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As Phoenix, a once sleepy railroad stop,
began to grow with new residents in the
early 1900s, East Roosevelt became one of
the first neighborhoods to emerge. By the
1920s, it was a streetcar suburb with
developers building Craftsman and
California bungalows as well as
architecturally significant Period Revival
houses. The area started to decline
beginning in 1960, however, due to the
construction of the local freeway system.
Historic homes were razed. Others were
chopped up and turned into halfway
homes. By the late 1980s, East Roosevelt
was a blighted area known primarily as a
drug neighborhood. The seeds of what is
now known as Roosevelt Row (or
increasingly known as “RoRo” by locals)
were sown in the early 1990s when the
area’s cheap rents began to lure an
adventurous arts crowd. But while
Roosevelt Row became known as Phoenix’s
arts neighborhood , the full renaissance of
the neighborhood really did not begin until
relatively recently. In 2006, Arizona State
University opened a satellite campus. This
was followed in 2008 by a new Metro Light
Rail line that connects Roosevelt Row to
Downtown Phoenix much the way streetcars
once had decades ago. In the years since,
the area has seen an influx of millennials
drawn to its arts vibe, historic architecture,
and surprising level of walkability in a city
otherwise known for sprawl.
Roosevelt Row is situated immediately
northeast of Downtown Phoenix and
southeast of the junction of Interstate 10
and Highway 51. The prime east-west retail
corridor is East Roosevelt Street, between
North 7th Avenue and North 16th Street.
North Central Avenue is the dominant
north-south commercial strip. Retail rents
typically range from $18 to $28 per sf,
though we have occasionally seen deals
beyond that range in either direction.
Rents have climbed steadily despite the
fact that overall retail vacancy in the
neighborhood is close to 9%. But nearly all
of that is older space (the average age of
retail inventory here is more than 55 years)
that borders on being functionally
obsolete. Demand is on the rise, yet there
is virtually no new inventory in this market
and little available in terms of quality,
refurbished shop space. In other words,
conditions are ripe for major
redevelopment plays.
26.0%
Millennial Population
$47,541
Average
Household Income
Roosevelt Row:
Streetcar Suburb Once More