Tucson Development Thread

[kaneui]

Not much new revealed for the proposed UA Science Center/Arizona State Museum, other than a colorized version of a previous render and a few interior perspectives. And that 40-foot wall around the perimeter? Can't say this complex will relate to the street or anything beyond...rather disappointing, Mr. Viñoly.



http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/UASC-ASM.jpghttp://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/UASC-ASM2.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/UASC-ASM3.jpghttp://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/ASM-interior.jpg
(renders: Rafael Viñoly Architects, Ralph Applebaum Associates)



Plans for downtown museums unveiled
Planners hope courtyard will become gathering place for community

by TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
01.15.2009

The public got its first look Wednesday evening at initial designs for the combined University of Arizona Science Center/Arizona State Museum. It saw a modern take on traditional Southwest architecture. A 40-foot-high wall evoking the adobe walls of prior centuries encloses the buildings and the 300-foot-wide courtyard between the science center and museum. An 80-foot-wide gap in the wall would serve as the entry to the courtyard, the science center and museum, and the planetarium and giant-screen theater that would sit in the courtyard, said Rafael Viñoly-Menendez, project director for Rafael Viñoly Architects.

The wall would be built of irregular shaped panels, reminiscent of rock formations, that would have gaps to look through and, at night, allow light to shine through. "I like it," said Rudy Beck, who has owned Rudy's Auto Center, 701 W. Congress St., across the street from the project site, for 42 years. "It looks comfortable. It looks homey. I think it will be very successful for people to meet there." That's exactly what Viñoly-Menendez was trying to achieve with a courtyard that is nearly as large as the science center and state museum. "We wanted to create a community space," Viñoly-Menendez said. "If you don't have that, it would be only for tourists. Each of the museums is sacrificing some of its real estate."

The Arizona State Museum is the keeper of 13,000 years of regional history, including the largest collection of Southwest pottery and one of the largest collections of Mexican masks. The state museum will have three primary exhibition areas. "Journeys of Our Ancestors" will be an archaeological exhibit built into a 5-foot-deep trench in the museum floor, said Rick Sobel, project director for Ralph Appelbaum Associates, which is designing the state museum interiors. "Our Lands, Our Lives" will have four rooms telling the Native American stories of tribes in the plateau, desert, mountain and Colorado River quadrants of the state. The state museum also will have a gallery for changing exhibits and a theater. "We're focusing on people, objects and their stories," Sobel said. The science center will use new technology for its interactive exhibits, director Alexis Faust said.

Construction of the $130 million facility is expected to start in the summer with an opening in 2012, said Robert R. Smith, UA's vice president of facilities design. "I'm very anxious to see them get going on it," auto shop owner Beck said.

[NIXPHX77]

thanks for all the informative posts, esp. the project overview listing.

[kaneui]

^Glad you enjoy them. As elsewhere, any major new development has evaporated, and if the legislature pulls Rio Nuevo's TIF monies, there really won't be much to talk about for Tucson.

[kaneui]

The Tucson Citizen--Arizona's oldest continually published newspaper and my most frequent source of development news--may be history by the end of March:


Tucson Citizen to cease publication March 21 if no buyer found
Staff and Wire Report
Tucson Citizen
01.17.2009

Gannett Co. Inc. will close the Tucson Citizen on March 21 if it does not find a buyer for the newspaper. Robert J. Dickey, president of Gannett U.S. Community Publishing, made the announcement in a brief meeting with employees Friday. "The Tucson Citizen has been part of Gannett since 1976, and we deeply regret having to take this step," Dickey said. "But dramatic changes in our industry combined with the difficult economy - particularly in this region - mean it is no longer viable for our partnership with Lee Enterprises Incorporated to produce two daily newspapers in Tucson."

The Citizen's average daily circulation has been eroding for more than a decade and now stands at about 17,000 newspapers, compared to the Arizona Daily Star's 117,000. The Citizen, an afternoon newspaper that started publication in 1870, operates under a joint operating agreement with the Star, a morning paper owned by Davenport, Iowa-based Lee Enterprises Inc. Print production, distribution, sales and other noneditorial functions for both the Citizen and the Star operate under the name Tucson Newspapers Inc. Gannett and Lee Enterprises split any profits from TNI equally. Dickey told Citizen employees the paper as its own entity is losing money and the newspaper had become an increasing drain on Gannett operations over the last eight months. However, through the JOA, Gannett received about $13 million in 2007, TNI President Mike Jameson said. He added that the profit split will be much less in 2009. He did not specify the amount.

Gannett spokeswoman Tara Connell said the company was selling "the softer assets" of the Citizen, "the name, the Web site, the url, the contact list, advertising list, contracting list, subscriber list." Asked whether Gannett would sell or retain its interest in the JOA, she said "there are discussions going on, but right now, let's get it sold, and then we can talk about what happens next." Dickey declined to announce an asking price or the estimated value of the newspaper. The Citizen and the Star maintain separate newsrooms and the editorial operations are independent. The Citizen, which publishes Monday through Saturday, is Arizona's oldest continually published newspaper. It has 65 full-time and three part-time employees. Employees who stay with the paper through March 21 if it isn't sold will receive severance pay of one week for every year of employment, to a maximum of 26 weeks.

Tucson becomes the latest city on the verge of losing its second daily newspaper as the industry suffers from the poor economy, falling retail advertising and circulation declines. Denver's Rocky Mountain News, owned by E.W. Scripps Co., was recently put up for sale and could close if a buyer isn't found soon. Hearst Corp. put Seattle's oldest newspaper, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, up for sale last week and said it would likely close or exist only online if a buyer wasn't found by March. Gannett, based in McLean, Va., publishes 85 daily newspapers in the United States, including The Arizona Republic and USA Today, and operates 23 television stations.

[kaneui]

There won't be much new office space--or even big shopping centers--built in Tucson any time soon, with 2008 year-end commercial and retail vacancies at 15% and 9%, respectively, and projected to climb another 2-5% by the end of 2009:


Figures paint gloomy picture for commercial development
By Josh Brodesky
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
01.16.2009

The deepening recession was reflected in year-end numbers released Thursday for Tucson's retail, office and industrial markets as vacancies rose in all three sectors while lease rates softened. While the rising vacancy rates are hardly surprising, the year-end reports from CB Richard Ellis paint a bleak picture for the coming year, particularly in the development of new space. Citing new construction completed in 2008 coupled with the plunging economy, the reports essentially say there will be almost no new commercial developments in the coming year. But for prospective and current tenants, the dismal numbers are an opportunity to negotiate more favorable terms for leases.

"Tucson currently has 9 million square feet of new shopping centers in the planning state" for completion by 2011, the retail report says. "However, with increasing unemployment and retail sales plunging to new lows, the horizon for these new projects seems out of sight." Retail vacancies jumped from 7.4 percent to 9.1 percent year over year, and the report says such an increase warrants landlords making changes to hold on to tenants. "If holiday sales are weak, rental rates may drop significantly in 2009 as landlords shelter their proformas in competition for users," the report says.
Nancy McClure, a CB Richard Ellis first vice president who specializes in retail properties, said she expects the retail vacancy rate to tick up another 2 percent to 4 percent in 2009.

With a vacancy rate of 14.9 percent, Tucson's market for office space was particularly weak. Buzz Isaacson, first vice president for CBRE, said a healthy vacancy number for Tucson's office market is about 10 percent. While 14.9 percent is a high number, Isaacson said he expects it to get worse as job losses mount and businesses contract. But he said Tucson's office market should fare better than other cities — particularly Phoenix — because there is not an abundance of space. "I think it's going to approach 20 percent," Isaacson said of the vacancy rate. "But it's offset again by the fact that in a small market like this, it doesn't take a ton of activity to turn it around."

And even the good news wasn't so good. While Tucson's industrial market appeared to stay relatively steady with vacancies rising only slightly to 6.7 percent, much of that had to do with development of the 975,000-square-foot Target Corp. distribution center on the city's Southeast Side near Rita Road and Interstate 10. Without that project, the city's industrial numbers would be much weaker, the report says. For example, the industrial market absorbed 824,656 square feet during the year.

Fourth-quarter reports issued Thursday by Picor Commercial Real Estate Services showed similar pessimism. Vacancies in the office sector climbed to 9.8 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with 8.7 percent in the third quarter, Picor reported. The report says vacancies are expected to continue to climb while sales of properties will slow. Landlords are expected to modify leases to keep tenants. Vacancies for the industrial market hit 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter, down from 7.7 percent in the first half of the year but up from 5.1 percent in 2007, Picor said.

[BrandonJXN]

Is there any news on the streetcar?

Btw..did any of you get your picture taken that'll line the 4th Ave underpass? I know I did. I don't know why because I hate having my picture taken but my ugly mug will gaze at the people. Forever. AND EVER!

[kaneui]

The $4.1 million streetscape work, funded by Rio Nuevo tax increment financing, should be finished by May 1. Archer Western will then move to Congress and Broadway to rip up those streets to move and replace utilities lines and install streetcar tracks from Fifth Avenue to Interstate 10. "We should get steel in the ground by midsummer," said Doug Post, Archer Western's senior project manager.

^This is the latest news on the streetcar from an earlier post re: Scott Avenue. For summaries of most of the major Tucson projects, check back to the list in post #788, which I update regularly.

[kaneui]

The latest TCC Sheraton render seems fairly "standard issue" for a convention center hotel, albeit with a few twists:


http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/TCC-Sheratonrender.jpg
The proposed downtown hotel design combines glass, metal and masonry.
(render: DLR Group)


TCC hotel design has twin appeal
by TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
01.24.2009

The look of the new hotel for the Tucson Convention Center will have a twin personality. Brown masonry and stone will dominate the south-facing wall to ward off the harsh sun and heat. Glass and metal will make up the north-facing wall to "offer different reflective qualities during the course of the day," Rio Nuevo director Greg Shelko said. The public is invited to view and comment on the designs from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday at the second public design forum for the roughly 25-story, 525 to 550-room Sheraton hotel that will be built alongside the TCC, 260 S. Church Ave. The forum will take place in the TCC Grand Lobby on the center's Granada Avenue side. "We want to get some feedback for the design direction we're taking," Shelko said. "We want to make the public feel like they are part of the process."

At a design forum in December, the public pushed the design team to be bold, creative and make sure the feel of Tucson is incorporated in the design. The forum is hosted by Garfield Traub Development, the developer of the hotel; Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, which owns the Sheraton brand; Turner Construction; Sundt Construction; and the DLR Group, the architecture firm designing the hotel. A third design forum will come in March and Shelko wants to get City Council approval for the designs in April. Schematic design, construction design and financing work for the estimated $150 million hotel will fill the rest of the year, with the intention to start construction in spring 2010, Shelko said.

additional information
IF YOU GO
What: Public forum on design of downtown hotel
When: 5-7 p.m. Monday
Where: Grand Lobby of the Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave.

[kaneui]

SunTran's red and yellow bus fleet will be rebranded and replaced with blue and silver models throughout the metro area:


http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/SunTranbuses.jpg
The new Sun Tran buses ditch the familiar
yellow and red scheme for blue and silver.
(photo: Nicholas Smith)



$8.2M transit plan aims to attract riders with new colors
By Nicholas Smith
Inside Tucson Business
January 23, 2009

In less than a month, anyone walking or driving anywhere in the Tucson region will be able to see local leaders’ multimillion dollar effort to reshape the public transit. On Feb. 16, new blue-and-silver painted Sun Tran buses and vans will begin to appear. It starts with 47 new models, priced at $391,000 each, will hit the streets, That day Sun Tran will retire 28 older vehicles so the net gain will be 19 for a fleet of 219. Some of the current buses in the fleet have been running since the late 1980s.

The upgrades to the regional transit system will cost $8.2 million and will show up in services stretching from Marana to Green Valley and westward to Ajo. “All modes are interconnected for seamless travel throughout the region,” said Oro Valley Mayor Paul Loomis, who also chairs the county’s Regional Transportation Authority. “We are all connecting all the dots.” In 2006, voters approved a 20-year, $2.1 billion plan from the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), which, which among other things, will raise money from a half-cent per dollar sales tax to revamp the mass transit system.

The most noticeable change will be the new color scheme and logo. Gone will be the red and yellow Sun Tran “sun logo,” replaced with a yellow sun silhouette that will be co-branded for the different modes of transportation. The Sun Tran rebranding will include new signs and bus stops, at a cost of $2.9 million. While some may criticize that price Gary Hayes, executive director of the RTA, says it’s justified to provide a cheaper means of travel in this down economic time.

Beyond the rebranding, the intent is to develop a region-wide seamless transit system. Sun Tran will continue to operate its busses but will be joined by new services, including:

• Sun Express — Larger buses that be used on longer commute routes to outlying areas.

• Sun Van — The new name for what is current Van Tran, providing services for disabled people who need to travel beyond the fixed bus routes.

• Sun Connect — This will be a van service operating on rural routes.

• Sun RideShare — Renamed version of the existing carpool program already being used by local employers.

• Sun(?) — A trolley service operating from downtown Tucson to the University of Arizona. (The real name will be determined by a community contest.)

Tying these together will be a single “smart card” fare payment system set to debut in 2010. “The real concept isn’t Sun Tran and Van Tran, it’s connecting the outlying areas,” said Hayes. When the plan is complete, it be possible for someone to travel seamlessly to any of 12 communities and municipalities within the region. The real test for the new plan will come if riders trade in their cars for the new system. For the coming fiscal year, transportation officials expect a ridership of 25 million along 28,000 route miles traveled each day. “Ridership of Sun Tran went up when gas prices went up,” Hayes said, adding that as prices went back down, the ridership seemed to maintain its levels. He hopes to gain the discretionary riders who own cars, but chose the new system to save time and money.

[oliveurban]

^ I like the new livery. Sun Tran has been needing something fresh for a long time now.

[kaneui]

At the beginning of this economically precarious new year, Tucson is plowing ahead with a multitude of Rio Nuevo projects, most of which are wholly dependent on the successful sale of additional bonds and the legislature's continued support of its TIF status. If the largest of these proposals move forward as planned, the changes to the downtown landscape by the end of 2012 will be enormous: an expanded convention center, a new convention center hotel, arena, and streetcar line; various housing projects, as well as numerous new cultural amenities.

But is most of it really doable or even feasible? Given Rio Nuevo's history, the naysayers are already declaring it dead in the water. In any case, events over the next several months will undoubtedly determine downtown's redevelopment momentum for years to come.


