Consultants and city staff presented the draft approach for a Downtown Tempe Historic Core Plan at the City Council work study session on Jan. 15, 2026, saying a draft will be available in March–early April with a final plan for council consideration in late June 2026.

Zach Lechter, the city’s historic preservation officer, said the plan is an implementation action of the Tempe Tomorrow general plan and that the consultant team (MIG Inc., working with Tucson-based PMM) has been conducting stakeholder meetings, tribal consultation and public engagement. The presentation noted more than 550 visitors to an online interactive survey and identified Mill and 5th, Hayden House, Flower Mill and Tempe Butte as focal points for the proposed core.

Consultant Corky Poster summarized five principal goals: expand protections for historic resources; promote context‑sensitive development and design guidelines; encourage adaptive reuse and mixed uses; enhance downtown economic vitality; and strengthen district identity and connectivity. “Those are not mutually exclusive,” Poster said, describing preservation and development as complementary.

Why it matters: the plan will guide advisory tools and possible design guidelines intended to give clearer expectations for property owners and developers. Staff said the plan would clarify the study area and the downtown historic core and that recommendations could influence future zoning, design guidelines and approval advice to decision bodies.

Council reaction focused on outreach and feasibility. Council Member Chen asked who in the development community had been engaged; consultants said principal developers and several stakeholder meetings were contacted but conceded not everyone attended. Council Member Amberg pressed for sustainability elements in the design guidance and urged additional meetings with longtime downtown property owners so owners understand how recommendations could affect future approvals. Multiple council members cautioned that recommendations must be deliverable and legally sound to avoid late-stage challenges.

Staff and consultants committed to continued outreach and said participation typically increases as recommendations take shape. The team pointed to other cities’ examples — Denver, Portland and Tucson’s Fourth Avenue overlay — as models for incentives and edge-density approaches, with the caveat that each city’s context differs. In the Tucson example, an optional overlay zone produced a high adoption rate of associated incentives, the consultants said.

Next steps: staff and consultants will continue stakeholder and focus group meetings, post a detailed engagement summary online, release a draft plan in March–early April, and return with a final plan for council consideration before July 2026.

The work study discussion closed with staff thanking council members for feedback and a commitment to provide a list of developer contacts engaged to date.