Phoenix Development News (3)

[HX_Guy]

Hmm...that would be cool. Also, these properties are also under contract...hopefully by someone who plans to actually do something with them and not just sit on the land.

2. Vacant Land: Just less than 2 acres of vacant land located at the SEC of E. Roosevelt Street and N. 3rd Street in Phoenix.

3. Downtown Phoenix Commercial Property and Vacant Land: Approximately
42,120 square-feet in total located west of N. 4th Street between Garfield and McKinley Streets in Phoenix.

[PHX31]

Search funtion doesn't seem to be working, so I can't find any information about this or if it has already been posted, but... The downtown Public Market is in the process of expanding, with help from the City of Phoenix and some grant money.

Grant money was provided to provide a redesign of Pierce Street in front of the market (Central to 1st): http://phoenix.gov/news/071610neagrant.html

Also, they're currently repaving the actual lot the market sits on and providing more shade structures and misters, etc.

The food trucks will be on Pierce Street and continue their Food Truck Fridays and wed/sat operations, and the market will continue to be open for business in the store or on Pierce Street.

This is great... sounds like it is becoming a real public market. Now if they could only continue to get more food and produce grocers and even more food trucks, and less trinket hawkers.

[phoenixwillrise]

Originally Posted by HooverDam

What is this fucking obsession with making college cheap? College is expensive, get over it! Work your ass off and get a scholarship like I did, this manic obsession with cutting admission cost really harms the ability of our state to have quality education.

VV There's nothing 'excessive' about the prices any of the schools in Arizona are charging, theyre crazy cheap.

Concur with you Hoover. Some of these students have the attitude in this down economy that everyone should suffer except them. My question to them
is, Why?

[dtnphx]

This item had been brought up some time ago about unique sign zoning for downtown.

ITEM 66
DISTRICT 8
NEGOTIATIONS FOR JEFFERSON STREET SIGN DISTRICT

Request to authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to enter into exclusive negotiations with the Jefferson Street Signage District, LLC, dba Legends Entertainment District (Legends), to develop and negotiate business terms of an operating agreement to implement the Jefferson Street Signage District Plan.

In response to downtown business community requests for a more comprehensive approach to signage in the downtown, the Planning and Development Services Department initiated a Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment to allow for property owners in the Downtown Core zoning area to create a unique sign district. The text amendment to allow the Master Planned Development Sign Plans (Master Sign Plan) was subsequently approved by the Planning Commission in November 2008 and then by City Council in March 2009 (Ordinance G-5330).

In July 2009, the Jefferson Street Master Sign Plan (JSMSP) was approved by the Planning Department. The JSMSP encompassed several downtown city blocks and developments including: Chase Field, US Airways Center, CityScape, the Luhrs block, the Phoenix Convention Center, and several other parcels along Jefferson and Jackson Streets between First Avenue and Seventh Street. The JSMSP allows several of the major development projects and event facilities to create individual sub-sign plans (Sub Plan) under the Master Sign Plan.

The Legends Sub Plan area, which will be the focus of these negotiations, encompasses Chase Field, US Airways Center, and the Phoenix Convention Center South Building and East Parking Garage. The three controlling groups of these properties are the Phoenix Suns, Arizona Diamondbacks, and the City of Phoenix. The Suns and Diamondbacks are in the process of creating the Jefferson Street Signage District, LLC and staff is requesting the authorization to enter into exclusive negotiations with this LLC to create the business terms and agreements to implement Legends.

Staff will negotiate business terms under the general parameters of a 10-year term with a possible 10-year extension, capital investments, revenue sharing, and content approval. Staff will negotiate with the Legends development team and will return to City Council with recommended business terms.

This recommendation will be presented to the Downtown, Aviation, and Economy Subcommittee on January 5, 2011.

This item is recommended by Mr. Krietor, the Community and Economic Development Department, and the Phoenix Convention Center Department.

[combusean]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

Hmm...that would be cool. Also, these properties are also under contract...hopefully by someone who plans to actually do something with them and not just sit on the land.