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Large-scale Rio Nuevo work under way
Several big projects finally getting under way

by TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
01.26.2009

A 180-foot-tall crane rose out of the downtown Depot Plaza garage hole Dec. 29 serving as a beacon for the expected start this year of several large-scale Rio Nuevo and private sector construction projects. The crane came a bit late for City Councilwoman Nina Trasoff, but its appearance is symbolic beyond the garage work it's supporting. "It took a year longer than I hoped," Trasoff said. "The crane represents such major progress (downtown). It represents that it is happening."

"Our ability to do anything is driven by everybody's ability to get money," Rio Nuevo director Greg Shelko said. Rio Nuevo ended last year with an $80 million infusion of revenue bond funding that will be used for several of the above projects. The city will shop for possibly $370 million more in bond funds through 2014 to largely fund Rio Nuevo projects at Tucson Origins and around the Tucson Convention Center, but Shelko said it is unknown how easy it will be to get future bonds or generate enough sales tax revenue to repay them. "We're still in the midst of economic crisis," he said.

Construction is set to start on the following projects in the coming months:
(See above map for corresponding number.)

1. Streetcar tracks should get installed in midsummer on Congress Street and Broadway from Fifth Avenue west to Granada Avenue, south on Granada and west on Cushing Street to the Interstate 10 construction site. This is a $139 million project to run a streetcar from University Medical Center to Congress Street west of Interstate 10. The streetcar work will be part of the $37 million infrastructure work set to start in May on Congress Street and Broadway to update utility lines under the street and move them out of the way of streetcar tracks.

2. Adobe bricks should start going up in May or June for Mission San Agustín at Tucson Origins, south of Congress Street on the West Side. The mission is the heart of Tucson Origins and also the primary attraction presented to voters in the 1999 election to create the Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District.

3. Construction should also start at the same time on the Tucson Origins garage for 300 vehicles just north of the mission. The hole for the garage was dug nearly two years ago to clear away a landfill.

4. Facade work should begin in a couple months on the four downtown buildings chosen to get city facade improvement matching funds to restore the historic look of pre-1948 buildings. The structures include the Rialto Block, 300-320 E. Congress St.; the Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St.; the building at Broadway and Scott Avenue; and Wig-O-Rama, 98-110 E. Congress St.

5. A new Martin Luther King Jr. Apartments for senior citizens and the disabled will be built directly behind the original MLK apartments, which is now called One North Fifth Apartments. Construction on the six-story, 68-unit MLK tower is set to start in June, as soon as the Depot Plaza underground garage is finished.

6. A new main entrance to the Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave., will be built on the east side of the structure in the fall to allow demolition of the covered entry to the grand lobby on TCC's west side. The TCC hotel will be built at the entry way on the west side.

7. The Gadsden Co. intends to start land development this year on the 14 acres between I-10 and the Mercado District with the first office building expected to go up in 2010.

8. Construction is set to start in the summer on the Cushing Street bridge across the Santa Cruz River. It will link the TCC area to Tucson Origins, and it will bring the streetcar to its western terminus.

"We think after a number of years getting things ready to go, we are ready to go," Mayor Bob Walkup said. "Between now and the (state) centennial (in 2012) we can get things done, or at least under way." Walkup joined a Jan. 8 tour of Rio Nuevo sites that city officials gave to the Tucson Citizen Editorial Board. The tour included the TCC, the Mercado District, the Scott Avenue streetscape work and the Historic Depot.

Work is under way on the following projects:

9. The Depot Plaza garage so far is a 30-foot deep hole between Toole Avenue and the Ronstadt Transit Center, but the 281-space garage should be finished in June.

10. Wall foundations are in the works for the Mission Gardens at Tucson Origins, and adobe walls should start going up this week near the Mission San Agustín site.

11. Scott Avenue is being torn up south of Congress Street to create a new streetscape that's more pedestrian friendly with better sidewalks, trees, benches and improved lighting. The new streetscape should be in place May 1.

12. The Fourth Avenue underpass should be finished in summer to once again provide a direct link between downtown and the Fourth Avenue shopping district.

13. A commercial street front was added to the One North Fifth Apartments late last year, and the coming months should see tenants named for the street frontage along Congress.

14. Mercado San Agustín is opening in the summer with a dozen local merchants at Congress Street and Avenida del Convento.

15. The Mercado District of Menlo Park has 26 luxury homes in place on a 100-lot tract south of Congress Street and west of I-10. The city's Community Service Department is in the process of building four affordable housing homes at Mercado District's north edge along Congress Street.

16. 2009 will be filled with design work for a new Tucson Arena, a TCC hotel and TCC expansion. Construction on the $300 million collection is slated to start in 2010.

[aznate27]

I agree the new hotel is standard issue, but I like it 10 times better than the original design. I did noticed it went from 30 stories to 25, which is disapointing, but I'll be happy if it just gets built!

[kaneui]

Now pegged at 23 stories, here's another render of the TCC Sheraton looking southeast, showing the drive-through entrance under the structure:


http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/TCC-Sheratonrender2.jpg
(render: DLR Group)


Downtown hotel design gets lukewarm reaction; size scaled back
by TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
01.27.2009

The public in December applauded a suggestion for a bold design for the Sheraton hotel planned for the Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave. They got two adjoining cigarette pack towers, one facing south in different shades of burnt ochre evocative of the desert, and the other glass-and-metal panels in pewter and silvery gray facing north with the intention of reflecting the changing daylight throughout.

The towers evoked little in the way of boldness, and the roughly 100 people attending the second design forum Monday for the TCC hotel had little reaction either way in the community feedback portion of the event. "It doesn't break the bounds," said Sam Swegle, a project coordinator at a Tucson architecture firm, in an interview. "That's not necessary. Tucson is not good at that."

The hotel dimensions announced Monday were 525 rooms and 23 stories, down from the originally projected 707 rooms and 30 stories. Market research and economics have brought the structure down in size, and the hotel could get smaller yet if cost overruns come into play, Rio Nuevo director Greg Shelko said. "The first thing to go will be room count," Shelko said. "With all the real estate around the convention center, we have the option for a second hotel." Shelko intends to finance the estimated $150 million cost with revenue bonds to be paid off with hotel revenue.

Jonas Hunter, special events coordinator at the Greater Oro Valley Arts Council, was glad the architects held back on boldness. "I think it's as bold as the community is going to get or should get," Hunter said in an interview. "It should not say, wow, it's Tucson! All it is is a hotel." Jeff Sales, an industrial designer, found the design by DLR Group bold enough. "If they get too bold, they put a date stamp on 2010," he told a reporter.

Fred and Pat Highton, both in the electronics industry and living in the Tucson Mountains, wanted a bit more boldness. "I personally would have liked to see something done with the shading on the (north facing) glass side that would (evoke) the hillsides or saguaros," Pat Highton said. Fred Highton said, "I would suggest the top 25 percent be made into individual towers that represent saguaro." Gary Worthy, the DLR design leader, said he was not interested in being bold with the basic shape of the hotel. "We have chosen to be bold in a subtle manner," Worthy said. "It's in the elegant detail that there is variety of boldness."

A third design forum will reveal architectural renderings March 9, and Shelko expects to ask for City Council approval of the design in April. The intention is to start construction in 2010 and for the hotel to open in 2012.

[oliveurban]

I'm a little confused.

Will the new Sheraton replace the old, existing Hotel Arizona (http://www.thehotelarizona.com/) (formerly the Radisson, etc.)? Or, is it to be constructed directly behind it?

[kaneui]

I'm a little confused.

Will the new Sheraton replace the old, existing Hotel Arizona (http://www.thehotelarizona.com/) (formerly the Radisson, etc.)? Or, is it to be constructed directly behind it?


http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/RioNuevochanges.png

The Sheraton will be built just south of the Music Hall and east of Granada Ave., at the northwest corner of the convention center and directly attached to it (see the green dot on the map above), and that's why they're relocating the main TCC entrance to the east side of the building later this year.

One of the main problems with Hotel Arizona as a convention center facility is that it only has 300 rooms, and its entrance on Congress is nearly 1/4 mi. walk from the TCC. Hotel Arizona says it can successfully undercut the new Sheraton's prices, but the property will need some serious upgrading to be competitive. Plus, meeting planners and convention-goers almost always prefer the hotels that are the closest and most convenient to their event.

Bert Lopez has said that if his convention center hotel proposal wasn't accepted (which it wasn't), he might build a new residential tower next to Hotel Arizona as condos or apartments. Since his Diamond Rock Plaza proposal is history, that might make sense, but getting financing in this recession would be difficult.

[kaneui]

Once considered as a possible high-rise site a few years ago, city officials are again revisiting plans to make downtown's Jacome Plaza a more welcoming and useful place for outdoor gatherings:


http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/JacomePlaza.png


Friendlier downtown plaza proposed
by TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
02.02.2009

Downtown forces are brainstorming to turn the Jácome Plaza into a place where people want to eat lunch and stage events without the added expense of building a temporary stage and hauling in generators for power. Initial ideas range from bringing a permanent stage and vendor booths onto the forlorn plaza to creating attractive lunch spots and an outdoor reading area for library patrons.

Library administrators, the city Parks & Recreation Department and the Downtown Tucson Partnership are bouncing around ideas on how to redesign the plaza that wraps around three sides of the Joel D. Valdez Main Library. Glenn Lyons, chief executive of the downtown partnership, has had Jácome Plaza on his radar since his first day on the job last February. "I walked through the plaza and said, 'This doesn't make any sense,'" Lyons said. Library staff fully concur. "I want to give this space a sense of purpose," said librarian Coni Weatherford, who coordinated the Get Fit Festival on the plaza in September. "There does not seem to be a concept to the design," she said. "There's not a sense of 'That's where I go to eat lunch. That's where to go for a presentation, that's where to go to buy food.' " Lyons describes the plaza as the "forest" section in the northwest quadrant and the "prairie" along the southern half, with its sloped grass edged with red gravel.

Library and partnership participants in a Friday workshop especially railed against the red, bird-like sculpture called "Sonora" that sits just outside the library entrance - but not as art critics. "You don't want to walk under it," said Karyn Prechtel, the main library's manager. "(The artist) had no idea all it would do was attract pigeons," Weatherford said. Lyons last summer had a preliminary chat with Mayor Bob Walkup, who told Lyons up to $70,000 in city Back to Basics funds may be available for initial improvements. Walkup chief of staff Andrew Greenhill confirmed those funds are available for Jácome Plaza and that he and the mayor will meet soon with Lyons.

Lyons has two first-stage improvements in mind:
• Create a contained outdoor reading area under the library overhang, which Pima County Public Library services manager Karen Thayer believes could be ready in late spring or summer if money is available.
• Flatten the first 15 feet of the sloped lawn nearest the Pennington Street sidewalk and provide an electrical conduit to create a dedicated space for sidewalk activities like the farmer's market.

"We care an awful lot about what goes on out there," said Karen Thayer, the library system's No. 3 administrator. "If you could do this, it's fabulous. We wanted to do this for 20 years (since the main library and plaza were built in 1990)." Norris Design principal Stacey Weaks met with Lyons last summer to discuss his vision for downtown and latched onto the Jácome Plaza idea. The planning and landscape architecture firm has volunteered assistance since then and now has a $4,000 contract to put on last week's workshop and use the input from it, parks officials and other city officials to draw up a conceptual plan by April. Lyons wants to include a Jácome Plaza concept in his downtown revitalization plan that he wants in place by mid-April. Lyons and Prechtel are inspired by the 1990s revitalization of Bryant Park behind the New York Public Library, described at www.bryantpark.org/history/bryant-park-today.php.

[Azstar]

Here's a suggestion. How 'bout the City making an effort to keep the Plaza free of the homeless encampments that populate the area seven days a week. On Sundays, there are only vagrants and derelicts hanging around. There has to be a reason to hang out there and being surrounded by garbage and bums is not a reason.

[somethingfast]

I love how the Sheraton lost 3 stories in a week! By the time this thing actually breaks ground, it will be 10 stories tops. That's Tucson style for ya lol. Seriously, the idea that ANYTHING above 5 stories is actually getting built in DT is kinda cool given the history over the last 20+ years but, come on, let's at least get a new tallest guys. What is up with the state of Arizona where everybody is afraid to have that badge??????

[kaneui]

^Unfortunately, it's the cumulative effect of numerous factors, of which I'll list a few:

1. Decades of suburban/exurban sprawl have dissipated the relevancy and vibrancy of whatever urban cores that existed previously, and reversing that trend is very slow-going.

2. The lack of corporate headquarters and the businesses that support them does not spur much demand for new office towers, and the state's dismal ranking in terms of education is a major factor in discouraging future corporate relocations.

3. A lack of economic diversification is costing Arizona dearly at the moment, with a mostly low-wage economy in a region that has depended far too long solely on rapid population growth and home building to keep things afloat.

4. And one last note--the West's growing water crisis will eventually have a major impact on Arizona's future growth rate and development patterns, as we acknowledge the utter unsustainability of the sprawl machine, particularly in an arid desert.

For the moment, Tucson can be grateful for a few large projects on the horizon such as the convention center, hotel, and arena--as long as the legislature doesn't yank Rio Nuevo funding. Obviously, they won't create a vibrant downtown all by themselves, but at least may provide some forward movement in a moribund city center that has seen little change in the last 20 years.

[Locofresh55]

Primarily we have been chatting about projects for Rio Nuevo, but it has come to my attention that not much has been talked about the possible mall being discussed for Vail. The people who developed the Mall of Americas in Minneapolis were looking to build something of similar proportions here in Vail. Is this project dead in the water? I have heard of the mega project being built on the SE side near Houghton but what about this other bad boy.


BTW.....I like the new Sheraton design.......we need some funky looking building to liven up downtown.

[kaneui]

^You must be referring to the proposed "Passages of Tucson" along I-10--a huge mixed-use development of 400 acres, possibly to include 6M sq. ft. when completely built out by 2020. It was announced a few years back, but not much activity since then, so I'm guessing they're still in the early pre-planning stages. And with the current state of the economy, I doubt if much will be happening with it for awhile.

Here's their website link: http://www.passagesoftucson.com/

[kaneui]

It appears Portland developer Williams & Dame may have lost interest in further redeveloping downtown Tucson. After pulling out from consideration to build on a 14-acre site west of I-10 last year, they have now withdrawn from the team that plans to develop the east end of downtown. (To their credit, they did finish the one of the few major downtown projects last year: the redevelopment of the MLK apartments, now known as One North Fifth.)


