A 26-story downtown Phoenix apartment tower called Ray Phoenix has opened at Central Avenue and McKinley Street, featuring 401 units ranging from studios to two-bedroom apartments with rental rates between $1,400 and $7,200 per month. The ground floor will include Del Ray, a 1,300-square-foot grocer, café and wine bar curated by culinary influencer Pierce Abernathy, and Studio 105, an art gallery and event space curated by Sonya Tamaddon, RAY founder Dasha Zhukova, and creative director Suzanne Demisch. Both are scheduled to open this fall.
This development matters because it integrates art and architecture into a residential tower, with a dedicated gallery space for rotating exhibitions, panels, and community events, signaling a growing trend of mixed-use urban projects that prioritize cultural amenities. The involvement of Dasha Zhukova, founder of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art and Garage Magazine, underscores the project's art-focused vision and could help elevate Phoenix's cultural profile.