ASU has $1 billion in construction projects underway around the Valley
Arizona State University has $1 billion of construction projects on its plate, including the Novus Innovation Corridor in Tempe.
Arizona State University has $1 billion of construction projects on its plate throughout metro Phoenix — and that level of activity is slated to continue in the future.
“Arizona State University has been growing continuously for some time,” said Morgan Olsen, executive vice president, treasurer and CFO for ASU. “That hasn’t stopped. Enrollment continues to grow, sponsor research volume continues to grow, we continue to have more people coming to our campuses for various reasons. That drives the need for increases in our built environment.”
When classes started last fall, ASU broke multiple enrollment records, welcoming 40,800 new students. Of the 17,000 first-year students, a record 9,170 are Arizona residents. In total, ASU welcomed 181,000 new students from Arizona, an increase of 9% from the prior year.
As a result of ASU’s enrollment growth, student housing and academic buildings are under construction on its Valley campuses, while future development includes a $200 million medical school in downtown Phoenix and an innovation zone at its Polytechnic campus in Mesa.
Construction of the ASU Health project at the Phoenix Biomedical Core campus in downtown Phoenix will begin in 2026, Olsen said.
“Consistently for about the last decade, we’ve had $1 billion of capital projects in some phase of planning, design or construction every year,” Olsen said. “We expect that will continue yet for a while.”
Plans also call for expanding the student union at the Polytechnic campus in Mesa in 2026, he said.
“We also have other projects we’re still working on where it’s too early to talk about publicly,” Olsen said.
Restaurants opening at Novus Place
ASU just opened several popular restaurants at its Novus Place mixed-use development along Rural Road and E. Sixth Street in Tempe, including North Italia, Flower Child, Blanco Cocina+Cantina and Blue Sushi Sake Grill.
“We have five more restaurants opening by fall,” Olsen said, adding it is too early to identify the names of the restaurants.
A 300-acre innovation zone next to the Polytechnic campus in Mesa will be an intellectual property collaboration with the private sector, faculty and students, similar to ASU’s SkySong development in Scottsdale and ASU Research Park in Tempe, Olsen said.
According to the most recent economic impact reports, ASU SkySong was creating $1.3 billion in annual economic impact and the ASU Research Park was projected to generate more than $2.6 billion in economic impact annually at full buildout, said Danny Court, principal and senior economist at Elliott D. Pollack & Co.
Skysong has been an anchoring catalyst for a substantial amount of redevelopment and new construction in south Scottsdale, Court said.
“It is so difficult to place a value on all of the ways that ASU has positively impacted our regional economy, but it’s massive,” Court said. “They are a critical institution for our ongoing economic development efforts.”
Not only has ASU provided a consistent and growing talent pipeline of qualified employees for high-value industries and companies the metro competes for, but the institution is continuously expanding unique development opportunities for both students and companies that integrate with the benefits of an onsite university partner, Court said.
The economic impact of the innovation zone next to Polytechnic campus will overshadow its ASU Research Park and Skysong innovation zones, ASU’s Olsen said.
Overall, ASU generated a gross product of $6.1 billion, labor income of $3.8 billion and employment of 55,688 in fiscal 2024, according to its economic impact report.
ASU’s construction projects are being financed by charitable gifts and revenue generated by the university, Olsen said.
“Our ability to do that is because people value what Arizona State University does,” he said. “They are expressing their confidence in that.”