Downtown development still on despite partner pullout
After partner pulls out, 'What we want to show is activity'

by TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
02.06.2009

Even with Williams & Dame Development no longer part of the Downtown Tucson Development Co., the 20-year vision to redevelop much of the east half of downtown remains in place. The Portland, Ore., developer recently parted ways with partners Scott Stiteler and Jim Campbell after financier Stiteler and Williams & Dame "were not able to come to agreement on our role in the company moving forward," Williams & Dame said in a statement.
"It purely had to do with the economics of the situation," company manager Campbell said. "Is it smart to spend spend $2 million on planning (in this economic climate)?"

Campbell said the company is pressing forward to show results on the Rialto Block, owned by Stiteler and Don Martin; the neighboring city-owned Rialto Theatre; and getting the Skrappy's youth entitlement center into a new home as soon as next week. "The big difference as of yesterday (Wednesday) is the discussion of planning," Campbell said. "The focus is on sticks and bricks instead of paper. What we want to show is activity and progress."

Williams & Dame served as the team's planner and had completed about 90 percent of the conceptual plan due to the city by late April. This will include plans, sketches, photographs and text that describes an overall vision for the 75-acre area that includes the Warehouse Arts District up to Sixth Street and the Congress Street Entertainment District. Stiteler, who quietly negotiated a pre-development agreement with the city, is the company's financial arm. He also is half-owner of the Rialto Block and majority owner of the One North Fifth Apartments and three storefronts on Congress Street across from One North Fifth. Williams and Dame and Tucson-based Peach Properties remain minority owners of One North Fifth, but otherwise the Portland developer no longer has active projects in Tucson.

Williams & Dame had taken the lead in discussions with the Warehouse Arts Management Organization, which the company wanted to help renovate warehouses along Toole Avenue. Stiteler has assumed direct relations with WAMO and met with the warehouse group Thursday, Campbell said. The company in the pre-development agreement committed to giving WAMO $2.5 million to assess and rehabilitate the two dozen state-owned warehouses that are occupied by artists. But a stall in negotiations between the state transportation department and the city to transfer ownership to the city has put WAMO on the company's back burner. "It makes no sense to assess the warehouses now," Campbell said. "When ADOT got pushed off, the whole warehouse thing was put on hold." Campbell said WAMO has to plan for three contingencies: the city acquiring all the warehouse, some of them, or none of them.

City Councilwoman Regina Romero said the council on Tuesday will consider releasing $65,000 to WAMO to start a business management plan. The money will come from the city trust fund funded by rents warehouse tenants pay. Romero met on Wednesday with Stiteler; Campbell; WAMO President Marvin Shaver; Jaret Barr, an assistant to the city manager; and C.T. Revere, chief of staff to Councilwoman Nina Trasoff. "I feel much more comfortable," Romero said. "They are still very committed to WAMO, still very committed to Skrappy's and still very committed to the Rialto Block. They still want the arts district to flourish." Williams & Dame was a signatory to the pre-development agreement. Barr was not sure how that would affect the document, adding that it was a precursor to a formal development agreement that will likely be done in summer.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Williams & Dame Statement:

"It has been a privilege for Williams & Dame Development to support the City of Tucson's vision for the revitalization of Downtown. We are particularly proud of our work on the first successful mixed use development in downtown Tucson, One North Fifth, for which Williams & Dame Development secured a $6.1 million note representing 75 percent of the project's financing. At this time, however, we have decided to discontinue further participation in the Downtown Tucson Development (Company). While we had an agreement with our partners about compensation, we were not able to come to agreement on our role in the company moving forward. We remain optimistic about the future of Tucson and are grateful for the chance we've had to make a positive difference in the community. "

[kaneui]

It looks like Greg Shelko and Glenn Lyons couldn't convince state legislators that Rio Nuevo deserves continued funding. But city officials haven't seemed too worried until now--in fact, City Manager Mike Hein has previously stated that the legislature would preserve Rio Nuevo's TIF to avoid possible litigation. However, in light of the state's budgetary crisis, that would now seem a rather minor concern.


Rio Nuevo may lose funding on July 1
By Daniel Scarpinato
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
02.12.2009

PHOENIX — Funding for Tucson's Rio Nuevo Downtown redevelopment project could be gone by July 1. Skeptical members of the Senate Finance Committee said they didn't get the answers they wanted from Rio Nuevo's project director at a hearing Wednesday. Some said not only did Rio Nuevo Director Greg Shelko fail to outline how the city has spent $60 million in state money, but they said the project seems to have drifted from its original purpose.

As the state faces a $2.4 billion shortfall next year, several committee members said they are interested in possibly cutting off the state dollars to avoid deeper cuts to K-12 education and state agencies when the new fiscal year begins July 1. An estimated $600 million in state money would flow to Rio Nuevo over the 22-year life of the project. "When you come down here, you better have your 'A' game, because we are doing a lot of things we don't want to do," said Sen. Jim Waring, R-Phoenix, the committee chairman. "I just think we had to pull teeth to get answers. "I thought that presentation hurt them a little bit today — I really do," Waring added Some members said they'd like to see the funding cut off next year to help balance the state budget, especially after renewed concerns about a lack of accountability.

Shelko said pulling the state dollars would spell disaster for Rio Nuevo. "If they want to sink Tucson, I suppose that's a choice," Shelko said. "Where would we have the ability to do these kinds of things? We wouldn't." In his testimony, Shelko painted a bright picture of Downtown and argued that it just needs more time, pointing to projects in other cities that have taken 30 years to succeed. "Downtown is not going to grow in five years; it's not going to grow overnight," Shelko said. "It's going to take a long time."

But senators were not impressed by the city's list of Downtown accomplishments, which included a planned city-court complex and a Burger King. And Shelko had trouble citing specific dollar figures the committee requested. "What we've done is allowed this entity to take state dollars at their will, and of course the people of Tucson are going to vote for it because it's not their money," said Sen. Ken Cheuvront, D-Phoenix. The committee took no action, but city officials could find themselves in a position of having to better defend Rio Nuevo. The GOP committee members, in a position to negotiate the budget, are likely to discuss their impressions with colleagues in a Republican caucus meeting today. "My concern with Rio Nuevo has been that's it's very difficult to get a straight answer on anything," said Sen. Barbara Leff, R-Paradise Valley. "If the city of Tucson wants to use its own sales-tax revenue and put it into Downtown projects, they should be able to do that, but I think the state general fund money should be returned."

Rio Nuevo is funded through a tax incentive financing district that redirects state sales tax dollars to Tucson for use in the district. Originally approved by voters in 1999, lawmakers extended it in 2006. But the project and its organizers have faced criticism over the years for what's been perceived as a lack of progress. A Star investigation last October, referenced by several committee members, found that of the $63 million in taxpayer dollars spent over the past 10 years, much of the money has gone to plan projects that stalled, including studies, consultants and public relations. Shelko questioned the "motives" of the Star for running that story and said the city has made all its expenses public, even though it stalled releasing documents to the Star for months.

At times sarcastic, lawmakers grilled Shelko on projects that never developed. In particular, they questioned studying the construction of a Rainbow Bridge over Interstate 10 that would house the University of Arizona science center. "So, you were going to build a building that was a bridge that sat on top of the freeway?" said Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu. "It was a very unique concept," Shelko responded. "Unfortunately it costs somewhere well over $300 million and it was an infeasible project." Laughing, Waring asked: "So, Mr. Shelko, just to be clear, you spent $9 million and have built nothing? It's a yes or no." "Right," Shelko replied. In actuality, $13 million was spent studying the science center.

Glenn Lyons, CEO of the Downtown Tucson Partnership, testified he was pleased legislators extended the district in 2006 and that continuing it is important to private-sector growth. "I'm pleased you're pleased," Warring said. "You may be the only one in the state." Shelko said after the meeting that the mistake the city made was in "managing the public's expectations." And he said he was "proud" of progress so far. "We'd all like a do-over on some things," he said. "I don't think, in a general sense, that the city has mismanaged Rio Nuevo."

[BrandonJXN]

To help start some sort of conversation, how would YOU fix downtown Tucson? Please be detailed.

[Locofresh55]

My main thing that I would focus on would be the area around the hotel congress. I know they are trying to get the rialto block set up all nice but you can definitely get some clubs and bars that can really get bumpin out there. Also I would look at making La Placita a real entertainment district just like the Riverwalk in San Antonio. THey have a bunch of 3 story clubs and restaurants....why not do that for La Placita. I like what they are doing with the mercado district with menlo park but when you have a freeway and cheap motels separating a mercado district from downtown....it's just not right IMO. I would have loved to have put the mercado district east of I-10 and maybe just focus on putting a bunch of nice hotels and maybe a shopping center like Rivercenter in San Antonio where the mercado district is now. My only concern now is whether this Sheraton hotel will get built and if it will stay above 25 stories.

[Locofresh55]

Also, I know there was a plan awhile back to add 8 stories to the Hotel Arizona.....that is something I would do as well......that and the 44 Broadway project were two of the projects I was looking forward too...damn economy.:hell:

[kaneui]

To help start some sort of conversation, how would YOU fix downtown Tucson? Please be detailed.

This is an abbreviated answer in lieu of a much longer and and complete version about the possibility of a functional, thriving downtown in Tucson. But rather than provide a lot of specifics, I would like to offer more of an overview of downtown redevelopment challenges.

In a more perfect development world, municipalities and their citizens hopefully create a viable, sustainable vision of what they want and then provide the necessary incentives for private enterprise to come in and build most of it, which generally includes government providing the adequate infrastructure needed to encourage and support those projects. (Many cities have also felt it necessary to initially build certain civic projects themselves to further entice private development, such as convention centers, hotels, arenas, and the like...but I digress.)

Tucson was handed yet another opportunity to redevelop its downtown with the creation of the Rio Nuevo TIF district, whose success would have gone a long way toward soothing local residents' bitter feelings over the disastrous downtown redevelopment effort attempted in the 60's and early 70's. However, for a number of reasons, it looks like this latest opportunity could also go down in flames. Before I am labeled as just another naysayer, consider the following:

1. Rio Nuevo's unorthodox TIF structuring and subsequent mismanagement may have doomed its chance for success. By having TIF funds funneled from El Con and Park Place malls--areas that are not part of the redevelopment focus--the city had no incentive to actually get things moving in the right direction (for a detailed explanation of why, read this blog entry: http://tucsongrowup.com/2009/02/16/rio-nogo-in-serious-trouble-how-the-tif-funding-was-misused-by-city-of-tucson/). Furthermore, the city's embarrassing lack of progress with Rio Nuevo over the past several years has put any further funding from the state at risk, thus potentially killing the project just when things were poised to take off.

2. As mentioned in numerous earlier posts, the following are some of the factors that continue to work against the creation of a thriving, urban downtown in Tucson:

a. An inadequate urban transit system, poorly ranked school districts, and a lack of corporate or regional headquarters. Tall office towers do not get filled and cultural institutions do not prosper without an educated and well-paid workforce, and elite companies require certain civic amenities in order to attract and retain workers, thereby encouraging them to "put down roots" in the area and support their local communities. You might call it a chicken-and-egg dilemma, but for now, Tucson doesn't deliver the goods.

b. A lack of leadership at the city and county levels to create a vision for downtown and a viable plan for achieving it. The inability and/or unwillingness of elected officials to creating any clear and focused direction for downtown, coupled with numerous botched dealings on such issues as development agreements and consistent incentives, as well as a labyrinthine approval process, have undoubtedly turned away a number of capable and experienced developers (to witness, the Williams & Dame saga).

c. A low-wage economy based mostly on continued development of cheap desert acreage into low-density single-family housing and strip malls. Allowing the sprawl machine to dominate the development agenda for numerous decades is now exacting a heavy toll on cities such as Tucson and Phoenix, whose efforts to revive their downtowns and increase urban density face numerous hurdles. Adding insult to injury are the landowners/speculators who are allowed to scrape their prime inner city real estate clean and leave it, awaiting the next development boom for a price they can't refuse (Don Bourn or Joe Pinsonneault, anyone?).

It's all rather sad to contemplate, really, since downtown Tucson does have potential: many historic buildings still standing; enough quirky, narrow streets that would contribute to a more urban, pedestrian vibe; and a tangible, Southwestern sense of place reflected in its Native American and Spanish architecture and heritage. Although there are no easy answers to remedy downtown's ills, Rio Nuevo could possibly be salvaged; indeed, it's the only significant project on the drawing board that could substantially transform downtown in the near future. However, if it ends up on the legislature's chopping block, the slight forward momentum we've recently witnessed downtown could disappear for a long, long time. But even if Rio Nuevo survives, the underlying challenges mentioned above must be corrected for Tucson's core to truly grow and thrive.

[kaneui]

With state budget cuts forcing the UofA to suspend work on the proposed Science Center/AZ State Museum west of I-10, the city council has followed suit, redirecting the December bond money towards more "revenue-generating" projects (i.e., the convention center upgrade and new hotel)--probably a necessary move to keep the annual gem show from leaving downtown.

In light of Rio Nuevo's precarious funding situation, it remains to be seen whether all this last-minute activity is a positive sign, or ultimately just more rearranging of chairs on the Titanic.


Science Center project in limbo
By Rob O'Dell and Aaron Mackey
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
02.19.2009

Work was suspended Wednesday on the proposed University of Arizona Science Center on the West Side — a project seen for years as the centerpiece of Tucson's Rio Nuevo redevelopment district. The University of Arizona, which has spent more than $13 million on four different plans for the center, is "suspending" work on the project due to the economic crisis. While asserting the university still wants to build the Science Center someday, University President Robert Shelton said the school cannot afford to burn the cash it would take to get the center ready for construction this year. "We couldn't continue" to spend that kind of money, Shelton said. "We need this hiatus for a while." He said the soonest the project could get restarted is early next year, and even that would mean six more months of planning before any possible construction.

City Council members said they still support the project. Councilwoman Nina Trasoff said the partnership between the UA and the city is strong, adding, "This is merely a slowing down of the timetable." Councilwoman Regina Romero said she wants an update in one year to see if the project can move forward. The cost of the Science Center, pitched to voters in 1999 as a $30 million item, ballooned to $350 million with the proposed addition of a Rainbow Bridge across Interstate 10 before settling back down to about a $130 million joint development with the Arizona State Museum.

