Intersection Development breaks ground on Friday, Nov. 6, on two connected projects in Phoenix’s Roosevelt Row arts district. SISU Roosevelt, a 12-story residential tower at 821 N. First Ave., and Arcada, a hospitality complex at 801 N. First Ave., together represent more than $70 million in investment and will add 125 new homes alongside three new dining and nightlife destinations.
If you live or rent near Roosevelt Row, here’s your new corner
Think about what changes on your block. You get 125 more homes within walking distance of the light rail. You get three restaurants from one of the Valley’s most active hospitality groups. And you get a curated pedestrian alley — Fascination Street — connecting the stretch from McKinley to Roosevelt streets.
The neighborhood has fought demolition before. Bungalows and murals have been lost to new high-density projects across downtown Phoenix. This project takes a different approach. The Stoddard-Harmon House at 801 N. First Ave. stays standing. It becomes the anchor of Arcada, preserved and reused rather than torn down.
More foot traffic and a denser, more walkable block will ripple into the broader corridor. Roosevelt Row has long been a First Friday destination. Projects like this push it toward an everyday one.
SISU Roosevelt: the 12-story tower designed around arts district life
Street-level exterior rendering of SISU Roosevelt at 821 N. First Ave., showing the masonry podium and rooftop amenity deck. (Intersection Development / rakkhaus)
SISU Roosevelt rises 12 stories at 821 N. First Ave. Architect rakkhaus gave it Nordic-minimal interiors, an elevated pool and amenity deck, and a rooftop event space. At street level, the building will include bar and restaurant space, a Finnish sauna, and a speakeasy.
The name and design are deliberate. SISU is a Finnish concept roughly meaning resilience or grit — a nod to the arts district’s identity. The tower sits one block from the light rail and directly along the planned Fascination Street pedestrian route.
Aerial rendering showing SISU Roosevelt’s rooftop pools and amenity decks within the surrounding Roosevelt Row block. (Intersection Development / rakkhaus)
Arcada: why the Stoddard-Harmon House is being preserved, not demolished
The Stoddard-Harmon House at 801 N. First Ave. will anchor Arcada — preserved and reused rather than demolished. (InsideTheValley.com)
Arcada is built around the historic Stoddard-Harmon House at 801 N. First Ave. The house stays. Clive Collective will open three distinct concepts inside and around the preserved structure.
Ada is a chef-driven Coastal American restaurant with a raw bar and wood-fired cooking. It sits inside the Stoddard-Harmon House itself. Love Call is a cocktail-forward bar. Kuza Tori is a Tokyo yokocho-inspired sushi handroll bar and listening lounge. Each concept has its own identity. All three share a back-of-house operation through Clive Kitchen — a shared kitchen that will also serve as Clive Collective’s new headquarters.
Connecting the three venues outdoors is Mode, a 3,500-square-foot open-air space designed to flow between them.
Who is Clive Collective and what else do they operate?
Clive Collective runs CALA, The Americano, Tell Your Friends, Neon Spur, and Kuza Scottsdale in the Phoenix area. They also operate The Bungalow Kitchen in Tiburon, California. Arcada will be their most concentrated single-site project. It will also house the group’s headquarters for the first time on a project site.
Fascination Street: the pedestrian alley that ties it all together
Fascination Street is a planned pedestrian connector. It runs through the alley between First and Central avenues, from McKinley Street to Roosevelt Street. The plan calls for lighting, landscaping, and interactive media designed to feel like a walk through the neighborhood’s past and future.
Four anchors line the route. Arcada and the existing Hardware Store sit on the south end. SISU Roosevelt is in the middle. Atari Hotels Phoenix — a hotel and entertainment destination planned for 840 N. Central Ave. — anchors the north end. An entity connected to Intersection Development previously acquired the 840 N. Central Ave. property, tying the Atari Hotels site directly into the developer’s corridor strategy.
Rendering of a mixed-use building along the Roosevelt Row corridor with colorful streetscape and desert landscaping. (Intersection Development)
Intersection Development’s roughly $300 million bet on one neighborhood
This $70 million announcement is not Intersection Development’s first move in Roosevelt Row. It is their largest single announcement in a much longer campaign. The Phoenix-based firm has completed more than 17 projects in the neighborhood. Total investment runs to roughly $300 million.
That track record includes the Rainbow Road apartments. Rainbow Road is a 36-unit project designed by Libeskind Studio. Its black exterior was chosen to honor the arts district.
The firm also acquired the 840 N. Central Ave. property from radio-station owner Audacy. That site measures approximately 1.1 acres and is slated for Atari Hotels Phoenix — the northern anchor of Fascination Street.
SISU and Arcada are the next chapter in that strategy. The firm’s footprint now spans most of the block system between McKinley and Roosevelt. For more on how downtown Phoenix development is shifting, see the JW Marriott Downtown Phoenix office tower conversion. Our Phoenix Cromford Market Index rankings track the broader Valley market.
November 6 groundbreaking, then what?
Both SISU Roosevelt and Arcada break ground on Friday, Nov. 6, at 10 a.m. No opening dates for the completed buildings appear in the verified project materials. A 12-story tower and a multi-concept hospitality complex will take well into 2026 and likely beyond. Atari Hotels Phoenix at 840 N. Central Ave. has no confirmed groundbreaking date in the available record.
Fascination Street is now a multi-anchor master plan with confirmed construction starting at two of its four nodes. Watch for delivery of SISU Roosevelt and Arcada first. The Atari Hotels Phoenix timeline at the north end of the alley is the next unknown.
