Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix publishes the owner of every parcel and the sworn sale price of nearly every deed, free, in bulk — and the record shows that several of downtown's best-known towers belong, on paper, to the City of Phoenix itself.
8 buildings · 8 with an owner established · 32 sources · 1 tier B · 7 tier A · prepared 2026-10-13
Can you find out who owns it?
Arizona has no state title register; ownership is a county record. The Maricopa County Assessor names the owner of record, mailing address, deed and value of every parcel and publishes the whole roll free as downloadable files (the 'Secured Master', updated twice a month). Arizona is a full-disclosure state: by law every deed must carry an affidavit of value stating the price paid, and the Assessor publishes those affidavits too — buyer, seller, address and price — except where a deed is exempt, such as a quitclaim for no consideration or any transfer to which a city is a party. Deeds are recorded by the County Recorder for $30 per instrument. Downtown, many towers stand in the City's own name: under the government property lease excise tax (GPLET) the City holds title and leases the building back, so the developer pays an excise tax instead of property tax.
Is ownership public?An open dataset names the owner
Cost of one title searchOwner of record and sale price free (Assessor data downloads); recording $30 per instrument, copies $1 per page plus $3 to certify (A.R.S. 11-475)
Bulk ownership dataMaricopa County Assessor Data Downloads — Secured Master (owner, situs, deed, values; ~109 MB zipped, updated twice a month) and Sales Affidavits (weekly), free without registration via the county's ArcGIS hub; no licence granted, and A.R.S. 39-121.03 governs commercial use
Sale pricesEvery sale, with its address
1
The marquee buildings
The towers that set the tone of the core, and who holds them. A price is the price a document states, on the date it states — not an estimate of what the building is worth now.
| Building | Use | Owner | Owner type | Last price paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Tower 201 N Central Avenue, Phoenix (roll situs 201 N 1st St; parcel 112-28-031C) 724,000 sq ft (AZ Big Media); 607,782 sq ft in a 37-storey improvement on the Assessor's Commercial Master · 40 floors |
Office | Viola Lordsmeer LP 100% Owner of record Viola Lordsmeer LP, mailing 410 Park Ave, New York, on two parcels: the tower parcel ($56.0M full cash value) and the adjoining 112-28-012B ($27.0M). AZ Big Media (3 May 2018): Arizona's tallest building, 483 ft, 40 floors, opened 1972, bought by a partnership managed by Wentworth Property Company; KTAR says that was a $78M trustee sale six months before Viola's purchase and describes the buyer as an entity of the owner of a Florida hockey team. The roll's deed field still shows a 1991 instrument, so the 2018 deed is not reflected there. |
Private company | $107,500,000 2018-10 KTAR (29 Oct 2018, citing the Phoenix Business Journal): sold by 201 North Central Avenue Property LLC to Viola Lordsmeer LP. Not on the Assessor's affidavit file. B |
| Renaissance Square (One and Two Renaissance) 2 N Central Avenue and 50 N Central Avenue, Phoenix 965,508 sq ft rentable (Hines, 2007); 528,000 + 476,873 sq ft in 26- and 27-storey improvements (Commercial Master) · 27 floors |
Office | City of Phoenix Both tower parcels stand in the name of 'PHOENIX CITY OF (LEASED OUT)' (50 N Central) and 'PHOENIX CITY OF' (2 N Central), with tax mailing to 2 N Central Suite 1260 — the City holds title and leases the buildings under Arizona's government property lease excise tax (GPLET). Full cash value $86.8M + $81.1M. The Hines Core Fund bought it in December 2007 and, per Hines REIT's Q3 2016 10-Q, recorded impairments on it in 2016 'based on a purchase and sale agreement or third-party guidance received during its marketing process'. The current private leaseholder was not established from any record opened here. |
Government | $270,900,000 2007-12 Contract price paid by a subsidiary of the Hines-Sumisei U.S. Core Office Fund for the leasehold buildings (Hines REIT 8-K). The City's title carries no price: a city as party is exempt from the affidavit. A |