In December, an Arizona Daily Star investigation reported the UA has already spent nearly $13 million on the Science Center, including millions for a Rainbow Bridge design that has since been scrapped. The expenses were mocked during a hearing on Rio Nuevo in front of the Senate Finance Committee last week, especially the Rainbow Bridge. Sen. Jonathan Paton, a Tucson Republican, said legislators' concerns were about the spending and lack of progress on the Science Center, adding that, as a result, many from the Phoenix area want to kill Rio Nuevo.

When the Rainbow Bridge plan was dropped, the city agreed to pay half of the UA's bills, which now total more than $13 million. But there are questions about the bills. Finance Director Frank Abeyta sent an e-mail to Stacie Bird in the City Manager's Office ordering her to stop all payments to the UA the day he unexpectedly quit last month, just two months after he took the job. Bird said she also questioned the expenditures because no other Rio Nuevo project was allowed to spend money in a similar fashion. Rio Nuevo Director Greg Shelko said the city has paid about $5.7 million to the UA, and will pay the rest it owes, per the agreement. City Manager Mike Hein said about $1.3 million in payments to the UA are on his desk, adding he expects to pay all the UA's bills to be a good partner with the university.

The UA couldn't say how much the city owes it. In addition to stopping design work, Shelton said the UA will cut the money going toward developing exhibits from $150,000 to $50,000. UA officials couldn't provide figures Wednesday on exactly how much money would be saved by the move. As part of a larger effort to absorb about $78 million in state cuts since last summer, the UA decided to stop work on the facility after finishing the architectural phase, said Leslie Tolbert, UA vice president for research. Tolbert added that the decision was not in response to the Legislature's criticisms.

Halting the project will force the UA to lay off some employees and move a few others around. Tolbert didn't know how many positions would be affected. The UA has announced a series of cuts in recent weeks, including closing the Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium when classes end this spring, scaling back hours at the Arizona State Museum and UA Museum of Art, shutting off all water fountains on campus and forgoing landscaping around the UA Mall.

Developer Jerry Dixon, who is developing several projects on the West Side near the Science Center, said Wednesday's announcement could be the first step toward the UA killing the project, although he added the UA probably will build something on the land. As a result of the UA's move and the slowing economy, he said he will slow construction of his mixed-use project on the West Side. "The Science Center was an asset to us," Dixon said. "It's not a positive."



Rio Nuevo bond money shifted again
By Rob O'Dell
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
02.19.2009

Rio Nuevo has changed course again. The City Council voted 6-0 Wednesday to redirect money from its recent bond sale to projects "like" revamping the Tucson Convention Center and a new convention hotel. About $58 million from the December bond sale had been designated for museums and historic re-creation on the west side of the Santa Cruz River and on Downtown infrastructure. But the council now wants more of the money to go to projects that will help generate sales taxes that will add future revenue to the Rio Nuevo tax- increment financing district. About $10 million of the $58 million is already designated for the TCC and hotel projects. Another $9 million is owed to the state for a freeway-underpass-widening project.

Details of what projects will get more money, or lose funding — or even when the city will have the new plan ready — were not available, other than the money should go toward infrastructure and revenue- and job-generating projects. City Manager Mike Hein said the city staff will come back with a plan "as soon as possible," but he also said he didn't want to be locked into a timeline. He said the projects that will now be funded with the bond proceeds or other Rio Nuevo sales taxes are also unknown at this point, although he said the council was clear that money should flow to the TCC and a new hotel. But even the $58 million in bond money isn't enough to complete the hotel, and likely couldn't fund the completed upgrades of the TCC as well.

Rio Nuevo Director Greg Shelko said that the city is in the first phase of pre-construction for the hotel and that construction could start in March 2010. Construction on a new entrance to the TCC needed to accommodate the hotel could be under way earlier, he said. One reason for the council focus on the hotel and convention center was talk of the main gem show from the Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase leaving town. Mayor Bob Walkup said the council would do "everything it takes to be sure we keep the Gem and Mineral Show." Councilwoman Nina Trasoff said the plans for the hotel call for its window glass to change colors during different times of the day so the windows will look like different gems and minerals.

The council made no mention of state legislative threats to take the money away. The council also criticized a Sunday Arizona Daily Star story that estimated it will cost taxpayers $10 million more in interest because the city went to the bond market in December, when interest rates were highly volatile and other communities were postponing bond sales. Shawn Dralle, the city's bond adviser, said the markets were so chaotic toward the end of 2008 that no one could predict future interest rates. To look back in hindsight at the sale eight weeks later is "disingenuous," Dralle said. Star Managing Editor Therese Hayt said the newspaper stands by its story. "They went into the market when it was sky-high. Taxpayers are now on the hook for all that interest, which is not in the taxpayers' interest," she said.

[kaneui]

Let's hope the next arena design will be more attractive than the "tortoise shell" proposal from the last go-round. (Whether or not this arena has a remote chance of getting funded and built is anyone's guess...)



http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/MiamiArena.jpg http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/ColumbusOHarena.jpg
Arenas in Miami and Columbus, OH designed by 360 Architecture
(photos: Marc Averette, Derek Jensen)


Tucson Arena designer chosen
by TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
02.20.2009

The city of Tucson expects to sign a contract next week for the designer of the American Airlines Arena in Miami and and the Sprint Center in Kansas City to design the new $130 million Tucson Arena. The city is in exclusive negotiations with 360 Architecture of Kansas City, Mo., after selecting them from a short list of three national architecture firms with arena backgrounds, said Tommy Obermaier, interim director of the Tucson Convention Center. "Their body of work and the local team they assembled elevated them to the top," Obermaier said. Tucson-based Swaim Associates, an architecture firm, will work with 360, Obermaier said. Obermaier said the contract dollar amount will not be disclosed until the contract is signed.

360 Architecture and the city are still negotiating the precise time line for architecture services, but Obermaier anticipates starting construction on the 10,000- to 12,000-seat arena with about 10 to 12 luxury boxes in about one year. 360 will start from scratch with the architectural look of the arena. The tortoise shell design from a couple of years ago was scrapped, Obermaier said. George Heinlein, principal at 360 Architecture, doesn't have a look in mind yet. "We come into it with no preconceived ideas," Heinlein said. "We're looking for something rooted in the Tucson environment." Heinlein has familiarity with Tucson because his daughter is a student at the University of Arizona. "(The new arena) has the opportunity to be part of a terrific new downtown environment and be an iconic building by itself," Heinlein said.

The new arena would be near a new 24-story, 525-room TCC hotel and revamped convention center. The intended location for the new Tucson Arena is just south of Congress Street immediately east of Interstate 10. Heinlein singles out the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, home of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League, as a particularly significant project for 360 out of the three dozen sports facilities the firm has designed. 360 was also involved in designing residential developments, an office building and a stadium near the arena and master planned the whole project. "It's been the benchmark for how to put an arena in a downtown," Heinlein said.

In Tucson, 360 so far is only involved in the arena, but Heinlein welcomes future opportunity to collaborate with other private sector developers in the TCC area. "We'd love to help them shape it," he said. 360 Architecture will be responsible for the architectural designs; structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering; electrical systems; collaborating with a food services consultant; and meeting the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, Obermaier said. 360 Architects designed the American Airlines Arena, home of the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association; the Sprint Center in Kansas City, which will first and second round games in the NCAA basketball tournament; stadium renovations for the University of Oklahoma and University of Nebraska; Cisco Field, home of the Oakland Athletics baseball team; and the Mizzou Arena at the University of Missouri.

[somethingfast]

it still makes me scratch my head -- 10-12k seats???? wtf? that's .5-3k more than the current arena. what a bunch of freakin' buffoons...

[kaneui]

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/WyndamWingate-OV.jpg
The Wingate by Wyndham, which recently opened at 11075 N. Oracle Rd.
in Oro Valley, brings the number of existing hotels to three.
(photo: Jim Davis)


Good news in Oro Valley: Hotels popping up all over
By Lourdes Medrano
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
02.20.2009

If current trends are any indication, Oro Valley could experience significant growth in hotel development in the coming years. The 104-room Wingate by Wyndham Hotel opened recently at 11075 N. Oracle Road in Steam Pump Village, bringing to three the number of hotels in town. Plans are in the works to build at least another four. "That's a good thing," said Sarah More, the town's planning and zoning director. In essence, developers are discovering Oro Valley is the kind of place where hotels can succeed, she said. "They're just seeing that the market is here," said More, alluding to a growing base of biotech companies that increasingly bring in travelers who need nearby lodging.

The Sunway Hotel Group plans to open the Marriott Springhill Suites early next year and the Hilton Homewood Suites after that, said company CEO Donald Culbertson. The two hotels, each with about 120 rooms, will be at the northeast corner of North Oracle Road and East Linda Vista Boulevard in El Corredor commercial development. Sunway's research studies show Oro Valley as an effective market for lodging, said Barry Brautman, company president. "There is sufficient demand for the hotels," he said.

Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort, at 10000 N. Oracle Road, is Oro Valley's oldest hotel, with more than 400 rooms. The 89-room Holiday Inn Express opened next at 10150 N. Oracle Road. Other hotels chains that are considering building in Oro Valley include Embassy Suites and Hampton Inn, More said. There's been speculation about other hotels coming into town, but her department has yet to see specific proposals, she said. Any new hotels would add revenue to town coffers through Oro Valley's 6 percent bed tax, which is a tax on temporary lodgings. The tax brings in more than $1.1 million annually, said Stacey Lemos, town finance director. Under a special agreement with Oro Valley that ends in 2010, El Conquistador gets 2 percent of the town's 6 percent bed tax collected at the resort.

Any new hotels would have to pay the full 6 percent because a unanimous Town Council repealed such economic incentives in December 2007. The policy that allows the resort to share the bed tax was adopted in 1999 to lure the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. LLC, which opted to build in Marana, Mayor Paul Loomis said.

Hotels: old, new, planned
• Two new hotels are expected to open in Oro Valley next year: the Marriott Springhill Suites and the Hilton Homewood Suites, at North Oracle Road and East Linda Vista Boulevard.
• The Wingate by Wyndham recently opened at 11075 N. Oracle Road, bringing to three the number of existing hotels.
• The other two hotels in Oro Valley are the Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort, at 10000 N. Oracle Road, and the Holiday Inn Express, at 10150 N. Oracle Road.

[kaneui]

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/RillitoParkRaceTrack.jpg
Rillito Park Race Track
(photo: Nicholas Smith)


Rillito track brings in millions, but still set to close
By Nicholas Smith
Inside Tucson Business
February 20, 2009

Horse racing will soon join the list of activities that no longer call Tucson home. The 25-year lease the Rillito Park Race Track has with Pima County will end at the beginning of next year, after that, horse racing will bide its time until the facility at North First Avenue at the Rillito River is raised for soccer fields. This, despite the fact that horse racing generates millions of dollars for the region’s economy. A long-range plan to establish a site for an 18-field, regional soccer tournament awaits the Rillito property. Until the money can be raised through a bond election, horse racing would be allowed to continue operation, albeit for an unspecified amount of time and a higher lease with the county. “It would be extended on an annual basis until soccer can actually get going,” said Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry. “It’s unlikely soccer will replace the facilities for probably, my guess is three to four years.” The county-owned land the facility sits on already has several soccer fields and is estimated to be worth $2.6 million. The new soccer park would cost anywhere from $12 million to $18 million to build, Huckelberry estimates.

Beyond its historical significance, the 66-year-old racetrack made up a significant portion of the state’s horseracing. From 1972 to 1982, there were 2,503 races which accounted for 45 percent of all quarter horse racing in the state. During that time, nearly $2.8 million in prize money was awarded, or 36 percent of what was given out in Arizona. Today, the park contributes least $3.3 million through races alone, according to a conservative metric used by the University of Arizona’s Racetrack Management Program to estimate a racetrack’s economic impact.

A 2001 report by the university estimated the state’s horse racing industry generates $108 million in expenditures. Rillito General Manager Pat White said the benefit to the region extends beyond the profit the track makes. “We do know that there is an increase in a lot of phases of economy here in Tucson: the feed stores, the restaurants, the horsemen that all come to work here, we have 100 employees,” she said. “So there’s just a lot of ways that it does help Tucson even though they don’t want to think so.”

Former county supervisor Ed Moore said the situation amounts to the departure of yet another tourist attraction. “Attendance at the track is very close to what the White Sox had. It’s been a very successful season this year,” Moore said. “We can’t afford to give away another popular spectator sport.” Last year, the average Spring Training attendance of the White Sox was 5,820 per game. The Diamondbacks and Rockies had attendances of 7,393 and 5,182, respectively. Not counting the final weekend (Feb. 21-22) of racing, the Rillito track drew an average crowd of 5,400 for the previous nine days. White estimates the track will have taken in more than $100,000 in bets by the end of the two-month season.

Moore helped bring racing back to Rillito in the mid-1980s after the track closed at the beginning of the decade and also sat on the committee that ultimately decided on the soccer facility plan in 2006. He recognized the need for such a facility, but wondered why the county chose this particular spot instead of somewhere with vacant land. Huckelberry listed numerous reasons why the Rillito Race Track was the ideal location for a regional soccer park. “County-owned property, centrally located and it is probably better utilization, meaning that more use per capita by broader diversity of people,” he said, adding that a new location for horseracing will be found once the park is built.

The Rillito track is notable in horseracing history because it marks the birthplace of organized quarter horse racing, which is done with a smaller, faster breed of horses on a straight track. The 3/8-mile chute was built in 1943, replacing an earlier horseracing track near the Tack Room restaurant. In 1953, an oval was added to accommodate thoroughbred racing. While the chute is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the rest of the 88-acre site is not, something Moore is working towards. “It’s a major part of Tucson history from the 40s to the 60s,” he said.

Getting a building or structure on the historical registry is a just an honorary designation and does not prevent demolition. The 91-year-old Fourth Avenue Underpass, for example, was also on the national registry but was demolished in June 2007 to make room for an expanded underpass. The county itself is not behind the effort, but is expected to comment on the matter before the end of the month, Huckelberry said, adding that the county purchased the nearby house of the man who originally built and ran the track, with the idea of turning it into a museum of sorts on Tucson’s history of horseracing.

