Tempe has put out a request for developers to submit proposals to help the city transform a site along the Apache Boulevard corridor into a housing and shopping hub.

The city wants to expand affordable housing and provide a new grocery story for the area on about 8-acres, the former location of a Food City and two adjacent parcels near Apache Boulevard and Dorsey Lane.

All three parcels are owned by the city.

“As envisioned, the site could be a landmark housing and retail development in the area,” city officials said in a release.

The city issued a Request for Proposal earlier this month seeking development partners.

“We have a tremendous opportunity to create a new destination in the Apache corridor that expands affordable and workforce housing options, brings a grocery store back to the neighborhood and leverages all of the public transit in the area,” Mayor Corey Woods said.

“This project demonstrates the city’s vision that we embrace the opportunity to create housing for everyone who wants to call Tempe home.”

Plans for the site include:  

• A mixed-income project with as many as 400 housing units, with a maximum height of five stories.
• At least half of all units to be priced for people with low and moderate incomes.
• A new grocery store with job opportunities for affordable housing tenants.
• Sustainability elements to promote shade and energy efficiency, and roof-top solar panels to power the city’s nearby EnVision Center, a resource and resiliency hub, during emergencies.
• Promotion of public transit such as light rail and Tempe Streetcar through minimal onsite parking.

Once a developer is selected, the estimated timeline for construction is two to three years, according to the city.

Tempe purchased the Apache Central Center in 2021 following the closure of Food City.

It bought the property for $10.7 million in response to neighborhood concerns about the possibility of “unattainable housing” being built," city officials said in the release.

The city previously owned two parcels to the west of Apache Central that are part of the RFP.

One is used as a park-and-ride lot and also houses the EnVision Center set to open later this year. The other serves as a school parking lot and overflow park-and-ride lot.

"Any new development plan must include replacement park-and-ride and school parking,” the release stated.

At a March 2 Tempe City Council meeting, Woods noted that the RFP “intentionally includes mixed-income housing,” the release stated.

“With a variety of housing types, a developer has flexibility to access traditional financing. A previous affordable housing project planned on the two lots adjacent to Apache Central fell through when the developer could not qualify for low-income housing tax credit financing.”

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