2. Vacant Land: Just less than 2 acres of vacant land located at the SEC of E. Roosevelt Street and N. 3rd Street in Phoenix.

3. Downtown Phoenix Commercial Property and Vacant Land: Approximately
42,120 square-feet in total located west of N. 4th Street between Garfield and McKinley Streets in Phoenix.

These were once part of the KML Gateway proposal, a tower concept that was first some large monstrosity, then rescaled into several 20 story buildings.

That they're sold together again either suggests they're being held for short term investment or a super development is in the works for downtown's north end.

All the news lately makes me think a boom is coming back. Tower cranes have never left the downtown skyline.

[bwonger06]

Originally Posted by combusean

These were once part of the KML Gateway proposal, a tower concept that was first some large monstrosity, then rescaled into several 20 story buildings.

That they're sold together again either suggests they're being held for short term investment or a super development is in the works for downtown's north end.

All the news lately makes me think a boom is coming back. Tower cranes have never left the downtown skyline.

I hope they do not do a super development on those parcels. Something with moderate density and street retail would be much better. I'd rather see one and two story places line 3rd street and Roosevelt that way you have a few restaurants, stores and bars followed by housing behind either in the form of 3-5 story urban apartment buildings or some row houses (which probably wouldn't sell in this environment).

A huge development could destroy the community effect they are trying to build in that Roosevelt area.

[combusean]

The old KML rendering:



I kind of liked this. It fit nicely into any proposed improvement of the 3rd/4th/Roosevelt intersection, which could use a lot of help.

[SimPhoenix]

http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-gaggle/2011/01/04/tea-party-patriots-to-convene-in-arizona.html


This particular Newsweek column seems unnecessarily harsh. Phoenix may have problems but in my eyes the pluses far outweigh the negatives. I couldn’t be happier than when we returned from our vacation over the holidays. The constant referencing to an article form 1995 seems absurd.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by SimPhoenix

http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-gaggle/2011/01/04/tea-party-patriots-to-convene-in-arizona.html


This particular Newsweek column seems unnecessarily harsh. Phoenix may have problems but in my eyes the pluses far outweigh the negatives. I couldn’t be happier than when we returned from our vacation over the holidays. The constant referencing to an article form 1995 seems absurd.

Absurd indeed. Did Jon Talton write this? I agree with author's political leanings, but the entire article is needlessly nasty and based on stereotypes. A balanced piece would have noted, for example, how light rail has exceeded ridership forecasts by a huge margin, despite cliches that Phoenix is too spread-out and car-dependent to embrace public transit.

[Don B.]

^ Merely playing Devil's Advocate, one could argue that the ridership forecasts were set unrealistically low, so as to make it look like it is more of a success than it really is.

The article is accurate in describing just how poor of a downtown we really have here. Prescott arguably has a more walkable and pedestrian-friendly downtown than Phoenix.

Arizona IS extraordinarily conservative. Education and social services ARE very poorly funded, and are basically shitty by almost any measure you can think of. I can't think of many states where an idiot like Jan Brewer could be elected, a person with no college education, who has a radiology certificate, and is almost functionally illiterate (not to mention a horrible public speaker). She makes George W. Bush sound like Ben Stein by comparison.

--don

[bwonger06]

Originally Posted by Don B.

^ Merely playing Devil's Advocate, one could argue that the ridership forecasts were set unrealistically low, so as to make it look like it is more of a success than it really is.

The article is accurate in describing just how poor of a downtown we really have here. Prescott arguably has a more walkable and pedestrian-friendly downtown than Phoenix.

Arizona IS extraordinarily conservative. Education and social services ARE very poorly funded, and are basically shitty by almost any measure you can think of. I can't think of many states where an idiot like Jan Brewer could be elected, a person with no college education, who has a radiology certificate, and is almost functionally illiterate (not to mention a horrible public speaker). She makes George W. Bush sound like Ben Stein by comparison.