| CityScape office tower (One East Washington) 11 S Central Avenue, Phoenix (parcel 112-27-976) 489,396 sq ft in a 27-storey improvement (Commercial Master) · 27 floors |
Office | City of Phoenix Owner of record City of Phoenix, latest deed 22 Jun 2016; full cash value $233.3M — the highest-valued office parcel downtown. The GS 2014-GC18 prospectus states that CityScape – East Office/Retail 'is subject to two ground leases (one for the office/retail building, and one for the subterranean parking structure) with the City of Phoenix in order to facilitate the Government Property Lease Excise Tax (“GPLET”) real estate tax abatement program', with a total abatement for eight years after the certificate of occupancy. It secured a $185M whole loan in 2014. The 2026 leaseholder was not established. |
Government | —A |
| Collier Center (Bank of America Tower) 201 E Washington Street, Phoenix 536,452 sq ft in a 23-storey improvement (Commercial Master) · 24 floors |
Office | City of Phoenix The office parcel ($77.8M full cash value) and the parking/retail parcel ($43.0M) are both in the City's name. In late 2007 the BACM 2007-5 prospectus described a $144.5M loan on 'a 24-story multi-tenant office building' whose borrower, Collier Center PT, LLC, was 100% owned by the General Electric Pension Trust. That is the last stated leaseholder found; who holds the leasehold in 2026 was not established. |
Government | —A |
| U.S. Bank Center 101 N 1st Avenue, Phoenix 346,288 sq ft in a 25-storey improvement, plus a 6-level garage (Commercial Master) · 25 floors |
Office | 101 North First Ave LLC 100% Owner of record 101 North First Ave LLC, tax mailing 222 SW Columbia St Suite 700, Portland, Oregon; full cash value $43.8M — under half the 2019 price. Built 1975. The affidavit file records buyer, seller, price and address because Arizona requires a sworn affidavit of value with every deed. No filing opened here names the investors behind the LLC. |
Private company | $92,750,000 2019-08 Sales affidavit: from USBC Real Estate LLC, deed 2019-0654248 recorded 23 Aug 2019, single parcel. A |
| Central Arts Plaza (former Viad Tower) 1850 N Central Avenue, Phoenix 484,168 sq ft (SEC prospectus); 24-storey tower of 515,186 sq ft gross on the Commercial Master · 24 floors |
Office | 1850 Central, LLC 100% The 2025 prospectus names the borrower 1850 Central, LLC — the same name the Assessor roll carries, mailing Chino, California — and says its sponsors are the co-founders of DL Properties, 'a private real estate investment company' with a national retail portfolio. Built 1990, renovated 2020, 90.5% leased to 25 tenants (1 Aug 2025); as-stabilized appraisal $94.4M; refinanced with a loan at 6.73%. The roll's full cash value is $101.0M. |
Private company | $80,700,000 2018 BBCMS 2025-5C38: 'The borrower sponsors acquired the Central Arts Plaza Property in 2018 for $80.7 million, at which time the ... Property was 73.0% occupied.' A |
| The Esplanade (office towers) 2425, 2555 and 2575 E Camelback Road, Phoenix 244,924 + 240,901 + 194,253 sq ft in 10-, 10- and 8-storey improvements (Commercial Master) · 10 floors |
Office | Esplanade Owner LLC 100% Four parcels in the name of Esplanade Owner LLC, tax mailing 2575 E Camelback Rd Suite 500 (in the complex itself), $229.9M of full cash value — the largest private office holding on Camelback Road. No filing or press release opened here names the investors behind the LLC or states a price. |
Private company | —A |
| 24th at Camelback II 2325 E Camelback Road, Phoenix 306,877 sq ft (SEC prospectus comparable); 324,897 sq ft in an 11-storey improvement (Commercial Master) · 11 floors |
Office | Solar Farms LLC 100% Owner of record Solar Farms LLC, tax mailing Reno, Nevada; full cash value $69.0M. Built 2009. Next door, 24th at Camelback (2375 E Camelback, 309,400 sq ft in 8 storeys) sold in April 2024 for $86,100,000 per its affidavit, from REEP-IMPIC OFC 24th Camelback AZ LLC to 24th at Camelback Inc (mailing New York); the prospectus comparable puts that sale at $90,360,000 — the two documents differ. |
Private company | $97,900,000 2024-09 Sales affidavit: from 24th and Camelback Phase II LLC, deed 2024-0580831 recorded 30 Oct 2024. BBCMS 2025-5C38's appraisal comparables state the same $97,900,000 ($319/sq ft, 7.00% cap). A |
2
The core land
The most valuable ground in the city, and what the public record says about it.
