. Both were designed by Phoenix-based CCBG Architects, which specializes in urban infill projects, and are managed by Baron Properties of Denver.

According to Brian Cassidy, president of CCBG, the larger of the two buildings is iLuminate, located on the northwest corner of Roosevelt and Third streets. The five-story complex will include 111 apartments ranging in size from studio to two-bedroom, all with fairly traditional layouts and with amenities such as a parking garage underground and an open air swimming pool on the second floor.

On the south side of Roosevelt is iLuminate's sister project, known as Linear. It will include a similar mix of studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments, but will offer more open floor plans. Linear also includes on-site parking and an outdoor swimming pool, as well as a rooftop event deck for residents.

Cassidy said that both buildings are expected to be granted LEED silver certification for energy-efficient designs, low-water landscaping and their locations close to a light-rail stop.

Rents have not yet been established for either property, but will be set at market rate when the projects are completed in fall 2016.Details: www.baronproperties.com.

Union at Roosevelt

Roosevelt and First Avenue

The light-rail stop at Central and Roosevelt has been a magnet for much of the new downtown development, including the mixed-use project known as the Union at Roosevelt, which is under construction across the street from historic Trinity Cathedral.

The Union, a project of Phoenix-based Metrowest Development, was designed by CCBG Architects. Intended to blend with the style and scale of the neighboring Roosevelt Historic District, the five-story building will include an underground parking garage, 80 market-rate apartments on the upper floors, and 9,200 square feet of retail and restaurant space on the ground floor.

The Union is expected to be completed in fall 2016, and will feature pedestrian-friendly streetscaping that encourages walkability and connection with the light rail, said Matthew Seaman, who co-owns Metrowest with Doug Gannett. Seaman views the project as a gateway drawing people into downtown and into the historic district.

"I live here," Seaman said of the Roosevelt area, "so I'm selfish about this neighborhood. I think what makes downtown interesting is this variety of apartments, condos, townhouses, historic homes and businesses all mixed together."

Metrowest's nearby developments include the Townhouses on 3rd at McKinley and Third Avenue, which were completed in summer 2015, and the McKinley Row townhouses at McKinley and Fourth Avenue, which will begin construction in January 2016.

Details: www.metrowestdevelopment.com.

SoSoBa Noodles

214 W. Roosevelt St.

On the north side of Roosevelt at Second Avenue, the Phoenix outpost of SoSoBa Noodles is nearing completion. The original SoSoBa opened in Flagstaff in November 2014 and proved so popular that owner Tyler Christensen and chef Joshua Riesner quickly decided to expand their casual ramen concept to the capital city.

Christensen and Riesner are veterans of the Phoenix restaurant scene, but they promise that SoSoBa will be unlike anything else in the Valley and unlike any other noodle shop. "We steer clear of calling ourselves a ramen place because we're not traditional at all," said Christensen. "We're trying to capture the style of ramen but also reflect the season and the place we're in and the people we're serving."

The restaurant is designed to foster camaraderie with two long community tables near the bar and an upholstered banquette stretching along a side wall. Prices are also friendly, ranging from $8-$12 for a small but creative menu encompassing the Mic Drop noodle bowl with its 15-hour tonkotsu pork broth, as well as vegan and gluten-free options like the Dump Truck salad.

While Christensen expects lunch to be a big part of the downtown business, SoSoBa's craft cocktails should appeal to the after-work and late-night crowds with such concoctions as the Osaka Smash and the Rysing Sun Old Fashioned.

The full menu will be served from 11 a.m. until midnight daily, and until 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday, giving credibility to SoSoBa's slogan: "The Nonstop Noodle Shop."

The restaurant is expected to open in early 2016.

Details: www.nonstopnoodleshop.com.

Sutra Studios Roosevelt

1029 N. First St.

Sutra Studios has been a mainstay of the Phoenix yoga community since the original mid-town location opened in 2007. Now owners Matt and Rebecca Fritz have added a second studio, known as Sutra Roosevelt, in a restored brick building on First Street, north of Roosevelt.

Explaining the draw of downtown, Matt Fritz said he has watched the area change over the past few years and decided the time was right to join in. As he sees it, Sutra's modern aesthetic and energetic approach to yoga "really connects with the urban vibe."

