The famous Punch Card Building in Phoenix, so named because a part of its facade resembles a 1960s-era vertical computer punch card may soon get a new life as a boutique hotel.
The Left Lane Development company of New York has announced its intention to purchase the sleekly designed structure at 3443 North Central Avenue with the goal of substantially repurposing it.
Completed in 1964 and designed by modernist architect Wenceslao Sarmiento, the 19-story building for decades served as office space for a variety of private companies and government agencies.
Officially named the Phoenix Financial Center, the building, sitting on an 8-acre site, measures around 285,000 square feet and includes two adjacent 9,000 square-foot rotundas.
Those rotundas, the Arizona Republic observed several years ago, feature “stained glass ceilings with geometric designs. One is mostly reddish, the other blue.”
In recent years the structure has been largely vacant. A plan announced in the spring of 2022 to turn the building into a multifamily structure never became reality, although some renovation work was done on the 18th floor.
Now the Left Lane company is seeking to acquire the property, with plans to build just under 200 hotel rooms and 144 apartment units in the main structure, while building a second structure which will feature a spa and rooftop deck.
The company is currently in the pre-application process with the City of Phoenix, with actual work on the structure not expected to begin until late 2024 or early 2025.
By Garry Boulard