The most valuable parcel in Phoenix is not downtown: it is TSMC's chip plant in north Phoenix. Downtown, the City of Phoenix is the largest owner of record — of parks, the convention centre, the airport and also of privately run towers it holds under GPLET. All figures are summed by this research from the Assessor's Secured Master (current tax year, files dated 2 Oct 2026), taking parcels whose tax-area code carries Phoenix's city digits (13) — the code on 96.5% of parcels with a Phoenix situs address.
Highest-valued parcel in the City of Phoenix$1,889,191,841
TSMC Arizona Corporation, 5088 W Innovation Circle (parcel 204-09-005), full cash value, built 2022; TSMC's three Phoenix parcels total $1.94B over 1,078 acres. Next: Grand Canyon University's main campus parcel, $1.19B. Maricopa County Assessor Secured Master, Oct 2026.
Real property in the City of Phoenix$366.4 billion
525,645 parcels, full cash value; limited property value (the capped taxable base) $194.7B. Whole county: 1,759,897 parcels, $1.157 trillion. Secured Master, Oct 2026.
Central Phoenix commercial parcels owned by the City$5.28B of $14.41B
Of 3,426 commercial parcels in Assessor map books 111–112 (central Phoenix, including downtown) inside the City, 255 stand in the City of Phoenix's name — 37% of their full cash value. Secured Master, Oct 2026.
Downtown land benchmark$115 per sq ft
The Assessor's land value on downtown tower sites: Chase Tower 87,750 sq ft at $10,091,200; U.S. Bank Center 45,319 sq ft at $5,211,600; Two Renaissance 41,540 sq ft at $4,777,100. Camelback comparison: $105–107 per sq ft (Esplanade, 24th at Camelback).
3
Who owns the town
At this scale the significant owner is rarely a trust or a fund: it is one or two local holding companies, a family in its second or third generation, and often the land around the town rather than the buildings in it.
Inside Phoenix the largest holders are public: the City owns more than 52,000 acres, and the State Land Department holds some 4,400 acres of trust land inside the city limits. The largest private holdings by value and by acreage are both in north Phoenix: TSMC's chip plant and the 2,000-acre Biscuit Flats holding. Around the city, the largest landholders are two sovereign nations whose reservations are not on the county roll at all, and the federal Bureau of Reclamation and Salt River Project, which hold the canals. Acreages are the roll's land-area field summed by this research.