--don

Phoenix tends to be pretty moderate as a city. It is the Mesa types with their Russell Pearce which shifts the valley into this super conservative mindset. Oh yea, and that DiCiccio guy is pretty right swinging too but I just think he is a political hack using the tea party movement to push forward his own personal interest.

That said, Stanton for mayor!

[dtnphx]

Originally Posted by Don B.

^ I can't think of many states where an idiot like Jan Brewer could be elected, a person with no college education, who has a radiology certificate, and is almost functionally illiterate (not to mention a horrible public speaker). She makes George W. Bush sound like Ben Stein by comparison.

--don

Can't think of one? Sarah Palin-AK

Add an education and you still get the likes of Rick Perry TX-seccesionist, Former Alabama Gov, George Wallace-racist, Haley Barber-MS-racist. This shit is nothing new. Seriously, Arizona politics sucks, badly. The article was written with a bias that no fact would change.

On the other hand, Don, what DO you like about Phoenix. I hear alot of what you don't like, but name me something you do. Please?

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by Don B.

^ Merely playing Devil's Advocate, one could argue that the ridership forecasts were set unrealistically low, so as to make it look like it is more of a success than it really is.

Maybe, but in that case the project probably would have been denied federal funding. Regardless, I ride light rail most days and see how high the ridership is. Everyone I take on the train for the first time is amazed at how people have taken to it. Light rail is a success, and the Newsweek blog post displays a lack of balance and currency by ignoring it and relying on 16-year-old article for most of its claims. I see some spirited defense of Phoenix in some of the blog comments and may add to it if I have time.

[Tfom]

It seems a bit unfair that instead of ranting on the tea party that they decided to rant on Phoenix instead. Doesn't the tea party provide enough fodder for them? That said, the decisions of this state on many issues, the elected leaders, etc. produce the expected result that outsiders will see our city as backward, racist, and ignorant. Sometimes the argument about the right wing playing on fear sounds like a political stunt, but in this state I think it has a lot of merit. They got their little office, and now we can all feel safe from the criminals and brown people.
Also I work in education (for now) and have no plans to stay in that profession. It's so clear as an educator that this state doesn't value education or educators. I feel bad because I work with a lot of great kids, but at the same time I'm not dumb enough to put my future in the hands of this state. There are a lot of things I love about living here, but I came from Florida where a more balanced political atmosphere protected from extreme politics. That is one part of living there I certainly miss.

[glynnjamin]

I've been planning a trip to Iceland over the past few weeks and a ton of articles about the country have talked about how Iceland is the perfect example of how socialist fails at successfully running a country. After reading that tea-party article, I can't help but think about making a similar argument about Arizona and libertarians. As some of you have pointed out, yes, Phoenix itself is pretty moderate and some would argue that places like Flagstaff and Tucson are pretty liberal, but I think we all agree that the Russell Pierces of the world make up much too large a majority of Arizona's population. Their anti-tax, pro-corporate subsidy method has clearly failed, right?
For the 20 years that I lived in Phoenix, I saw more and more of the same. Cutting of taxes, reduction of services, and corporate handouts. We give these massive discounts and tax breaks to large corporations in order to get them to build highrises, factories, or commercial properties. They do everything they can to encourage low-paying jobs like chain restaurants to move in and then wonder why no one has the money to eat out at them. They offer tax abatements for places like CityScape and then complain because tax revenues aren't meeting expectations. They do everything they can to reduce the amount of money that companies need to pay into the system. At the same time, these companies tax our public systems like roads and sewers, and we the public end up with the tab. How many WalMarts have you seen ruin a perfectly quiet intersection or turn a 2-lane road into a 4-lane? WalMart doesn't pick up that tab.
And then there are the residents. Sure, the homes are cheap, but land is even cheaper. The developers get to purchase acres upon acres of cheap dirt, mass produce cookie-cutter homes 30 miles outside of town, and then slap $200k price tags on them. Once everyone shows up and moves in, the rest of the state gets to pick up the tab extending the freeway out to meet the development. The people of Anthem didn't pay to widen I-17 between 101 and New River, we all did.
There is a huge breakdown in the tea-party's collective thought process that makes them ignore the socialist state that supports business-building in this country. Arizona today is what a tea-party america would look like in 15 years. I'm all for personal accountability but when we use one standard for poor minorities and a different for "poor" corporations, I start to get really pissed off...and that's probably why I left AZ.

