Downtown Phoenix Voices is an ongoing series of profiles on the many diverse and inspirational voices in the downtown Phoenix community. To read the previous installment in the series, click here.
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When Mike Davis dropped out of college for the second time, he decided it was time to become a professionally licensed architect.
“I already knew what I wanted to do, so I didn’t feel like I should waste any more time getting there,” said Davis, a Phoenix resident of 40 years.
Davis became licensed as a professional architect in Arizona and California by the age of 26. He founded his own architecture firm, The Davis Experience, in November of 1991 and has been designing buildings around the Phoenix area since then.
When Davis’s old firm, DeRevere & Associates, was going through a bad real estate recession, their home office asked Davis if he wanted to run their official office in Phoenix, which was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
“Starting The Davis Experience was inevitable,” Davis said. “I have that entrepreneurial mindset, and what can I say? There’s nothing better than being your own boss.”
Since then, Davis has worked on all types of projects in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Some of his first projects were in Industrial Park, and a few years later he was working on retail centers, warehouses and more. Davis said his first large-scale project was the Westcore building, which was more than 300,000 square feet.
Even at a young age, Davis knew where his future was ultimately headed.
“When I was five years old, my parents brought home blueprints of a house we were going to build,” Davis said. “I was instantly fascinated and knew I wanted to become an architect then and there.”
Davis said Phoenix has a high potential for architect design.
“There is so much beauty here,” he said. “And I believe the level of interest in Phoenix is growing.”
Davis said there is already some very impressive architecture in Phoenix, such as the Burton Barr Central Library, but he believes Phoenix deserves better. For him, it’s not about how big a building is.
“What goes on inside and in between is more important than the building itself,” Davis said.
Phoenix is still a very young city, so The Davis Experience has had the opportunity to start a few more projects around the area. Davis is working on a large residential project in the Ro2 lot, which is located across from Roosevelt Point. Although it will be about a quarter of the size of Roosevelt Point, Davis said he is going for a younger, urban type of resident.
He hired Dorina Bustamante, a community developer in downtown Phoenix, to help with the Ro2 lot. Bustamante is a fifth-generation Arizonan and knows Phoenix and its residents. She said she has always looked up to Davis, and was fascinated with his work even before they began working together.
“I really feel honored that as a young real estate development professional, I have been given the opportunity to work with such an inspiring architect that I have been following for so long,” Bustamante said. “He may be famous, but he really cares about Phoenix … he just gets it.”
Davis plans on eventually creating more of a nightlife for the younger crowd, not to mention a possible grocery store in the Roosevelt area. He hopes it will help bring more residential opportunities because he loves the scale of downtown.
“I think an architectural firm trying to improve the downtown area is a great idea and an awesome opportunity,” kinesiology major Ryland Hancock said.
Hancock said he would like to see the nightlife options improve downtown for the younger crowd, and if there were residential options like Vista Del Sol offered near the campus in Phoenix, it would help create more of a campus feel for the students.
Davis said Phoenix is a place of great opportunity. He said Phoenix has many great neighborhoods to offer, along with potential due to ASU’s participation and growth of the Downtown campus. This has opened up many great ideas for new projects downtown.
“I’d like to raise the level of consciousness about Phoenix’s built environment, which I feel is one of the most important things I can do to contribute to Phoenix and leave my mark,” Davis said.
Contact the reporter at rcoukoul@asu.edu