Rillito’s eventual closure may seem like a drop in the bucket on the national scale, but the impact would be felt more on the local level. “Not to have that presence in Tucson anymore would be a pretty big thing,” said Trey Buck, executive director of racing at the American Quarter Horse Association. “It’s where we got our start with pari-mutuel racing and a lot of things that the industry uses today were developed then. From the historical standpoint it would be big. Just from an Arizona racing standpoint it would be a pretty big deal. You’ve got Turf Paradise and you’ve got Yavapai (Downs in Prescott Valley) who have pretty good meets, but there’s nothing really going on right now for the quarter horses.”

The closure won’t overtly affect the Race Track Management Program, but having the track nearby was convenient. “From the historical perspective it does have a lot of connection. It’s not a lab, but it’s a good place for students to get experience,” said program director Doug Reed. “The quarter horse is special in the southwest obviously, so the students, even if they come from other parts of the world, learn about quarter horse racing.”

[kaneui]

With a total estimated cost of $163M, the plan is to fund the streetcar with $88M from the RTA and $75M from the feds. Of the federal funds, a $25M grant has already been approved (which this article failed to note), with another $2M approved last week. If the rest can be cobbled together from other sources, hopefully this modest 4-mile starter route will support the planned Mercado District projects and even more TOD through downtown.


Downtown streetcar project appears on track
By Andrea Kelly
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
03.02.2009

Tucson's modern streetcar, heavily dependent on a huge infusion of federal cash, is on schedule and should be on the tracks on time, economic crisis and government-funding crunch notwithstanding. The city may have to scrape together the needed $75 million from several federal sources, but the money looks to be coming, according to those involved with the project. Planning has been under way for years for a streetcar to run from University Medical Center, through the University of Arizona, over to North Fourth Avenue and into the west side of Downtown. It should be ready to ride by April 2011, said Fran LaSala, assistant to the city manager.

It's unclear how much the project could receive in federal infrastructure stimulus funding. But the city is hoping to also tap into a mix of earmarks in the federal budget and Federal Transit Administration grants to fill that $75 million hole, said Shellie Ginn, a project coordinator for the Tucson Transportation Department. "I don't have any doubt that we're going to get it," Ginn said. Last week, the House approved a budget that included a $2 million earmark for the project. Voters approved $88 million in Regional Transportation Authority funds for the project, for which, Ginn said, the city will probably sell bonds to get the money quicker, "so that we can continue to keep our schedule of being in operation by 2011."

The city may start moving utilities under the street for a different project in May and could begin laying streetcar track at the same time, LaSala said. "The plan was to do the infrastructure first, and the streetcar second. But why rip up the street twice?" LaSala said. LaSala stressed the utility relocation and updating will be paid for by Rio Nuevo bond funds, while the streetcar, which involves installing tracks into the street surface, along with adding the overhead electrical lines, will be paid for with RTA and federal transit funds.

The streetcar project will be done in three phases. The track in the Downtown area is one section, set to begin construction this year. The track north and east of the Fourth Avenue underpass and into the university area is another section, which is likely to be ready for construction by the end of this year or early 2010. The maintenance and storage facilities for the streetcars is the third section of the $163 million project. The streetcar cannot begin running until all three components are done, but if they're being built by separate crews at the same time, the work can go more quickly, LaSala said.

One federal funding source the city is pursuing is the New Starts program, which provides money to build new transit projects or expand existing transit lines. The program requires a municipality to pay for at least 20 percent of a project, and the New Start program can provide up to 80 percent of the project budget. Tucson is asking for about 46 percent of the funding from the federal government, clearly less than the 80 percent allowed and also below the standard request of about 50 percent, said Jeffrey Arndt, research scientist for the Texas Transportation Institute. "With these larger, capital-intensive type projects like an electrified rail system, the way that transit systems across America have made their proposals more attractive is by overmatching," Arndt said. "The reason people did that is because there's a lot of competition" for the funding, Arndt said.

Another aspect of the city's project that may make it more attractive to the Federal Transit Administration is that the rest of the project budget comes from a voter-approved sales tax, Arndt said. Congressman Raúl Grijalva, a Democrat, said he hopes the city continues to pursue several funding sources for the project. Earmarks went down by 40 percent this year compared with last year's budget, he said, and he anticipates they will continue to be smaller each year. With several funding sources to pursue, "we've got a leg up in that this project has been ongoing a long time," Grijalva said. "We're in good shape because we have good arguments," Grijalva said, since the project will help reduce pollution, uses electricity instead of petroleum and can encourage infill and new development.

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, another Democrat, said the project is a top priority for Tucson. The new light rail line that opened in Phoenix in December has experienced higher-than-predicted ridership, which proves Westerners can embrace mass transit, she said. The project could help with the city's Downtown revitalization, making Tucson a "more livable community," Giffords said. She said she would do all she could to help get Federal Transit funding for the city. "These mass transit systems make sense as something we should continue to invest in," she said. The city also says the project will bring people to the urban core areas the streetcar will serve. "I think (with) the newness of the streetcar, people will come Downtown just for that," LaSala said.

[somethingfast]

Yay, a streetcar for Tucson! Yay!............:sly:

[BrandonJXN]

I'm actually excited.

http://www.pagnet.org/Documents/Environment/TucsonEA-2008-01-18-Figure1-Draft.jpg

[BrandonJXN]

And to answer my own question regarding what I would do to Tucson. Keep in mind I've only been in Tucson since October (originally from LA). And I'm using Google maps if you want to see exactly where I would plan things. ;)

-Repave all streets.

- Alone Toole from 9th to 4th, I would convert (and construct) wherehouses and turn them into lofts. Similar in style to the Barn Lofts in downtown Los Angeles. http://la.curbed.com/uploads/2007.10.rock.jpg

-Throughout downtown, I would create 7-10 story masonry buildings and turn them into lofts and condos.

- Across the freeway on Congress and Grande, that huge plot of land (right under A Mountain), I would create a village similar in style to La Encantada but for low to mid income families.

- From 25th Street north to Congress alongside the freeway, I would create a very large park.

- Expand TCC so it covers the entire lot it's on.

- On the lot bounded by Franklin, Counsil, and Church, I would build a modernm cube like courthouse. Like so. http://www.downtownrising.com/projects/images/courthouse.jpg

- Expand the Rialto along 5th.

[kaneui]

Last chance to have your say on TCC hotel
by TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
03.06.2009

The final comment session for the design of a new hotel at the Tucson Convention Center is set for 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday in the TCC Turquoise Ballroom, 260 S. Church Ave. Attendees will see the completed conceptual design for a 525-room, 23-story hotel with adjoining towers featuring different looks on the southern and northern facades. The design incorporated suggestions from earlier public forums asking for a bold design, said Tommy Obermaier, TCC's interim director. DLR Group architects chose to employ boldness more for details than for the structure's shape: two adjoining cigarette packs, partially set on stilts to allow the porte-cochere to pass under one tower. The south tower bears different shades of burnt ochre evocative of the desert, and the north tower has glass and metal panels in pewter and silvery gray with the intention of reflecting the changing daylight throughout, DLR architect Gary Worthy said.

Even though the conceptual design is essentially done, public comments may still be incorporated, Obermaier said. "This is the community's last opportunity to have input in this very important project," Obermaier said. "Then (DLR) can get into the design aspect and tell us how much it's going to cost." The design has to fit a $150 million budget set by the City Council. Obermaier intends to have a design and cost estimate ready for the council in early September. The hotel construction will be funded by a bond backed by anticipated hotel revenue. This bond would not involve Rio Nuevo tax increment financing, which is backed by sales tax revenue.

The forum is hosted by Garfield Traub Development, the developer of the hotel; Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, which owns the Sheraton brand; Turner Construction; Sundt Construction; and the DLR Group. Obermaier will meet Monday with the design teams for the TCC hotel, the Tucson Arena and the streetcar to coordinate all three efforts. Representatives for the arena and streetcar teams may be at the public meeting for the hotel design, Obermaier said.

[kaneui]

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/AffordableHousingSite-I-10.png



Affordable housing planned Downtown
By Brian J. Pedersen
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
March 6, 2009

A local non-profit agency is hoping to team up with the city to build an affordable-housing project on a piece of land wedged between a Downtown hotel and the freeway. The Primavera Foundation is working with the Downtown Tucson Partnership to try to broker a deal with city officials to donate or sell for far below market value 1.6 acres the city owns southeast of West St. Mary's Road and the westbound Interstate 10 frontage road, Primavera Executive Director Peggy Hutchison said. "We're looking to see if, through this partnership, we can put our assets together and see if we can make this happen, even in this economic difficult time," Hutchison said. "I've talked with several City Council members, and there's a feeling that they really would like to see affordable housing Downtown." The land could hold as many as 25 multifamily housing units, Hutchison said. "We think it's a great concept," said Jaret Barr, assistant to City Manager Mike Hein. "We have a larger affordable-housing strategy for the city that this fits into."

Discussions between Primavera and the Downtown Tucson Partnership began about a year ago for the organizations to collaborate on a housing project, Downtown Tucson Partnership CEO Glenn Lyons said. That led to talks with the City Manager's Office, which identified the proposed site on a triangle of land adjacent to the InnSuites Tucson City Center, 475 N. Granada Ave. The land is made up mostly of abandoned right of way that once held a frontage road exit ramp, Lyons said. "This is one of those pieces that's hard to build on," Lyons said. "It doesn't work for many projects, but for a town house project, you can stick an 'L' on it. You don't get good land for free, but it's one that we can work with."

Whether the land will be free is up to the City Council, Barr said. "We've asked for it either to be free or (sold) for a nominal value," Lyons said. Barr said his office is putting together a resolution to take to the City Council for an upcoming meeting. He said discussions on any sort of price for the land would likely occur during a study session. While work still has to be done to secure funding for the project, Lyons said the key is getting control of the land. Doing that, he said, can make the various grants that Primavera would apply for that much easier to obtain. "To compete (for grants), you really need to have access or control of a site," Lyons said. Development costs are estimated at about $3 million, Lyons said. The project would likely take a year to build, he said.

As the plan moves forward, Hutchison said, Primavera will meet with neighboring land-owners about the prospect of an affordable-housing project in the area. "We like to work really closely with neighborhoods," Hutchison said. Rich Hendrix, general manager for InnSuites Tucson City Center, said his hotel is in favor of any development that enhances the neighborhood. He said he looks forward to being involved in discussions regarding the affordable-housing project. "We certainly would want to have a voice in what is going on," Hendrix said.

[kaneui]

With their dismal track record, city officials will have to beg the legislature to keep the Rio Nuevo gravy train going, probably with significant legislative oversight from here on out:


Politicos hammer city over Rio Nuevo
GOP legislators seek ways to halt project's shared taxes

By Daniel Scarpinato
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
03.11.2009

PHOENIX — Tucson can't be trusted with any more money for Downtown's Rio Nuevo project, a group of key Republican state lawmakers said Tuesday. A month after city officials testified in front of the Senate Finance Committee, Republican lawmakers discussed ways to break a deal that lets the city keep a share of state sales taxes for Downtown redevelopment — dollars that would otherwise end up in the state treasury. That move, in effect, would doom a planned hotel, arena and Convention Center expansion.

But some Tucson Republicans are looking to persuade their GOP colleagues to let the funding continue if it's tied to greater legislative oversight and public accounting. Phoenix Republican Sen. Jim Waring, who chairs the Finance Committee, says he's open to the idea — though he's still waiting for city officials to explain to him why they should be trusted. Rio Nuevo, formed in 1999 by the Legislature and Tucson voters, has gotten $60 million from the tax, and is estimated to grab nearly $600 million by 2025. But it has spent or obligated about $200 million, including bond sales and future interest.

Some powerful Republican lawmakers, citing what they called a "underwhelming" presentation last month by Tucson and a general lack of progress Downtown, want to yank the money, except for cash the city owes on existing bonds. In the short term, that would pump about $10 million into the state general fund as lawmakers face billions in budget deficits over the next several years. On Tuesday, lawmakers blasted Tucson, using some of their harshest language ever. Some called for a complete elimination of Rio Nuevo funding. "The city government in Tucson is dysfunctional in almost every dimension," said Sen. John Huppenthal, R-Chandler. "And the idea that we would trust them, even in some reconfigured state, with $500 million to advance the economic growth of Arizona, I would find astonishing."

Waring told fellow Republicans that Rio Nuevo Director Greg Shelko didn't further his cause at last month's hearing. "It was a really underwhelming performance; I can't emphasize that enough," Waring told a group that included Senate President Bob Burns and Appropriations Chairman Russell Pearce, who will be putting the budget together. "It was really, really ugly. … It was about as bad a performance as you're going to see down here. They really didn't articulate what it is that's happening." Even local lawmakers were critical. Sen. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, said, "Quite, frankly, as a Tucsonan, I was embarrassed."

But Paton also said the hearing was a wake-up call for city officials, who are now focusing on the plans for the Convention Center, hotel and arena as signs of progress. "I had been telling them they had problems with the Legislature," Paton said. "I don't think they really took that seriously. I think they started talking it pretty seriously after that hearing. Paton, who is sponsoring legislation that would make Rio Nuevo's spending accessible online, said that public accounting and "more legislative involvement" would be better than killing all funding. He suggested an oversight committee comprised of Tucson business leaders — those without a stake in the project — to serve as a watchdog over Rio Nuevo. He said the committee would need real authority.

The city's lobbyists, meanwhile, are revamping their message after bipartisan criticism of last month's testimony. At a presentation Tuesday near the Capitol, organized by Rep. Frank Antenori, R-Tucson, Tucson lawmakers were briefed by the private developers hired by Tucson. The idea, Antenori said, is for Tucson legislators to have information so they can defend Rio Nuevo. Jason Baran, a lobbyist for the city, said similar presentations are happening privately with legislative leaders. He said the city is focused on continued funding, realizing that might mean legislative changes.

The key to Rio Nuevo's future could rest in the ability of Tucson Republicans — Antenori, Paton and Sen. Al Melvin in particular — to convince their colleagues the project is worthy. Melvin, vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has the ear of Pearce. Melvin indicated Tuesday he wants to keep the funding in place with Paton's legislative changes. "All these things, if we can incorporate them, hopefully we'll get it on the right track," Melvin said. In what he himself calls a "twist of fate," Antenori, a long-time critic of the project, has taken the lead defending Rio Nuevo to House leadership. He wants to retain all funding. "I don't want to kill Rio Nuevo," Antenori said. "As much I'd like to do it for spite to the City Council, the reality is the business impact is far more important. We have to save it." Some Democrats who were present at Antenori's meeting with developers bristled at the idea of further legislative involvement. But Paton and others say that's the only way to keep the project from dying.