[Teacher_AZ_84]

Originally Posted by Tfom

It seems a bit unfair that instead of ranting on the tea party that they decided to rant on Phoenix instead. Doesn't the tea party provide enough fodder for them? That said, the decisions of this state on many issues, the elected leaders, etc. produce the expected result that outsiders will see our city as backward, racist, and ignorant. Sometimes the argument about the right wing playing on fear sounds like a political stunt, but in this state I think it has a lot of merit. They got their little office, and now we can all feel safe from the criminals and brown people.
Also I work in education (for now) and have no plans to stay in that profession. It's so clear as an educator that this state doesn't value education or educators. I feel bad because I work with a lot of great kids, but at the same time I'm not dumb enough to put my future in the hands of this state. There are a lot of things I love about living here, but I came from Florida where a more balanced political atmosphere protected from extreme politics. That is one part of living there I certainly miss.

I feel ya on how AZ doesn't value educators. I was a new teacher in 2008 and was laid off in 2009. I was lucky and landed my ideal position teaching Am. Govt. in 2009. I was laid off in 2010. So, I've been unemployed since May and am done teaching K-12 here. I have my M. ED. and have had little luck finding employment in higher ed. Sad when so many new teachers get the axe and students are left in the hands of bitter, old, not-so-good teacher.

[bwonger06]

Originally Posted by glynnjamin

For the 20 years that I lived in Phoenix, I saw more and more of the same. Cutting of taxes, reduction of services, and corporate handouts. We give these massive discounts and tax breaks to large corporations in order to get them to build highrises, factories, or commercial properties. They do everything they can to encourage low-paying jobs like chain restaurants to move in and then wonder why no one has the money to eat out at them. They offer tax abatements for places like CityScape and then complain because tax revenues aren't meeting expectations. They do everything they can to reduce the amount of money that companies need to pay into the system. At the same time, these companies tax our public systems like roads and sewers, and we the public end up with the tab. How many WalMarts have you seen ruin a perfectly quiet intersection or turn a 2-lane road into a 4-lane? WalMart doesn't pick up that tab.

I actually believe these subsidies can work if used correctly. That is, these subsidies need to be geared towards high quality jobs that would increase the amount of high wage earners in the state, preferably Phoenix. For example, the $350 million dollar subsidy/tax-credit Arizona passed to help spur the clean energy development in the state (so far we have 8 tech companies move to Phoenix in efforts to create this cluster effect) or when Phoenix spent over $100 million of its own bond money to build the TGen building.

I do not agree with subsidy to projects that will only bring low paying jobs (i.e. CityNorth, the $200 million dollar subsidy Glendale is giving the Coyotes on top of building the arena).

[HooverDam]

^hockey players have low wage jobs? :/

[Tfom]

Originally Posted by Teacher_AZ_84

I feel ya on how AZ doesn't value educators. I was a new teacher in 2008 and was laid off in 2009. I was lucky and landed my ideal position teaching Am. Govt. in 2009. I was laid off in 2010. So, I've been unemployed since May and am done teaching K-12 here. I have my M. ED. and have had little luck finding employment in higher ed. Sad when so many new teachers get the axe and students are left in the hands of bitter, old, not-so-good teacher.

That does stink. I was lucky enough to hold on to my job, if I hear of something I will let you know.

[davidmperre@gmail.co]

Originally Posted by combusean

The old KML rendering:



I kind of liked this. It fit nicely into any proposed improvement of the 3rd/4th/Roosevelt intersection, which could use a lot of help.

Yah that would of been an AWESOME project for that lot, would of looked cool too with all those intersections around it.