After years of sitting frozen in mid-construction, the 11-story One Camelback tower at Central Avenue and Camelback Road is finally buzzing again. Scaffolding is up, worker trailers are parked, and equipment is clustered around the glass atrium, giving Uptown Phoenix residents their first real sign in a long time that this high-profile corner might actually deliver the homes and shops they were promised.
Work Restarts At The Site
Arizona’s Family reported Wednesday that crews are officially back on site and that the conversion is about 80% complete, with plans for 136 luxury apartments and ground-floor retail. The station’s video shows staging equipment and workers moving around the tower, a clear step beyond the quiet stabilization work that had been happening behind the scenes.
Kinella Takes Over And Moves Quickly
Kinella Capital, the Phoenix-based firm that acquired the property late last year, says it has started full stabilization and taken direct oversight of the remaining construction. Founder TK Stratton cast the deal as a turnaround play for a stuck project, saying, “It didn’t need a reinvention. It needed a rescue.”
Plans, Unit Count And Amenities
Cushman & Wakefield describes One Camelback as a 163-unit luxury community, with residences averaging about 980 square feet. The brokerage also lists approximately 10,725 square feet of ground-floor retail and a five-level subterranean garage as part of the plan.
Arizona’s Family has reported a 136-unit figure, a discrepancy that suggests either a design revision or differing counting methods that Kinella has not publicly clarified.
How It Got Stalled
The project hit the brakes after the previous developer defaulted on a $71.3 million loan, prompting the lender to pursue foreclosure and schedule an auction in 2023. That legal and financial tug-of-war left the building largely untouched, its half-finished frame looming over Central and Camelback, until a buyer with both capital and construction expertise stepped in to push it toward completion.
Timeline And What Comes Next
Multi-Housing News reports that Kinella is targeting the end of 2026 to wrap up construction, with plans to prepare the building for phased occupancy and pre-leasing late that year. The actual pace at which apartments hit the market will hinge on final permits, inspections and how quickly the lease-up strategy comes together.
Why This Matters For Uptown
If completed as envisioned, One Camelback would bring dozens of luxury apartments and new ground-floor retail to a transit-connected stretch of Uptown Phoenix, potentially boosting foot traffic and helping fill nearby storefronts along Camelback. Local coverage has placed the project within a broader wave of office-to-residential conversions across the Valley, tying this once-stalled tower to a larger shift in how older office buildings are being reused…