| Name | Type | Holdings |
|---|---|---|
| City of Phoenix Parcels inside the City in the City's own name, $20.27B of full cash value — including the Sky Harbor airport parcels and the downtown GPLET towers. Maricopa Assessor Secured Master, Oct 2026. |
Government | 4,687 parcels, 52,621 acresA |
| Arizona State Land Department (State Land Trust) On the roll inside the City under two spellings ($3.03B full cash value); 378 parcels county-wide. The JLBC states the trust holds about 9.2 million acres statewide, held for 13 beneficiaries — chiefly K-12 schools (8.05M acres) — and that trust land must be sold or leased beyond 10 years only at public auction. The Department's own site could not be read. |
Government | 179 parcels, 4,355 acres in PhoenixB |
| Gila River Indian Community The Community's own history: 'in 1859 Congress established the first reservation in Arizona, encompassing 372,000 acres along the Gila River.' Outside the City of Phoenix; reservation trust land is not on the county roll, which carries only a handful of parcels in the Community's name. |
Government | 372,000 acres (as established in 1859)A |
| Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community The Community's own page: 'Spanning 54,568 acres in Maricopa County', surrounded by Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa and Fountain Hills, with 19,000 acres preserved as natural land and about 12,000 acres of farmland. Outside the City of Phoenix. |
Government | 54,568 acresA |
| TSMC Arizona Corporation The most valuable private holding in Phoenix: the fab campus at 5088 W Innovation Circle, deed March 2023. |
Public company | 3 parcels, 1,078 acres, $1.94BA |
| Biscuit Flats Dev LLC The largest private acreage inside the City on the roll. The owner name on the roll carries a certificate-of-purchase number ('CP #53-123709'). |
Private company | 2 parcels, 2,029 acres, $436MA |
| Flood Control District of Maricopa County Inside the City. |
Government | 515 parcels, 4,903 acresA |
| U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Canal and project land inside the City; 605 parcels and about 8,636 acres county-wide. |
Government | 125 parcels, 1,411 acres in PhoenixA |
| Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District $144.0M of full cash value inside the City; 692 parcels and about 4,866 acres county-wide under its full name. SRP's own site refused automated reading, so nothing here describes it beyond the roll. |
Government | 177 parcels, 279 acres in PhoenixA |
| Arizona Public Service Company Utility land inside the City, $305.1M of full cash value. |
Public company | 172 parcels, 502 acresA |
5
Who builds the houses
New-home building in this market: the volume, and the firms behind it. Ownership of a builder matters as much as its volume — a private-equity platform and a family firm behave differently.
Phoenix is one of the three largest new-house markets in the United States. In Census Bureau permit data for 2025, the Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler metro issued 23,755 single-family permits — third in the nation after Houston and Dallas–Fort Worth — and 39,699 units in all, fourth. Maricopa County permitted 31,651 units (17,244 single-family) and the City of Phoenix 10,395, of which 6,505 were in buildings of five or more units. Most single-family building happens on master-planned land at the metro's edges, outside the City. No Phoenix-level builder league table is published, so the figures below are parcels held in each builder's own name on the Maricopa roll — lots and unsold homes, not closings — county-wide, with the number inside the City noted.
| Name | Type | Parcels on the Maricopa roll, Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| D.R. Horton Held mainly as D R Horton Inc (1,155); 498 inside the City of Phoenix, about 806 acres in all. |
Public company | 2,248 parcelsA |
| PulteGroup (Pulte Home Company, Del Webb) Mostly Pulte Home Company LLC (2,010); the largest acreage of any builder on the roll, about 3,111 acres, but only 81 parcels inside the City. |
Public company | 2,238 parcelsA |
| Richmond American Homes of Arizona All under one entity name; 451 inside the City. Its parent company is not stated in any record opened here. |
Developer | 2,229 parcelsA |
| Taylor Morrison Held as Taylor Morrison Arizona Inc and Taylor Morrison/Arizona Inc; 794 inside the City — the most City-limits parcels of any builder. |
Public company | 2,223 parcelsA |
| Meritage Homes Only 8 inside the City. Meritage's FY2025 10-K gives its principal executive offices as 18655 North Claret Drive, Scottsdale — the metro's home-grown national builder. |
Public company | 1,694 parcelsA |
| Toll Brothers Held as Toll Prasada LLC (1,047) and Toll Brothers AZ Construction Company (591); 51 inside the City, about 1,163 acres. |
Public company | 1,647 parcelsA |
| Mattamy Homes Held as Mattamy Arizona LLC; 79 inside the City. |
Private company | 1,124 parcelsA |
| Lennar 223 inside the City. A further 677 parcels stand in the name of Millrose Properties entities; their relationship to Lennar is not stated in any record opened here. |
Public company | 792 parcelsA |
6
Commercial landlords
The commercial side, counted separately from housing: who holds the office, retail and industrial floor area.
