With a vision of realizing a truly unique mixed-use property for downtown Phoenix, leading owner, developer and property manager Lincoln Property Company has sold the historic Luhrs Building to Provo-based PEG Companies and Dallas-based A.G. Hill Partners for $14 million. An industry expert with an extensive track record in hotel development, PEG plans to renovate 92,000 square feet of the 108,000-square-foot Luhrs Building into a stylish upscale hotel. In this project, PEG Companies Development Manager Trevor Ellis says, “Our goal is to preserve the historical integrity of the Luhrs Building as much as possible.”
The PEG redevelopment of the Luhrs Building will convert floors one through nine into hotel rooms. The top floor will remain occupied by Hagens Berman Law Firm. The nationally renowned Bitter & Twisted Cocktail Parlour, located on the ground floor, will also remain open during construction and a part of the building’s tenant mix.
Located at the east end of Luhrs City Center at 11 W. Jefferson St., the Luhrs Building was delivered in 1924 as Phoenix’s first 10-story high-rise. The 14-story Luhrs Tower was delivered five years later, in 1929. The buildings now sit within a Qualified Opportunity Zone, making the Luhrs Building conversion one of the first QOZ projects in the Phoenix area to start construction.
“This project is a prime example of everything a Qualified Opportunity Zone project should be,” says PEG Companies CEO Cameron Gunter. “George Luhrs had unparalleled vision when he constructed the building nearly 100 years ago. Now, PEG is excited to restore the vibrancy of this iconic piece of Phoenix’s history.”
LPC will maintain ownership of the balance of Luhrs City Center, which includes the 14-story Luhrs Tower office building at 45 W. Jefferson St., an adjacent six-story, Class A parking garage and 15,995 square feet of fully renovated ground-floor retail space called the Arcade — home to La Madeline, Serafina Coffee Bar and Monroe’s Chicken.
Since purchasing Luhrs City Center in late 2015, LPC and partner Invesco have completed a multi-million-dollar renovation that improved lobbies, common areas, streetscapes and the Luhrs garage while protecting and improving historic brick interiors, exposed beams and ornamentation. The work earned the company a “2017 Redevelopment Project of the Year” award from NAIOP Arizona.