For several years, Sutra has partnered with other businesses to offer such non-traditional experiences as Sunday morning rooftop yoga at the Clarendon Hotel and yoga in a bar setting at the Rebel Lounge. So, Fritz said, having a permanent location downtown is "giving us all kinds of new friends to play with."

The new studio opened in mid-October with two classrooms that can accommodate up to 50 students each. The schedule offers 21 classes, including flow-style yoga, meditation and specialty Skullpt Barre workouts, although Fritz said that class offerings will likely expand over time.

Details: www.sutrastudios.com.

Portland on the Park and FOUND:RE Hotel

Portland Street, between Central and Third avenues.

Margaret T. Hance Park will be undergoing its own renovations soon, but two high-rising new projects are bringing even more attention to downtown's biggest swath of green. Where the southern edge of the park meets the west side of Central Avenue, Phoenix-based Habitat Metro is simultaneously developing condominiums and a neighboring boutique hotel.

Portland on the Park is the second phase of Portland Place Condominiums, which Habitat Metro completed in 2007. The new complex will feature interconnected towers of four, 12, and 14 stories, and includes 170 loft and condominium homes that range in size from 745 to 2,508 square feet and cost from $235,000 to $1.25 million. The project, which also includes 7,200 square feet of commercial space, is expected to be completed in mid-2016.

Details: www.portlandparkcondos.com.

Next door to Portland on the Park, the former Lexington Hotel, which closed in 2012, is being reborn as FOUND:RE, a 105-room hotel with a raw, industrial aesthetic and an emphasis on contemporary art.

For the project, Habitat Metro has teamed up with hotel developers BOND Partners and hotel managers Urban Quarters Hospitality. Local curator Mike Oleskow has been hired to help integrate art throughout the project and to build a collection of work by Phoenix-area artists for the on-site gallery.

FOUND:RE, which is scheduled to open in the spring, will include a signature restaurant and although there is no word yet on who might be heading up the kitchen, FOUND:RE spokeswoman Chelsea Hellems said it was important that both the hotel and restaurant feel like part of the downtown community, explaining: "We want this to be a place where locals gather."

Details: www.foundrehotels.com.

Antique Sugar

801 N. Second St.

As a senior at Show Low High School, Annamarie Sanchez was voted "Most Likely to Bring Back a New 60s Era." Today, Sanchez and business partner Sarah Bingham own Antique Sugar, a popular vintage clothing store that recently moved downtown to Second Street and McKinley after five years inside Zinnia's on Indian School Road.

Antique Sugar's new location opened in June in a renovated 1950s office complex. The vintage shop is the first tenant in the repurposed building, which will eventually also house Cobra Arcade and local architects Urban Rebuild.

The spacious room is a bright mix of color and pattern, with curtained fitting rooms and racks and racks of garments arranged by era. The inventory includes clothing and accessories from the 1920s through 1990s for men and women, with a children's section coming soon.

The broad range of styles is key to the success of Antique Sugar, said Sanchez. "What makes us good at what we do is that we love all the eras, so we have a collection made up of everything we love."

Antique Sugar is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily except Sundays, when the store closes at 5 p.m. and on First Fridays, when it stays open until 10 p.m.

Details: http://antiquesugar.wix.com/antique-sugar.

Acme Prints

705 N. Seventh Ave.

Dan Hargest started Acme Prints in Tempe back in 2005, but by August of this year he too felt the pull of downtown and relocated his growing business to a former cold-storage facility at Seventh Avenue and McKinley.

Renovations to the historic structure are ongoing and have been marked by a series of calamities that included power outages and flooding, but Hargest is already glad that he moved. "We love being here," he said, citing the high visibility of his new location, where over 40,000 cars pass by daily.

"Plus, we have a classic building, so we've been able to work with the existing architecture to make our space really exciting."

Acme Prints specializes in screen printing on T-shirts and other items but offers other types of printing and related services such as graphic design. Acme provides Web order fulfillment for customers, including local bands, radio station KUPD and Lisa Kudrow's hit show "Web Therapy."

The main printing room is dominated by a large Austrian-made press that can produce as many as 1,400 shirts per hour, but Hargest said Acme will gladly print one-off designs as well.