And Rep. Nancy Young Wright, D-Oro Valley, says she wants to see more oversight, too. Young Wright said her constituents regularly complain about Rio Nuevo. "I think people are anxious for results," she said. "I think the city does need to switch gears." Meanwhile, Waring, who may set the tone on Rio Nuevo's funding, says he still needs to be convinced. "It's hard to trust those same people to take a long-term, 500-something-million-dollar deal over 20 years when we've had eight, nine years of this drivel!" Waring said. "I would think the city of Tucson and the folks from Tucson would need to make some serious effort — not what we saw last month — to tell us how they are going to change radically in the very near future."

DID YOU KNOW
Even if the Legislature cuts off Rio Nuevo funding at the $200 million already obligated by the project, that's still 2 1/2 times the $80 million in state taxes voters were originally told would go into the Downtown redevelopment effort — an amount city officials thought in 1999 would be enough to stimulate construction of an aquarium, several museums and a historic re-creation.

[kaneui]

In addition to Madden Media's headquarters relocation to the historic 1907 MacArthur Building on Toole Ave. this summer, another business has moved 37 employees into a renovated downtown building:


http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/HittingerBldg.jpg
The Hittinger Building's original 1901 neoclassical facade was restored in 2002, replacing a drab 1940s look.
(photo: Teya Vitu)



Downtown move thrills firm workers
The 37 staffers get room to 'breathe,' walk

by TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
03.11.2009

A major local apartment management firm has brought a buzz to the core of downtown since moving into the restored 1901 Hittinger Building, 120 E. Congress St. The 37 employees at the headquarters office for Morrison, Ekre & Bart Management Services have staked out several downtown haunts since moving in at the end of December. "I bet if you go next door to the Grill, they will say their revenue went up $100 a week since we moved in," co-owner Melanie Morrison said. "We had Café 54 cater a lunch for us last week. That was great. I think Subway's probably benefitted quite a bit." Grill manager Karlen Ross said of MEB, "Any new business downtown is more than welcome."

MEB workers quickly embraced the urban transit mode: walking - whether to an eatery, the bank, lawyers to handle receiverships or just for the sake of walking. "It's really nice that a lot of places are walking distance," said Luz Bruscini, an MEB district manager. "I really love not having to get in a car to go somewhere. I really like Subway." MEB staffers also find their way to On a Roll, the sushi restaurant that opened last year a block to the west. "They're great," On a Roll owner Dominic Moreno said. "They're in here maybe two, three times a week. All the ladies are awesome over there. They always come in a group. They add some liveliness. They create the buzz."

MEB has 600 employees scattered across Tucson and Phoenix. Apartment and district managers often venture to the headquarters. "We keep an extra parking pass for them," Morrison said. "We keep a roll of quarters at the front desk." MEB and HSL Properties are the two leading apartment management companies in Tucson. MEB manages (but does not own) 37 apartment complexes in Tucson with about 8,500 units (20,000 units, including Phoenix and elsewhere in Arizona). HSL Properties owns and manages 29 complexes in Tucson with 7,655 units.

MEB moved from an old 5,000-square-foot house with several small rooms at 1039 N. Sixth Ave. near Speedway Boulevard into the 11,400-square-foot, three-story Hittinger Building, which gives everybody their own space. At the old location, Morrison shared her office with two others. Now she has an office to herself with a 15-foot high window and a view of the mountains. Morrison looked for a bigger office for about year and had an offer in for an Alvernon Way office before buying the Hittinger Building for about $1.1 million plus $650,000 for tenant improvements. "We love the building. We didn't just want to be in a bland office building," Morrison said. "What we paid (to buy and do tenant improvements) is pretty similar to what we would have paid for a B office building midtown." What does moving downtown allow MEB employees to do? "Breathe," said Theresa Durand, a human resources administrative assistant and a teaching golf pro on the side.

The downtown setting inspired Durand to lead twice-a-week noon walks for any staffers who want to join her. The Wednesday walk is a mile and Friday it's two miles at "a brisker pace." The noon start time so far has been fine for the three to 10 people who join Durand. What about summer with the same start time? "It's going to be hot," Durand said. People from The Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St., across the street wandered over to welcome MEB to the neighborhood. "They could have gone anywhere in Tucson," said Mia Schnaible, The Screening Room's marketing director. "They chose to come downtown. It really shows downtown is coming around. Dinnerware Artspace just had a huge art show. One North Fifth (Apartments) is almost all full up. You can really see the activity coming down here."

The Screening Room people got an impromptu tour of the MEB offices, fashioned by architect Bill Williams, partner at Engberg Anderson, and photographer Kerry Schwartz. Williams said he outfitted the interior with a "fun, exciting, dynamic, visual environment for the people working there." The purple, green and rusty orange walls play off the MEB corporate colors. The roll-up glass garage door that serves as the downstairs conference room's hallway wall plays off Williams' imagination. "(Morrison) was looking for a conference room that could accommodate the entire staff and also be small enough for a few people," Williams said. "If we could have a wall that could move . . . One was the idea of a glass garage door."

The district managers' and accountants' offices upstairs fill a big, high-ceilinged room with cubicles set off with partitions that curve downward from wall to hallway. That maintains open space but provides some privacy closer to the wall. "We wanted to do something a little more sculptural," Williams said. "In an open environment, people still want some privacy." Interior work also involved restoring the original wood floors upstairs. "They were painted, chipped with holes, tacked over with license plates," Williams said. "(Crews) salvaged wood where they cut holes for stairs."

Schwartz shot the 47-photo downtown series she calls Tucson Details that adorns walls throughout MEB. Some are recognizable images, but for many she focused on small details. "Just like the desert, downtown is just full of these subtleties," Schwartz said. "I was discovering things all over the place. It's all about looking deeper at the details. I discovered the fascinating details of downtown." All the photos are mounted on metal grille backdrops. The grilles give the photos a more industrial feel and expand the size of the image, Schwartz said. "I'm not interested in the whole mural or whole downtown," Schwartz said. "I'm looking at the components that tell the whole story. So many people know nothing about downtown. I like to photograph the details and subtleties." One photo is of a sign that says "Hope." Morrison knew where she wanted that photo. "We put up the Hope picture in the accounts payable department," Morrison said.

Tom McNeil, owner of TM Design, built the two zinc laminated conference room tables and the computer table behind Morrison's desk, and refashioned a 1950s desk for Morrison's office. "We took a postwar metal desk and applied zinc to the top of that," said McNeil, who also crafted the zinc-top bar at Maynards Kitchen in the Historic Depot, 400 E. Toole Ave. The artsy work setting makes sense for the MEB crew. Along with Durand's golf and walking passions, Morrison is a guitarist and songwriter whose CD "On the Inside" raised $12,000 for New Beginnings for Women and Children. Sabra Faulk is better known for her bass playing around town and her CD "28 Churches 5 Bars," but her day job is in accounts payable at MEB.

Downtown frustrations do come into play. Morrison wasn't allowed to have her own garbage bin so she arranged to share Grill's bin. MEB could negotiate only six parking spaces in the county-owned parking lot behind its building, but negotiated a deal at undisclosed "under market" rates to lease spaces at the Santa Rita Hotel, which is owned by Humberto S. Lopez, MEB's chief rival in the local apartment management arena. "There's not enough of it and it costs money," Morrison said about parking. Otherwise, though, Morrison and her crew are delighted to be downtown. "The rewards are it's a great, fun atmosphere," she said. "You just can't find a place like this anywhere else. You couldn't walk anyplace (for lunch). We have lunch together a lot more."

[WASDEN]

http://www.downtownrising.com/projects/images/courthouse.jpg

Whoever suggested building the thing above I seriously question your architectural taste :). That is a Federal courthouse planned for downtown Salt Lake City where it has earned the fitting nickname "The Borg Cube." Many of us in SLC would rather see it built elsewhere as it has atrocious street interaction (its more of a concrete fortress at street level, I guess we have Oklahoma City bomber types to blame for that), plus it is replacing a couple of our most beloved historic buildings, and we have few left.

I like Tuscon and agree that it has loads of potential. Cool compact downtown, narrow pedestrian friendly streets, and plenty of historic architecture to see. I'd live in Tuscon any day over Phoenix.

[oliveurban]

I rather like the building. To each their own.

[kaneui]

Finally, a render and construction photo of the new Fire Dept. headquarters being built at Cushing and Granada near the convention center. The current headquarters will subsequently be remodeled into a new space for Tucson MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art).


http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/FireStation-render.jpghttp://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/FireStation-constr-1.jpg
(render: WSM Architects; photo: Benjie Sanders)



About 150 construction workers are building Fire Central
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
03.12.2009

About 150 people are working today to build Fire Central, the Tucson Fire Department's new headquarters Downtown. That number includes workers for Sundt Construction, the general contractor, and those working for 19 subcontractors, says Sundt spokesman Charlie Boyd. The contract value to Sundt is $29.7 million, he says. The 65,000-square-foot structure, going in on the south side of Cushing Street near Granada Avenue, is scheduled to be finished in September.

[kaneui]

The design of the convention center Sheraton gets one more tweak before final approval by the City Council:



http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/TCC-Sheratonrender3.jpg
The newest feature proposed on the downtown Rio Nuevo hotel
is a wedge-shaped bar and restaurant on the 26th floor.
(render: DLR Group)



Modified downtown hotel would have rooftop restaurant
By Nicholas Smith
Inside Tucson Business
March 13, 2009

A wedge-shaped rooftop bar and restaurant would crown a 26-story, 525-room downtown hotel under a revised proposal. The modified plan was unveiled March 9 by architects and city officials at the final public meeting on the project. Construction of the Sheraton-branded hotel would be coupled with an expansion and remodeling of the Tucson Convention Center. The hope is to begin construction early next year. Initial estimates for the project were $150 million but Rio Nuevo Director Greg Shelko said the ultimate cost will be determined by the Tucson City Council. “The goal is to build the biggest hotel that we can afford,” Shelko said, adding that he expected a cost estimate to be ready March 23.

City leaders maintain the shift of priorities downtown toward construction of revenue generating projects, such as the hotel and an arena, will spur subsequent growth and development because it will give people a reason to go downtown. The site for the planned hotel is near the corner of Congress Street and Granada Avenue. If all goes as planned on the funding side, the project should break ground in early 2010 and be completed by June 2012, about the same time as remodeling of the convention center should be finished. A four-story parking garage, capable of holding 1,000 vehicles, is also planned. It would be built on the west side of the convention center in what is now a parking lot.

Like other projects planned for downtown, construction of the hotel and convention center improvements could be jeopardized by state legislators’ threats to pull revenues coming from state sales taxes in the Rio Nuevo district. Funding for the Rio Nuevo downtown is ultimately still in the Arizona Legislature’s hands. As the state looks to shore up a $3 billion budget shortfall, the sales tax money designated for downtown revitalization could be taken away. Much of the funds come from a tax increment financing model, which gives Tucson a certain cut of the sales tax generated by local businesses. About $55.5 million has already been collected by Tucson since the funding began in July 2003. If the money does get cut, it will likely mean the end of the hotel, convention center expansion and the arena projects. Several options of keeping the funding in place have been discussed, including establishment an oversight committee that would keep tabs on how the money is used.

[oliveurban]

I like the idea of a rooftop spot for the public or guests to patronize. Though on a small scale, I think it would be a positive additional draw to downtown Tucson, especially in the evenings. Much like the Compass Room here in Phoenix (though obviously, it has the added sparkle of also being a rotating restaurant).

Side note: Considering this hotel's urban/downtown location, I'm not a fan of those large street level setbacks. But overall, it is a decent design.

[Teacher_AZ_84]

I love the design concept of this building. The top floor bar and restaurant is a great idea with Tucson's beautiful natural surroundings. Oliveurban is correct that it would be a draw to downtown. Downtown is in dire need of a new hotel and new addition to its skyline. I can only hope that this gets built.:fingerscrossed:

[BTinSF]

I just don't understand the concept of something like this being built with public money. Perhaps in these times, a LOAN of public money could be required, but not the public as developer putting its own money at risk. It seems to me if there's a market for something like this, a private hotel developer should want to build it with financing he arranges. If not, how does an empty or underutilized hotel stimulate downtown activity?

I've lived near Tucson part of the year for 7 years now and what I keep seeing and hearing is a determined resistance to building high density housing near downtown which is the one thing that could revive it. You don't get an active downtown by having an arena here and a science center there, all of which are driven to and from by the overwhelming number of users. You get an active downtown by having people living there and using nearby shopping, restaurants and so on--that they can walk to.

Which brings up my agreement with oliveurban. If they want this hotel to contribute in any way to downtown life, design it more to invite people to walk outside to a nearby business. As it is, it is designed to facilitate what most people will do--drive their rental car from the airport into it's underground garage, attend the convention or meeting they came for and drive back out again, never seeing downtown Tucson.

[kaneui]

^There are relatively few cities where private developers are willing to finance a convention center hotel. In truth, most of them know that if a city wants such a hotel bad enough, they'll end up financing it themselves or at least cough up huge subsidies to a developer, believing those extra rooms are essential to attract more business and make their expensive convention center expansions pay off. And that scenario has played out in numerous cities across the country, including Phoenix, Baltimore and Denver, with Dallas and Portland currently debating the issue. (Apparently, Portland has been waiting for a new convention center hotel since 1989.)

Politicians generally love these big projects, as new convention centers and hotels are often touted as an economic panacea for moribund downtowns and a way to improve their city's visibility and image. However, statistics suggest that such publicly financed projects are often money losers, in spite of these municipalities' own financial projections to the contrary. This financing dilemma is particularly challenging for second- or third-tier cities that have rather meager dining, entertainment, and other attractions near their convention centers, as the repeat business is crucial to their success. (I'm sure more than a few conventioneers that end up wandering around Phoenix' downtown are asking themselves "Is that all there is?" And at this point, Tucson's downtown has even less to offer.)

Of course, Tucson officials have been naively optimistic about how quickly downtown can be revitalized. If Rio Nuevo were being built according to plan, the cultural plaza west of I-10 with its numerous museums and attractions would all be up and running by the time a new arena, hotel, and convention center expansion were finished in 2012, surrounded by new condos, apartments, restaurants, retail stores, and a vibrant street scene, all connected by expanded mass transit. In actuality, such massive redevelopment generally takes many years--if not decades--to achieve, even in the best of economic conditions and with the most visionary and competent leadership.