Phoenix's largest commercial landlords are not office owners. They are the single-family-rental companies that bought houses by the thousand after 2010, apartment REITs, and industrial REITs on the west side. Those that are public state a Phoenix figure in their 10-Ks. Office towers, as elsewhere, sit in single-purpose LLCs, and downtown several of them sit on City-titled land under GPLET.
| Name | Type | Phoenix holding |
|---|---|---|
| Invitation Homes FY2025 10-K: 9,200 single-family homes in Phoenix, 96.7% occupied, average rent $2,074, 9.5% of revenue. On the Maricopa roll its 'IH … Borrower' and 'IH6 Property Phoenix' entities hold about 7,190 parcels, 2,353 of them inside the City. |
REIT | 9,200 homesA |
| Prologis FY2025 10-K Schedule III: Phoenix, 55 buildings at $1,528,594K gross carrying amount. The roll shows 47 parcels in Prologis names county-wide with 7.29M sq ft of building area (3.25M sq ft inside the City). |
REIT | 55 buildings, $1.53B grossA |
| Camden Property Trust FY2025 10-K: 13 operating communities and 4,094 homes in Phoenix at 31 Dec 2025 (14 and 4,426 a year earlier); it sold one Phoenix property in November 2025. |
REIT | 4,094 apartment homesA |
| American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) FY2025 10-K: 3,282 single-family homes in Phoenix (5.4% of the total), 94.5% occupied. |
REIT | 3,282 homesA |
| Mid-America Apartment Communities FY2025 10-K: 9 communities and 2,968 units in Phoenix, plus developments including MAA One Scottsdale (280 units). |
REIT | 2,968 unitsA |
| EastGroup Properties Maricopa roll, county-wide (979,214 sq ft inside the City). The FY2025 10-K lists a 'Phoenix area' section in Schedule III and the December 2024 purchase of Akimel Gateway, 519,000 sq ft, for $82,998K, assuming a ground lease. |
REIT | 2.42M sq ft over 39 parcelsA |
?
Looked for and not found
Claims this page would have made if a source could be opened. They are left out rather than guessed.
- The private leaseholders of the GPLET towers. Renaissance Square, the CityScape office tower and Collier Center all stand in the City of Phoenix's name; the last stated holders are the Hines Core Fund (Renaissance Square, bought 2007 and impaired in 2016 while being marketed) and the General Electric Pension Trust (Collier Center, 2007). A.R.S. 42-6202 requires the City to keep a public database of GPLET leases; it was not located.
- Chase Tower's 2018 price rests on KTAR (citing the Phoenix Business Journal), read through WebFetch because KTAR refuses curl. The Assessor's affidavit file has no row for the tower parcel and its deed field still shows a 1991 instrument.
- Biltmore Fashion Park, 2502 E Camelback: owner of record Biltmore Shopping Center Partners ($160.6M). Macerich's FY2025 10-K states it sold its 50% interest on 31 Jul 2024 for $110.0M; the buyer and the other partner were not established, so it is not in the marquee.
- The Esplanade's and U.S. Bank Center's investors: the roll names only the LLCs.
- Arizona Center (400 E Van Buren, 20 storeys): the affidavit file records a June 2023 two-parcel sale from AGP Arizona Center Owner LLC to AZ Center LLC for $27,000,000. Whether that price covers the whole tower was not established.
- Licence and commercial use. The Assessor grants no licence; its Data Sharing page quotes A.R.S. 39-121.03, under which a record obtained for a noncommercial purpose and used commercially makes the user liable for three times the price that would have been charged. The downloads FAQ says commercial users should file a Commercial Purpose Public Record Request. This record quotes single facts and reproduces no rows; republish stays false.
- The State Land Department's own figures (Maricopa County trust acreage, recent auctions): land.az.gov is behind a Cloudflare challenge, so only the JLBC's 2019 statewide summary is cited.