Hargest tries to set Acme apart from other screen printers by embracing such environmentally-friendly tactics as LED lighting, energy-efficient equipment and a special ink-reclamation system to prevent plastisol inks from going down the drain. However, customers may be just as appreciative of the friendly greeting they'll receive from Hargest's two rescued pit bulls who come to work daily.

Acme Prints is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.

Details: www.acmeprints.com.

Bicycle Nomad Cafe at the Velo

828 N. Second St.

When the Velo bike shop opened in January 2015 at Second Street and Garfield, it included a small coffee bar tucked into the west corner. And when Erick Cedeño rolled into town in August, he stopped by the Velo for coffee and a chat.

Cedeño, who was working as a marketing consultant in Miami, had developed an alter ego as the Bicycle Nomad, using Facebook and Instagram to chronicle his extended cycling trips. He had ridden from Vancouver to Tijuana and from Miami to New York and even traced a leg of the Underground Railroad from New Orleans to Toronto.

But something about Phoenix made the Bicycle Nomad decide to set down roots. After a few conversations with Velo owner Jason Boles, Cedeño moved to Phoenix and on Oct.13, he reopened the coffee shop as the Bicycle Nomad Cafe.

Local roastery Press Coffee supplies the beans for the cafe, which is also serving teas from Maya Teas in Tucson and vegan pastries from Nami Bakery in Phoenix, as well as fresh fruit and assorted soft drinks and juices.

Perhaps the most exotic offerings at Bicycle Nomad are the fresh Thai coconuts stocked in the beverage cooler, waiting to be sliced open to quench a cyclist's thirst — with or without a couple of espresso shots thrown inside. Other house specialties include a caramel iced coffee topped with sea salt foam and Cedeño's favorite, the dirty chai tea.

Bicycle Nomad Cafe is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and until 10 p.m. on First Fridays.

Details: www.thevelo.com.

Street Coffee

625 N. Seventh St.

A busy downtown really can't have enough coffee shops, and Phoenix's newest addition is Street Coffee at Seventh Street and Pierce, which opened Nov. 16 under the management of long-time Phoenix coffee roaster Andy Smith.

Street Coffee occupies a 1906 house that owner Preethy Kaibara has restored from a cramped duplex into a bright and open space with a stainless steel counter, exposed wooden beams, and free Wi-Fi for customers. Kaibara said the contrast is intentional. "I wanted the outside to still look historic, but have the inside be surprising and modern."

The name "Street" is meant as a reference not only to the cafe's location on busy Seventh Street, but also to the globally-inspired street snacks Kaibara aims to serve alongside Smith's custom-roasted brews. For now the food menu is limited to creative pastries, which include cookies and scones from Happy Hope Baked by Mari, and traditional Chinese-style pastries and dumplings baked by the Super L Ranch Market at the Chinese Cultural Center.

Street Coffee roasts their coffees on site and sells packaged beans as well as a full menu of standard coffee and espresso drinks. However, it is their iced Thai tea that has proven wildly popular, said Kaibara.

Next door to Street, Kaibara is planning to continue the global-food theme with a restaurant called Tastybox, which is tentatively scheduled to open in summer 2016 serving bento-style lunches to go.

Street Coffee is open Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. with plans to further expand weekend hours in the near future.

Details: www.streetcoffee.net.

Ben's Bells Project

417 E. Roosevelt St.

The Roosevelt Row art galleries have anchored downtown for years, and in June they were joined by the non-profit Ben's Bells, which opened a studio next door to Eye Lounge. Ben's Bells was founded in Tucson by Jeanette Maré after her young son Ben died in 2002. The Roosevelt studio represents the first in Phoenix and the fourth since the group began.

The project invites all community members to join in by making or painting decorative ceramic beads which volunteers then string together with small bells. The finished pieces are hung in parks and other public spaces for people to discover and take home.

The mission, as Phoenix studio manager Christy Brown explained, is simply to spread kindness.

Participation and materials are free and the studio operates on a drop-in basis, inviting groups or individuals to visit for an hour or an afternoon of bead-making, with no artistic talent required. Private events and parties are welcomed with advance arrangements and the studio also sells a small selection of artist-made and specialty bells.

"People here have really been getting into it," Brown said, of the downtown community's response. "You tell the story and they're all really inspired."

The studio is open Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and from noon until 9 p.m. on First Fridays.

Details: www.bensbells.org/phoenix.