Tucson is further challenged since it has few corporate headquarters or regional offices, meaning an unusually small number of employees in the downtown area that would attract more residential development. As has been discussed before, it's a chicken-and-egg conundrum between an urban center's amenities and a sufficient number of residents to support them--and at this juncture, downtown Tucson has precious few of either.

The one ray of hope I see in this picture is the new streetcar line, which will actually pass right by the new TCC hotel (assuming both projects get built). Then, at least conventioneers and locals could hop on the train to visit the new mercado at the west terminus, or head east to the clubs on Congress St., the shops on 4th Ave., or perhaps a ballgame at the UofA. And hopefully, developers will be offered adequate incentives to build more TOD along the whole route, creating some semblance of density and a more urban vibe. But knowing Tucson, that could take a long, long time.

[Locofresh55]

The design of the convention center Sheraton gets one more tweak before final approval by the City Council:



http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/TCC-Sheratonrender3.jpg
The newest feature proposed on the downtown Rio Nuevo hotel
is a wedge-shaped bar and restaurant on the 26th floor.
(render: DLR Group)



Modified downtown hotel would have rooftop restaurant
By Nicholas Smith
Inside Tucson Business
March 13, 2009

A wedge-shaped rooftop bar and restaurant would crown a 26-story, 525-room downtown hotel under a revised proposal. The modified plan was unveiled March 9 by architects and city officials at the final public meeting on the project. Construction of the Sheraton-branded hotel would be coupled with an expansion and remodeling of the Tucson Convention Center. The hope is to begin construction early next year. Initial estimates for the project were $150 million but Rio Nuevo Director Greg Shelko said the ultimate cost will be determined by the Tucson City Council. “The goal is to build the biggest hotel that we can afford,” Shelko said, adding that he expected a cost estimate to be ready March 23.

City leaders maintain the shift of priorities downtown toward construction of revenue generating projects, such as the hotel and an arena, will spur subsequent growth and development because it will give people a reason to go downtown. The site for the planned hotel is near the corner of Congress Street and Granada Avenue. If all goes as planned on the funding side, the project should break ground in early 2010 and be completed by June 2012, about the same time as remodeling of the convention center should be finished. A four-story parking garage, capable of holding 1,000 vehicles, is also planned. It would be built on the west side of the convention center in what is now a parking lot.

Like other projects planned for downtown, construction of the hotel and convention center improvements could be jeopardized by state legislators’ threats to pull revenues coming from state sales taxes in the Rio Nuevo district. Funding for the Rio Nuevo downtown is ultimately still in the Arizona Legislature’s hands. As the state looks to shore up a $3 billion budget shortfall, the sales tax money designated for downtown revitalization could be taken away. Much of the funds come from a tax increment financing model, which gives Tucson a certain cut of the sales tax generated by local businesses. About $55.5 million has already been collected by Tucson since the funding began in July 2003. If the money does get cut, it will likely mean the end of the hotel, convention center expansion and the arena projects. Several options of keeping the funding in place have been discussed, including establishment an oversight committee that would keep tabs on how the money is used.

Did I hear 26 stories? and the top will be a restaurant? Wow......they better build this. This project is raising more and more eyebrows. So if there is a restaurant at or near the top what are we looking at as far as height for this building. I would like to see this bad boy top 350FT. Design is a whole lot better than from a couple of years ago. Build it!:tup:

[kaneui]

Did I hear 26 stories? and the top will be a restaurant? Wow......they better build this. This project is raising more and more eyebrows. So if there is a restaurant at or near the top what are we looking at as far as height for this building. I would like to see this bad boy top 350FT. Design is a whole lot better than from a couple of years ago. Build it!:tup:

Using the downtown Phoenix Sheraton for comparison, it tops out at 360' with 31 stories (per SSP's Phoenix diagram). So if the Tucson Sheraton will be five stories less, and using approx. 9-10' per floor, it will probably be in the range of 310-320'--not a new tallest for Tucson, as the Unisource Tower is 330'.

Of course, the City Council could ultimately choose to build less than 26 stories, depending on the architect's final cost estimate. And if the legislature decides to kill Rio Nuevo's funding--end of story.

[Locofresh55]

It doesn't have to be a new tallest...but somewhere near 325' would be suffice to me. And given it's standout design for a downtown building. I would be happy to see this built. Besides this thing fluxuated between 30 stories to a scaled down 23 story version and now it's back up to 26 stories. I just want to see it built.

[somethingfast]

^ agreed. who really cares about a new tallest (though would be nice and not that hard to do lol) when tucson hasn't had a new tall building since friggin' 1986!!! still, i'd be very surprised if anything ever gets built in tucson again. ever.

[kaneui]

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/MissionGardensWall.jpg
Leonardo Enriquez, foreground, of Cox Masonry lays bricks at the project site for Mission Gardens
on the bank of the Santa Cruz River. The gardens will be part of the replication of the Mission San Agustín
complex, an important part of Rio Nuevo's projects on the west side of Downtown.
(photo: James Gregg)


Rio Nuevo's mission gardens on the way
By Rob O'Dell
Arizona Daily Star
03.17.2009

What is it?
Mission Gardens is an agricultural area along the bank of the Santa Cruz River associated with the Mission San Agustín — Tucson's cultural birthplace. Rio Nuevo is re-creating the gardens as part of its replication of the mission complex, which included a two-story convento, a granary and other buildings.

What will it cost?
The estimated cost is $3 million, to come from Rio Nuevo funds.

When will it be done?
The project was originally slated for completion in 2010, but city officials now believe it will be done within months.

[kaneui]

A 50% drop in TIF revenues and threats from the state legislature have forced city officials to focus their Rio Nuevo efforts solely on the convention center expansion, hotel and arena. (Also, Tucson state Rep. Frank Antenori has promised to derail Rio Nuevo completely if they try to spent TIF monies on anything else.)

The planned streetcar will probably extend to the Mercado District, but without any museums, cultural plaza, or convento on the horizon, it looks like the lone attractions at the western terminus will be the nearly completed Mercado San Agustin and perhaps the mission gardens. Quite an about face from just a few months ago.



Tucson Origins museums put on hold due to spiraling economy
by TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
03.18.2009

Dreams of celebrating the state centennial in 2012 with a collection of Tucson Origins museums have collapsed with the downward spiraling economy. All intentions to build Mission San Agustín, a University of Arizona Science Center/Arizona State Museum, Arizona History Museum and Tucson Children's Museum on the West Side have been delayed indefinitely, City Manager Mike Hein said. "It's not in my interest or desire to stall on this," Hein said. The worldwide economic straits have cut Rio Nuevo tax increment financing in half and made city leaders choose how to proceed with downtown revitalization.

The City Council in February told Hein to focus on the Tucson Convention Center expansion, a TCC hotel and a new Tucson Arena. They made no specific pronouncement about Tucson Origins, but UA President Robert N. Shelton the same day suspended work on the science center, which had been set to start in summer. "The science center goes to the back burner," Rio Nuevo director Greg Shelko said. "So does all that other work (with the other museums). They are not projects we can do today. What museums we are going to build and when we are gong to build them, that is a conversation for another day." In the next week, the city should receive the pro-forma report from Garfield Traub Development and DLR Group describing how large a revenue bond the the anticipated TCC Revenue could support. "Until we know how or when or if a hotel can be financed, it's hard to make other investment strategies," Hein said.

Annual Rio Nuevo tax increment financing has plummeted from a peak $16 million in 2006 to the present $8.6 million. The city issued an $80 million TIF-backed bond in December, already reshuffled the spending priorities once and now is reassigning those funds again, largely toward the TCC projects, Shelko said. Councilwoman Regina Romero, whose ward includes Origins, in February agreed with focusing on the convention center but is dismayed that Origins has dropped off the radar. "Nowhere in the (council) motion does it say we are going to put all the projects on the West Side on the back burner," Romero said. Romero added a clause to the February council motion to make sure infrastructure work continues to link Origins with the TCC. That primarily involves building a $12 million Cushing Street bridge across the Santa Cruz River.

The bridge in fall was allocated $10 million from the $80 million bond but in December that was reduced to $1.6 million for design and engineering. A 2009 bond would supply construction funds, but now no Rio Nuevo bonds are planned for this year. Hein said the city was looking for transportation funds and federal economic stimulus funds to build the Cushing Street bridge, which is planned to carry the streetcar to the West Side.

[kaneui]

Arizona's rapid population growth has tapered off, but not completely. The Census Bureau's latest numbers for the fiscal year ended July 1, 2008 estimated the population of Pima County (metro Tucson) at 1,012,018--adding over 15,000 residents during the period. Pinal was the nation's second-fastest growing county during the year at 8.8%, with over 26,000 new residents. The Phoenix metro (Maricopa and Pinal counties) added 116,000 residents, ranking third in numeric growth behind Dallas and Houston.


http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/013426.html

[kaneui]

If Rio Nuevo survives, one thing is for certain: there will be a lot more oversight and accountability, both of which have been sorely lacking since its inception.


http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/TCCProjects.png



3 options offered on embattled Rio Nuevo
Fed-up legislators demand vast changes to original plan

By Daniel Scarpinato and Rob O'Dell
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
03.20.2009

PHOENIX — While final judgment may be months away, the future of Rio Nuevo has become a tug of war among three camps in the Legislature with wildly different ideas on how to save or kill the Downtown redevelopment district. One thing that is clear at this point is Rio Nuevo will be in for major changes because of the city of Tucson's failure to show significant progress remaking Downtown after 10 years and more than $100 million spent. State lawmakers are clearly frustrated by how Tucson has managed the tax increment financing district, which siphons off state sales taxes.

The three options currently being debated by the Legislature are:
• Continue funding Rio Nuevo but mandate all the money go to build an arena and hotel and expand the Tucson Convention Center — a significant departure from the original focus on museums, history and an aquarium.
• Continue funding the existing city plan, but with a local oversight board that must approve city funding requests and that has the power to audit the city.
• A permanent or temporary elimination of Rio Nuevo funding, above the $200 million that's already been spent or earmarked to pay off the bonds.

The three options are not mutually exclusive, and some could be combined. Formed by Tucson voters in 1999 and extended by the Legislature in 2006, Rio Nuevo is estimated to receive $600 million in state sales taxes by the time it expires in 2025. About $200 million has either been spent, is in the bank or is earmarked to pay off the interest from a December bond sale. City Manager Mike Hein said it was in the council's purview to decide what concessions the city is willing to make on Rio Nuevo. Several council members recited talking points while sidestepping questions about the Legislative proposals. "The question is, do you want to totally flush it down the drain or do you want to salvage something out of this effort and at least give the city a chance to get back some of its reputation?" said state Rep. Frank Antenori, R-Tucson.

A new focus needed
Antenori, one of Rio Nuevo's loudest critics, is leading the effort to direct all funding toward a consolidated cluster of revenue-generating projects: a Downtown hotel, Convention Center expansion and arena. Antenori and others, including Sen. Al Melvin, R-Tucson, say that's the only way the Legislature might agree to continued funding — even if it's not what voters approved in 1999. While Antenori and other lawmakers have criticized Rio Nuevo for drifting from its original purpose, what he's suggesting is almost a complete departure from what was on the ballot. A new arena wasn't in the mix presented to voters at all. The TCC was earmarked $800,000 for a new box office — included only because the law required the district include a facility such as the TCC arena. The only money for a hotel was $8 million for parking and public improvements aimed at attracting a private developer. If the whole package went back to voters, Antenori said it's likely they would cut the funds.

Councilwoman Regina Romero, who represents the West Side and has backed projects planned there, wouldn't comment directly on the Legislature taking control, saying only that she supports infrastructure projects that draw in private development. She noted the council earmarked much of the $41 million from its December bond sale to the hotel and TCC. Mayor Bob Walkup said the legislative proposals are too "speculative" to comment on directly. But Antenori says the two have met together and Walkup was receptive to his idea. Local Republican lawmakers have had some success selling the new vision for Rio Nuevo. Just last week, Senate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, took a tour of Downtown Tucson with Walkup and said he was impressed by the activity he saw. "I don't think I'm the problem," said Burns, who would like other legislators to take the tour. "There's some angst there among the members."

A new oversight board
Sen. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, is leading the push to let Rio Nuevo continue under city direction, but with an independent oversight board controlling the purse strings. Paton is trying to hammer out details on how exactly it would work, who would be on it and what powers it would have. At a minimum, he said the board could veto spending and audit Rio Nuevo's books. "We want to create an oversight committee that would have some real power — veto power — over the rainbow bridges of the future," Paton said. All Southern Arizona Republicans are on board, Paton said, adding the oversight board would report to a legislative committee with subpoena power, and members would need to be from Southern Arizona and not be politicians.

One option is to have the House, Senate and governor appoint four people each to the existing four-member Rio Nuevo Multipurpose board that is supposed to oversee spending, he said. It currently has two members from Tucson and two from South Tucson. Another is to form a completely new board. Walkup said he is "agreeable" to mild reforms, including the oversight committee and a requirement to post Rio Nuevo expenses and receipts online. Romero said she supports accountability but wouldn't say specifically what that meant. "I believe the Legislature and the public vigorously demand oversight," she said.

"Needs to be euthanized"
Despite the best efforts of Tucson lawmakers, there's still strong opposition to continued funding among veteran Republicans negotiating the budget. After a city presentation last month, the now-dead "Rainbow Bridge" over Interstate 10 became a symbol at the Capitol of what legislators see as mismanagement by Tucson's City Council. Lawmakers dubbed it "the bridge to nowhere," since planning for the never-built science center that would have been housed in the bridge cost a total of $13 million and is on hold. "I have heard so many bad things about Rio Nuevo that, frankly, I think Rio Nuevo needs to be euthanized," said Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, chair of the House Appropriations Committee. Rio Nuevo could be salvaged, he conceded. "It wouldn't be the first time the paramedics shock something back to life, but that's not always successful." Sen. Jim Waring, R-Phoenix, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, says legally all the money can't be taken since some pays for already-issued bonds.

What happens to the rest of the money could depend on the city reversing the disastrous impression Rio Nuevo Director Greg Shelko made at the Legislature in February. In particular, Waring wants to hear from City Council members, who have so far steered clear of the Legislature and relied on their lobbyists. Another problem, he said, is every e-mail he's received from Tucsonans blasted Rio Nuevo. "Realistically, if your behavior has been what it's been for eight or nine years, it's hard for me to justify to the taxpayers, especially in this economic climate, 'We're going to trust you now and just move forward,' " Waring said. "But I am willing to listen."

