Designed by Rob Zinn, with the Office of Architecture and Design, Here is a look at what is planned for the collection of buildings now known as the Phoenix Arts District.

The Phoenix Building

Now known as the Phoenix Building, this large collections of warehouses was originally occupied by two major companies. 2320 North Liberty Street was built for the Cleveland, OH-based Sherwin-Williams Company in 1930. Founded by Henry Sherwin and Edward Williams in in 1866, today, the Sherwin-Williams Company is a Fortune 500 company primarily engaged in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coatings and related products.

On the opposite side of the block, 2303 North Market Street is a two story brick warehouse complex that was completed in 1923 for the Huttig Sash & Door Company. Huttig was founded as a sawmill and lumberyard in Muscatine, IA by brothers, Charles and William Huttig in 1866. By the 1920s, the company had evolved into a window sash and door manufacturer.

Phase 1 of the Phoenix Arts District will see the transformation of The Phoenix Building into an event space with movable walls, enabling users to shape spaces to their needs. Construction of this event space is expected to be completed this fall. A second phase would involve the conversion the warehouse’s second floor into +20 art studios with classes anticipated to begin by summer 2020.

Along Liberty Street, this collection warehouses will also include a marketplace where several retail spaces offering flexible leases for residents to sell their work will be made available. In addition, space will be set aside for a restaurant with outdoor seating. In addition, a studio boardwalk with outdoor seating and landscaping would be constructed along an existing rail side corridor, serving as a second outdoor pedestrian connection between Market and Liberty Streets.

The Liberty Building

2336 North Liberty Street was completed in 1926 for the Southern Hardware & Bicycle Company. Now called “The Liberty” building, the 18,000 square foot structure will be used as a mixed-media installations and mosaics studio space for Christy Frazier.

A former rail siding between the historic warehouses would be transformed into an outdoor courtyard that would include cafe and bleacher style seating for special events.

The Studebaker Corporation in 1926. Courtesy of the Telfair Stockton & Company industrial advertisement.

A fourth adjacent building, a warehouse built in 1922 for the long defunct Studebaker Automobile Company of South Bend, IN is not included in the scope of the project. In recent years, the 17,640 square foot warehouse at 2335 North Market Street had been occupied by Tison-Demar Woodworks.

2335 North Market Street

Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com