A 20-year development project is set to permanently transform the streets of downtown Tempe on some of the city’s only remaining land.
Novus Innovation Corridor is a collaboration between a public and private entities: Arizona State University, the city of Tempe and Catellus Development Co. ASU owns the 355 acres of land adjacent to the university’s main campus. Novus was born out of the goal to offset the cost of athletic facilities without resorting to using student or taxpayer dollars. A 2010 Arizona statute allowing the state’s three public universities to create a University Athletics Facilities District helped address this issue. The city put out an RFP in 2014 and Catellus was tasked with changing the face of downtown over the course of over two decades.
