Two new Downtown building projects draw from video-game culture – but not in obvious ways.
Zac Cohen is happy to unlock the hidden Easter eggs built into his two new Downtown Phoenix developments. After all, he’s a gamer.
Tapping into a global trend, both the Atari Hotel Phoenix (targeted for a 2028 opening) and Rainbow Road Apartments (which began accepting residents in December) are rooted in video-game culture and built around play. As creative director at Phoenix design firm Räkkhaus and partner at Intersection Development, Cohen spearheaded both projects – inspired, he says, by a decade-long professional stint in Europe that gave him a yen to make buildings that play with the “human psyche.”
Officially branded by the video game giant, the Atari is the first in a planned chain of hotels, while Rainbow Road draws its unlicensed design inspiration from Nintendo’s Mario Kart series. But don’t expect to be greeted by Mario or Donkey Kong. “I doubt most people would get all the intentional design elements at first glance,” Cohen says. “But people who are familiar with the games tend to get ’em almost immediately.”
— Jimmy Magahern
Choose Your Own Adventure
Both developments are built around play. They just play very different games.
Atari Hotel Phoenix
- Nerdy Numerology: “The Atari has 91 keys – 19 suites and 72 rooms – which represents 1972, the year Atari was founded.”
- Subtle Signatures: “You can see elements of Pong in the way the two sides of the building interact with each other.”
- Game Graphics: “If you look at the pools, those are exact geometries from the game Tetris.”
- Design Details: “Tron, Asteroids and Blade Runner are highly prevalent in the facade design. But it isn’t themed, it’s played.”
- Player Profiles: “We’re building a 2,200-capacity music venue and an e-sports venue, so it’s really for anyone who wants to be entertained.”
Rainbow Road Apartments
- Nerdy Numerology: “The 12-sided geometry of the building is meant to represent drifting around the Mario Kart track.”
- Subtle Signatures: “The bike racks and dividers on the benches are shaped like the exact track from Rainbow Road.”
- Game Graphics: “The sidewalk art acts as the literal track for the Rainbow Road from Mario Kart set against the black facade, which represents the night sky.”
- Design Details: “Each of the floors on the interior have a different color palette from the game – blue, red, yellow and green. That represents leveling up.”
- Player Profiles: “There are 36 units total, and each one is different – so every resident gets their own experience.”
HomeStat
No. 10
Ranking awarded to Greater Phoenix by accounting giant Pricewaterhouse-Coopers on its annual Emerging Trends list (2026) of the nation’s top markets for real estate investment and development. Phoenix was the only city on the list representing the U.S. West region, which had the lowest cumulative prospects of the five regions across the country.
– Craig Outhier
