Mayor Stanton touts PHX Core, downtown’s new ‘innovation district’
May 18, 2018, 4:35 AM | Updated: 9:24 pm
(Facebook Photo/Downtown Phoenix, AZ)
(Facebook Photo/Downtown Phoenix, AZ)
PHOENIX — Downtown Phoenix is looking to the future with the launch of PHX Core, a district that brings together various entities to promote innovation and attract and retain businesses.
“It’s a place where education, business, entrepreneurship, the arts all come together, all within short walking distance of each other,” Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Thursday.
PHX Core is being touted as an “innovation district” bounded by 2nd Avenue and 7th Street on the west and east, and Garfield and Hadley streets on the north and south. It isn’t a taxing entity.
An innovation district is a concept conceived by the Brookings Institute and defined as “dense enclaves that merge the innovation and employment potential of research-oriented anchor institutions, high-growth firms, and tech and creative start-ups in well-designed, amenity-rich residential and commercial environments.”
PHX Core includes portions of the Warehouse District, Phoenix Biomedical Campus, Arizona State University downtown campus and Roosevelt Row Arts District.
“If you’re a business that is in the bio-science space, health care, if you’re a start-up entrepreneur, if you’re an artist, we want you in our core and we want you to know what assets are there that you can take advantage of, as well,” Stanton said.
Stanton was excited about the potential of the district.
“Check with us in a few years,” he said. “I think people will be blown away by how successful this endeavor is.”
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Martha Maurer contributed to this report.
