Sun Merc is the last remaining building from Phoenix's "second Chinatown" period (c. 1890 – c. 1960).

It is located directly next to the Talking Stick Resort Arena and is used by the Phoenix Suns.

In the mid-2000s, plans were proposed to build a new $200 million luxury high-rise hotel and condominium tower, part of which would be atop the Sun Mercantile Building tearing off the roof and preserving only the base.

[2] Historic preservationists and the city's Asian-American community voiced their disapproval of the plans.

[3] A lawsuit was then filed in court and in the fall of 2007 a judge ruled that "the Phoenix City Council had improper talks with Sarver (the developer) before it decided the fate of the warehouse on the hotel site."