- City boundary. 'Inside the City' means parcels whose Assessor tax-area code carries 13 in the city digits; this was inferred from the roll (96.5% of Phoenix-addressed parcels carry it; unincorporated parcels carry 00), not from a published code table.
- Builder figures are parcels on the roll in each builder's own name — land and inventory, not closings — and Maricopa County only; Pinal County, where much of the metro's newest building is, has its own assessor.
- azleg.gov asks for a 120-second crawl delay; six statute pages were fetched in this research, the first five without waiting.
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Sources
- Secured Master (owner of record, situs, deed, values, tax area for every real-property parcel; five pipe-delimited files, updated twice a month, files dated 2 Oct 2026) — Maricopa County Assessor's Office · openA
- Data Downloads — free datasets and FAQ ('No. All data files available on the Data Downloads page are free to download') — Maricopa County Assessor's Office · openA
- Sales Affidavits ('last recorded' sale per parcel: sale date, price, deed, situs, grantor, grantee; updated weekly, file dated 5 Oct 2026) — Maricopa County Assessor's Office · openA
- Commercial Master (improvement components: storeys, floor area, year built; file dated 18 Sep 2026) — Maricopa County Assessor's Office · openA
- Data Sharing — policy and A.R.S. 39-121.03 commercial-purpose caution — Maricopa County Assessor's Office · openA
- Data Sales Service Fees (approved by the Board of Supervisors 16 Jan 2008) — Maricopa County Assessor's Office · openA
- A.R.S. 11-1133 — Affidavit of legal value — Arizona State Legislature · openA
- A.R.S. 11-1134 — Exemptions (from the affidavit) — Arizona State Legislature · openA
- A.R.S. 11-475 — County recorder fees — Arizona State Legislature · openA
- A.R.S. 42-6202 — Commercial government property lease excise tax; database — Arizona State Legislature · openA
- A.R.S. 42-6209 — Abatement of tax for government property improvements in single central business district — Arizona State Legislature · openA
- GS Mortgage Securities Trust 2014-GC18 — prospectus supplement (424B5), CityScape – East Office/Retail loan — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · openA
- Hines Real Estate Investment Trust — Form 8-K, acquisition of Renaissance Square by the Hines-Sumisei U.S. Core Office Fund — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · openA
- Hines Real Estate Investment Trust — Form 10-Q for Q3 2016 (Core Fund impairment of Renaissance Square) — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · openA
- Banc of America Commercial Mortgage Inc., Series 2007-5 — prospectus supplement (424B5), Collier Center loan — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · openA
- BBCMS Mortgage Trust 2025-5C38 — prospectus (424B2), Loan No. 10 Central Arts Plaza — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · openA
- Chase Tower, Arizona's tallest building, sells — AZ Big Media (AZRE) · openA
- Chase Tower in downtown Phoenix sold for $107 million — KTAR News · openB
- The Macerich Company — Form 10-K for 2025 — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · openA
- Prologis, Inc. — Form 10-K for 2025 (Schedule III) — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · openA
- EastGroup Properties — Form 10-K for 2025 — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · openA
- Camden Property Trust — Form 10-K for 2025 — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · openA
- Invitation Homes Inc. — Form 10-K for 2025 — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · openA
- American Homes 4 Rent — Form 10-K for 2025 — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · openA
- Mid-America Apartment Communities — Form 10-K for 2025 — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · openA
- Meritage Homes Corporation — Form 10-K for 2025 — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · openA
- Building Permits Survey — CBSA annual 2025 (cbsa2025a.txt) — U.S. Census Bureau · openA
- Building Permits Survey — county annual 2025 (co2025a.txt), Maricopa County FIPS 04/013 — U.S. Census Bureau · openA
- Building Permits Survey — West Region places annual 2025 (we2025a.txt), Phoenix city — U.S. Census Bureau · openA
- State Land Trust — Program Summary (updated 26 Sep 2019) — Arizona Joint Legislative Budget Committee · openA
- About the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community — Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community · openA
- History — Gila River Indian Community · openA