How Multifamily Housing Gets Approved in Phoenix

Multifamily development in Phoenix now moves through two layers of regulation. Arizona Revised Statutes Section 9-462.10, most recently amended by House Bill 2110, requires the city to permit multifamily development and adaptive reuse on a share of its existing commercial, office and mixed use parcels without a rezoning. Outside that mapped overlay, the city's own Walkable Urban Code and standard rezoning process still apply.

Arizona's adaptive reuse and multifamily law

House Bill 2297 (2024 Session Laws, Chapter 141) first required every Arizona municipality of 150,000 or more residents to adopt objective standards for multifamily development or adaptive reuse of existing commercial, office or mixed use parcels, with compliance due by January 1, 2025. House Bill 2110 (2025 Session Laws, Chapter 41) amended that statute, retroactive to December 31, 2024, and reset the compliance window to 90 days after its own effective date (A.R.S. 9-462.10(A)).

• The standards must cover at least 10 percent of the municipality's existing commercial, office or mixed use parcels, without a conditional use permit, planned unit development approval, rezoning or public hearing (9-462.10(A)(1)).
• Height is capped at 5 stories, reduced to 2 stories within 100 feet of a single family zone (9-462.10(E)(4)); parking cannot exceed the standard that applies to multifamily buildings (9-462.10(D)).
• At least 10 percent of the units must be set aside for moderate income or low income households for at least 20 years after initial occupancy (9-462.10(C)(6)); moderate income is household income at or below 120 percent of area median income (9-462.10(H)(5)(a)).
• Historic districts, land near a military or FAA licensed airport, and tribal land are excluded (9-462.10(G)).

Phoenix's Adaptive Reuse and Multi-Family Overlay

Phoenix implemented the state mandate through Ordinance Z-TA-3-24. The ordinance created the Adaptive Reuse and Multi-Family (ARM) Overlay District in the Zoning Ordinance. The overlay maps over the existing zoning of eligible parcels, mainly within the city's already adopted Transit Oriented Communities areas, and does not remove or replace the underlying zoning district; a parcel zoned C-2 HRI, for example, becomes C-2 HRI ARMOD. A project on a mapped ARM parcel that meets the overlay's density, height, parking and affordability terms proceeds through administrative site plan review; it does not need a separate rezoning case or a public hearing.

Walkable Urban Code and standard rezoning

Outside the ARM overlay, Phoenix's Walkable Urban (WU) Code, Chapter 13 of the Zoning Ordinance adopted in 2015, sets form based standards for five transect districts along the city's light rail corridors. Applying WU Code standards to a specific property still requires a rezoning case with public hearings, according to the city's own planning department; a project cannot simply elect into a WU Code district. A standard Phoenix rezoning, including a WU Code application or a new Planned Unit Development, moves through staff review, a Planning Commission hearing and recommendation, and a City Council public hearing and vote, spanning about three and a half to six months from application to Council action.

Questions

Does a multifamily project in Phoenix's ARM Overlay need a public hearing?

No. A project on a mapped ARM parcel that meets the overlay's density, height, parking and affordability terms proceeds through administrative site plan review, without a rezoning case or a public hearing.

What share of units must be affordable under Arizona's adaptive reuse law?

At least 10 percent of the units, reserved for moderate income (up to 120 percent of area median income) or low income households for at least 20 years after initial occupancy (A.R.S. 9-462.10(C)(6)).

How long does a standard rezoning take in Phoenix?

About three and a half to six months from application to a City Council vote, following a Planning Commission hearing and recommendation.

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