The Goldwater Institute is suing the city of Phoenix over a downtown land deal the group says violates the Arizona Constitution. The buyer is required to build some affordable housing.
Court records say property located near Second and Roosevelt streets was appraised a couple years ago as being worth roughly $4.8 million.
The city is reportedly selling one of the largest pieces of developable land remaining downtown to Pennrose LLC for $1.5 million.
Goldwater Institute senior attorney Tony Napolitano said this amounts to an illegal gift.
“The city is picking one specific developer and giving them this huge benefit that frankly, no one else knew was available, and violates the Arizona Constitution,” Napolitano said.
A city spokesman did not dispute the numbers cited by the Goldwater Institute, which got details of the deal under public records law.
Pennrose has built several affordable housing projects on the East Coast.
Court records say, for the land in Phoenix, at least 20% of units built must be affordable housing for 40 years.
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