An Arizona law will soon allow what is called “middle housing” — duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and townhomes built on single-family lots in cities with 75,000 or more people.
The goal of House Bill 2721, which was signed into law by Gov. Katie Hobbs in 2024, is to increase density and improve affordability within a one mile radius of a city’s downtown district. The law is set to go into effect in January.
But residents in several historic Phoenix neighborhoods are pushing back.
Brad Brauer is the president of the Willo Neighborhood Association and a longtime resident. For more than a year, he’s been sounding the alarm about the middle housing law.
Inside Memorial Hall at Steele Indian School Park, neighbors take their seats for a second community meeting hosted by Phoenix officials. The crowd is calm, conversational and noticeably thinner than Brad Brauer expected.
“I am kind of surprised at this turn out,” he said.
Brauer is the president of the Willo Neighborhood Association and a longtime resident. For more than a year, he’s been sounding the alarm about the middle housing law.
“I thought they’d be filling the rafters with how many people were upset about not being able to fit in the room at Burton Barr on Aug. 11.”
At the first meeting, it was standing-room only. Willo residents came out in force to oppose the impending law — which many fear will open the door to developers demolishing historic homes in favor of multi-family units.
“So, it is kind of surprising that there’s not everyone filling this as much as they can,” Brauer said.
Affordable or something else?
The law is supposed to help increase housing supply and create more affordable options in the downtown area. But that affordability piece is something Brauer seriously questions.
So does Phoenix City Councilwoman Laura Pastor, who represents the area and was at the second meeting.
Phoenix Councilwoman Laura Pastor addresses the crowd at the second community meeting held for residents of historic Phoenix neighborhoods on Aug. 26, 2025.
“If you’re trying to create affordability, you then create affordability in the areas that you’re able to create affordability. Why encroach on a single-family historic district?” Pastor asked.
The area’s houses, which were built in the early to mid-1900s, are worth upwards of $1 million or more.
A week before the second community meeting, Brauer took a short walking tour of the Willo. Each home is unique, charming and, in some cases, looks like something right out of a fairy tale.
Homes in the historic Willo district in Phoenix were built in the early to mid-1900s.
He points out a 1940s ranch house, which he estimates is worth around $800,000.
“You can’t buy that, scrape it for another, what, $400,000-$500,000 to scrape it, and then build a fourplex on top of this and call it affordable,” he said. “It doesn’t pencil out.”
That may be true today — but in the 1970s and ’80s, downtown Phoenix was a different, less desirable place. People were moving to the suburbs, and commercial development was creeping into neighborhoods like Willo.
Willo is one of more than two dozen historic neighborhoods in the downtown Phoenix area. A new Arizona law could change the character of this neighborhood.
Homes here were affordable, but neighbors also fought to protect and preserve the area.
In 1990, the Willo neighborhood earned its historic designation from the city. A historic status offers certain protections, such as ensuring any changes are compatible with the historic character of the property or district.
Phoenix hosts community meetings to discuss its proposals to rezone parts of the downtown district to comply with a new Arizona law.
But the new middle housing law overrides much of that.
Helana Ruter is the historic preservation officer with the city.
“As it is now, if you’re looking to do anything in terms of new construction or modifications. That requires a building permit, it will still come to us for design review,” she said.
And she says the one-year stay of demolition will also remain in place — meaning developers can’t just bulldoze their way in. They also need a redevelopment plan.
“So you’re going through that one-year hold, and then again, that infill process, that redevelopment plan is an entire public hearing process for neighbors can comment about the proposal,” Ruter said.
That might be a deterrent for some developers.
But for residents like Brauer and others, who invested a lot of money and time into their home and community, that’s not enough. They want their neighborhood and other historic areas fully exempt from the law.
‘Not in my backyard’ or protecting a valuable asset?
So is this a case of NIMBY-ism? Aaron Montano Searles calls that label “misguided.”
“I would love affordable housing in this neighborhood, but we’re not developing affordable housing. We’re building fourplexes, most likely market and luxury units,” Montano Searles said.
Montano Searles grew up in Willo and now lives just a few streets from Brauer. He’s also the association’s vice president. For Montano Searles, there’s another layer to this debate: the preservation of Phoenix’s history.
“Unfortunately, the state, without any conversations with the neighbors, not just Willo, but the other neighborhoods that it would affect — without any conversation — decided to put in this new law for middle housing that would effectively erase the historic areas that we have,” Montano Searles said.
Back at Memorial Hall, staff are prepared to present zoning updates.
Councilwoman Pastor gets up and takes the mic. She doesn’t hold back.
Residents from several historic Phoenix neighborhoods attend the second community meeting to understand how the city will rezone their neighborhoods to comply with a new Arizona law.
“I’m going to tell you point blank what I got told: ‘Willo is just whiny,” she said.
Pastor isn’t having it — neither is the crowd.
“You heard my response, the response was, ‘they’re not whiny. They’re protecting their neighborhood. They’re protecting their assets. They’re protecting their home,’” Pastor said.
But there’s also not much they can do except retain an attorney, which they’ve done, as well as a lobbyist — in hopes of getting that exemption through the Republican-led Arizona Legislature.