Phoenix Suns employees are getting a shiny new office, the Phoenix Mercury are getting a new practice facility and the warehouse district south of downtown is getting a new landmark.
The big picture: Player 15 Group, Suns and Mercury owner Mat Ishbia’s new sports, entertainment and real estate operating and investment company, held a grand opening Thursday for its new 76,000-square-foot headquarters at Fifth and Lincoln streets, a few blocks from Footprint Center.
- Employees will move into the new building Monday, which will ultimately house about 400 people who work for the Mercury, the Suns and their new NBA G-League team, Suns CEO Josh Bartelstein told reporters during a tour.
- Construction began on the facility about five months ago.
- A practice facility for the Mercury adjacent to the new office building is expected to open this summer.
Why it matters: Leadership hopes the new space will make a difference in the company’s quality of work.
- “How you work is how you feel, and so seeing some of that cluttered up area in the arena is not the vision of how I think of offices and working together as a team,” Ishbia told reporters.
Zoom in: Paul Rivers, the Suns’ chief innovation officer, noted that the project is an adaptive reuse of an old warehouse building, saying, “We really tried to lean into sort of the history of the building.”
- The high-end facility features an open office plan with indoor and outdoor basketball courts, a pickleball court, cafeteria, gym, games and even a golf simulator.
What we’re watching: The team has no concrete plans for the office space in Footprint Center being vacated, but Ishbia suggested the 50,000 square feet could be used to enhance the fan experience with amenities like bars, restaurants and a kids’ area.
