Legislation may be brought up before the end of the current Arizona State Legislature’s spring session designed to curb the demolition of historic houses in lieu of building new housing.
Last year lawmakers passed a bill allowing for multi-family housing projects to be built in areas zoned for single-family homes, even if some of those zones included historic residential structures.
Earlier this year Republican Representative Matt Gress and Democrat Representative Aaron Marquez proposed a new bill that would require cities to build what is commonly called “middle housing,” while at the same time exempting all historic districts.
The measure won the support of the group Save Historic Arizona which argued that singling out the historic districts from new home development would preserve a legacy of one-of-a-kind past residential architecture for future generations.
In a statement, Phoenix City Councilmember Laura Pastor said that without specifically exempting historic districts from new housing construction “new market rate townhome developments” will bear “little resemblance to the neighborhoods residents have worked to protect.”
In a 30 to 25 vote in the Arizona House of Representatives lawmakers gave a thumbs down to the legislation. Democrat Representative Sarah Ligouri said the state would be better off with “more accessibility and different types of housing.”
The defeated measure was additionally supported by the League of Arizona Cities and Towns; but opposed by both the Arizona Housing Coalition and the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona.
Gress has since commented that despite the defeat of the bill he co-sponsored, he is determined to bring it up for reconsideration before the current session finally concludes its business at the end of this month.
June 12, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of City of Tucson