[kaneui]

Sports authority proposes new baseball stadium in Marana
By Erica Meltzer
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
03.30.2009

In a bid to keep the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies from leaving the Tucson area, the Pima County Sports and Tourism Authority have proposed building a three-team, $125 million baseball stadium in Marana. The sports authority developed the plan in response to a request for proposals from the Arizona Diamondbacks for a new stadium. The team currently trains at Pima County’s Tucson Electric Park. The plan would leave both TEP and the city’s Hi-Corbett Field without a home team but calls for all the teams based in Marana to play games at Hi-Corbett. The plan also includes significant renovations to both facilities to add amenities for fans and youth sports. The Sports Authority submitted the plan to the Diamondbacks at 5 p.m. Friday and released the plan to the public Monday.

Attracting more teams to improve the level of competition here and reducing travel times to Phoenix will be key to preserving spring training in Tucson, Sports Authority Chairman Tom Tracy said. In addition to trying to keep the Diamondbacks and Rockies in town, Tracy said the authority has been talking to several teams that train in Florida. One team has been receptive to moving to Tucson, another has been willing to meet and three others say they are willing to talk, Tracy said, but he would not name the teams. The authority also is in talks with two Japanese teams to train at TEP against American teams. The authority has received permission from Major League Baseball to admit the Japanese teams into the Cactus League.

The plan depends both on the Legislature passing a bill that would allow the Sports Authority to levy taxes on hotel rooms, car rentals, restaurant and bar bills and retail sales and on Pima County voters approving that tax. The county’s Bond Advisory Committee recently decided not to go forward with a planned 2009 bond package because many committee members believe it wouldn’t pass in this economic environment. Tracy said the authority is sensitive to the economic and political climate, but if a vote doesn’t occur before mid-2010, the Rockies and Diamondbacks almost certainly will go elsewhere. The teams also have asked for proposals from several communities in the Phoenix area, including the Gila River Indian Community. The authority estimates the taxes would bring in $15 million a year, enough to creating bonding authority to build the new stadium and pay for ongoing maintenance.

In addition to the new stadium in Marana, the proposal calls for $25 million in renovations to Hi-Corbett, with $15 million going for stadium renovations and $10 million to develop infrastructure around the stadium, including a parking deck and facilities for large youth tournaments. Authority representatives said the stadium is too old and too small to house a clubhouse with modern amenities for a Major League team, but the Midtown location is ideal for bringing fans to games. Each team based in Marana would play five games during the spring training season at Hi-Corbett, maintaining the existing schedule of 15 games. The Rockies have not yet seen the proposal.

[oliveurban]

I think it's good the Tucson area is making an effort to hold on to one of it's remaining pieces of the Cactus League pie. I guess I just wish it wasn't out in Marana.

[NIXPHX77]

^^same here.
i really wish Tucson/Pima Co could build a baseball stadium in or near downtown for cactus league teams and to help lure back a minor league team.

[kaneui]

Janos Wilder's return will be a definite boost for downtown, but the confusion around the Congress St. upgrades for the streetcar line hints of more uncertainties surrounding Rio Nuevo's funding and the city manager's office:



http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/StitelerproponCongress-1.jpg http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/CongressStclosure.png
Property that is owned by Scott Stiteler on East Congress Street is being eyed
by Janos Wilder for the noted local restaurateur's eventual return to Downtown.
(photo: Mamta Popat)



Congress St. will close for 6 months; Janos to move in
But May 8 start of project mysteriously put on hold

By Andrea Kelly
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
04.04.2009

Two days after city officials said they planned to shut down Congress through Downtown for six months for a major overhaul, the plan was mysteriously put on indefinite hold. City Manager Mike Hein and others were vague about why they put the brakes on and said there is no timetable for getting the project restarted. Fran LaSala, the project manager, said Monday that the street would shut down on May 8 for utility line relocations, streetcar track installation and sidewalk improvements. The date was requested by merchants, who wanted the closure during the slow summer months. Hein said funding, other street work in progress and the timeline for recruiting new businesses Downtown, like the return of Janos, are why it's impossible to predict when the project will go forward.

The closure was to have extended from Sixth Avenue to Granada Avenue. LaSala, who is also Hein's assistant, said he doesn't know how much the work on Congress will cost. It is part of a larger $37 million Downtown improvement project in which the contractor gives the city a price as each piece of work comes up. LaSala said the project will be done but had no estimate when. "We just need to look at things a little closer and evaluate some other developments," LaSala said.

Beyond inconveniencing current merchants, the city is negotiating with Janos Wilder, owner of Janos and J-Bar restaurants in the Foothills, to reopen a location Downtown, where he operated until 1998. Wilder had hoped to open in November or December, after the construction was done. Starting in May would have meant the Congress closure overlapped with the closure of the Fourth Avenue Underpass on the east end of Downtown and the Interstate 10 project on the western end of Downtown, diverting traffic from three major projects on to smaller Downtown side streets. The Fourth Avenue Underpass is scheduled to open in August. The freeway widening from Prince Road to 29th Street is supposed to be done by December. All of the ramps from city streets to I-10 are now closed as part of the project.

When pressed for a reason for the delay and estimate when the work will now be done, Hein said, "I think it is in all parties' best interest to have absolutely every 'i' dotted and 't' crossed. "I do not want to give any misimpression to any member of the public through any media source, so I want to make absolutely certain before we announce timelines and schedules," he said. By Friday, merchants still hadn't been told the project was on hold. Glenn Lyons, chief executive officer for the Downtown Tucson Partnership, said the change was "news to me," since he had heard as recently as Thursday the work was still on track for May 8. He said he didn't want to speculate about the reasons, or the possible impact on merchants.

Wilder said Friday he didn't know the schedule had changed, but he is still interested in moving Downtown, although it might not be as soon as hoped. Congress is supposed to be the second phase of the Downtown improvement plan. South Scott Avenue work is underway, and similar work is planned for Broadway and Granada Avenue. The $37 million does not include streetcar tracks for a line that is to be paid for by the Regional Transportation Authority and a federal grant, which has yet to be approved. Hein did not respond directly to questions about whether payments to Phoenix contractor Archer Western, which has already done about $9 million worth of work Downtown, were a factor in the delay, saying only that Rio Nuevo bond money for the project will be available as soon as the council amends its capital-improvement plan. The city Finance Department did not provide requested public records on how much Archer Western has been paid, or if it has been paid.

There are also questions about whether the bidding process used by the city to hire Archer Western complies with Federal Transit Administration standards, which must be met for the city to receive federal funds to cover nearly half of the streetcar project. About $32 million of the streetcar's $162 million budget is to go toward tracks and the structure the streetcar needs to run, said Gary Hayes, executive director of the Regional Transportation Authority. He could not break down how much of that $32 million was to be spent on Congress Street versus the rest of the four-mile streetcar line. Hays said of the work on Congress, "It's all speculation on our part on whether it's reimbursable." The authority will analyze any bills that come in to determine if the work billed was for the streetcar or unrelated expenses, he said.

Work at the east end of Congress will also need to include installing a "switch" to help the streetcar turn at Fifth Avenue and Congress Street, City Transportation Director Jim Glock said. Glock said the tracks into Downtown were installed to allow the Old Pueblo Trolley to use the new Fourth Avenue Underpass. The switch will let the streetcar continue west on Congress or to turn left at Fifth to loop back toward Fourth Avenue. Glock said it wasn't installed when the tracks first went in because doing that work before federal funding for the streetcar is approved could have jeopardized the $75 million the city hopes to receive. The FTA doesn't reimburse for work done before it approves funding on a project, Glock said. The plans for the closure had been scheduled for presentation to the City Council next week but have been withdrawn. LaSala said they will eventually be presented to the council, but council approval is not required for the project.

[kaneui]

Perhaps more than any other Southwestern metropolis, El Paso is a mirror of Tucson in its history, culture, and architecture. The city has an abundance of historic buildings in its downtown, and in 2006 implemented a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ), similar to Tucson's Rio Nuevo TIF District. Interestingly, there is no unique SSP thread for El Paso, although the city recently created an excellent website with a wealth of information and photos about its city center, including current redevelopment plans.

Check it all out--including a curious alligator grotto in one of the historic plazas--on the following link:

http://www.elpasotexas.gov/downtown/elpasonext.htm

[oliveurban]

Perhaps more than any other Southwestern metropolis, El Paso is a mirror of Tucson in its history, culture, and architecture.

http://www.elpasotexas.gov/downtown/elpasonext.htm

I know this has been pointed out before on this thread, but for the pure sake of discussion, I think Albuquerque, though unique in it's own right, is a much better general comparison to Tucson that El Paso. In some respects, it's uncanny.

Both Albuquerque and Tucson are nearly identical in city and metro population size, not to mention annual growth rates. Both cities' identities are heavily influenced and dictated by their large and similar-sized public universities. The two cities, alone with Santa Fe, are some of the oldest continually inhabited settlements in the United States. Both cities are also (though like El Paso) overtly tied to it's authentic Southwestern heritages in a genuine and palpable way. I mean even geographically, both cities are dominated by a large, imposing mountain to it's NE.

There are other similarities (and of course, differences), but having spent large amounts of time in both cities, it is always interesting to point out.

[ljbuild]

Except Albuquerque and Elpaso have FREEWAYS! to get you to either

side in a short amount of time. Unlike Tucson where it is "STOP

AND GO HELL" just about every three blocks. :slob: :slob: :slob:

And when summertime comes "it really becomes hell" when you add in the

rounds of light changes you have to go thru to get past a major intersection.

Tucson also has well over 1 million people and has only one major freeway!

Thats absurd. Some locals say that freeways bring more growth.

What those "indoor recluse lazy scumbags" should realize is that Tucson is

growing DESPITE the lack of freeways so eventually (50 years down the line)

an east/west freeway and a north south freeway (besides I-10) is going to have to be built!

[Azstar]

Both downtown El Paso and downtown Albuquerque look a lot nicer than downtown Tucson.

[Teacher_AZ_84]

Except Albuquerque and Elpaso have FREEWAYS! to get you to either

side in a short amount of time. Unlike Tucson where it is "STOP

AND GO HELL" just about every three blocks. :slob: :slob: :slob:

And when summertime comes "it really becomes hell" when you add in the

rounds of light changes you have to go thru to get past a major intersection.

Tucson also has well over 1 million people and has only one major freeway!

Thats absurd. Some locals say that freeways bring more growth.

What those "indoor recluse lazy scumbags" should realize is that Tucson is

growing DESPITE the lack of freeways so eventually (50 years down the line)

an east/west freeway and a north south freeway (besides I-10) is going to have to be built!

I could not agree more with your post. I have been here 7 years and the stop-n-go driving is my biggest complaint. What should take 10 minutes to travel always takes 30 minutes. All the un-timed lights drive me bonkers :hell:

I did not vote for the RTA plan in 2006 because it did not include an East/West freeway. Widening Grant is NOT the answer.

Another thing I have observed is how underdeveloped the land around the freeway is compared to Phoenix area freeway's. I would think this is prime property.

[oliveurban]

Like I also said, there are still differences between Albuquerque and Tucson. I just find the vast amount of similarities between the two places interesting. I'm in no way suggesting comparable freeway networks.

I agree about the cross-town traffic situation in Tucson. I'm torn however if at this point in time, carving a brand new east-west freeway through a (nearly) completely developed area is the best thing to do. Now, twenty or more years ago? Maybe. It was a different story then, regrettably.

I think today, unfortunately (or fortunately) Tucson needs to look at serious alternative transportation options.

As we've all witnessed up here in Phoenix, freeways tend to dictate where new growth and development trend in direction. If you look at Tucson over the past decade or so, as growth has obviously still increased, the actual pattern of development however has begun to change in direction a bit. Instead of development simply heading father and father to the east, a lot of the new growth has actually begun to coalesce along it's existing freeway network - to the north, south and southeast.

I think it could sort of be a silver lining. Over the long term, the lack of a cross-town freeway, in a sort of hard-line way, has been slowly preventing a majority of large-scale new development from occurring to the east (not all, but there is a trend), and it is dictating where a lot of new development is occurring. While daily east-west traffic snarls are still present (and will be for some time), to a degree it is slowly worsening at a slightly slower and slower rate.

Just to be clear, I am not suggesting that cross-town rush hour traffic situation isn't bad. It is, and I'm reminded every time I'm in town (which has been nearly monthly since childhood). I'm just pointing out my very unscientific observation that I have noticed that the last major development wave didn't hit the eastern end of town with the same fervor as previous waves have, during the 70s, 80s and early 90s.

If an east-west freeway had been constructed many years ago, far eastern Tucson would have exploded even more so, and traffic would probably be just as bad today, if not worse in many ways (a consequence I think a lot of people - including up here in Phoenix - still don't always realize). And if that was the case, we'd be arguing instead right now about not only widening that freeway, but building even more freeways.

[kaneui]

Tucson's Keystone Cops version of city government just keeps on rolling, with the City Council voting to axe City Manager Mike Hein after just a 30-minute closed-door session intended to be a performance review. Significant to this thread, of course, is that this could be seen as a vote of no-confidence at the state legislature, and the death knell for Rio Nuevo. Whatever your take on this move, you can probably bet on some new council faces come November.



City appears rudderless after council fires city manager
'What now?' is question of hour after 4-3 vote

by CARLI BROSSEAU
Tucson Citizen
04.08.2009

Within minutes after the City Council's vote to fire City Manager Mike Hein, the question "What now?" was repeated so many times it seemed to morph into a chant. The council voted 4-3 to oust Hein after half an hour in a closed session that was intended to provide him with his annual performance review. Mayor Bob Walkup, Councilman Rodney Glassman and Councilwoman Nina Trasoff voted to keep him. Council members Regina Romero, Karin Uhlich, Shirley Scott and Steve Leal voted him out.

After the vote, Jane Prior, supervisor of the city's internal audit division, was among those asking what will happen now and who will run the city. "They're running out of people up there," she said, referring to a retirement incentive-induced exodus that has emptied many of city government's top seats. The city has shed about 2,000 employees in two years, records show. Deputy City Manager Mike Letcher will take the helm until the council moves to appoint someone new, City Attorney Mike Rankin said. Letcher, however, has already signed up for the retirement program and plans to retire in November, he said.

Letcher would not comment on his ascension to the city's top job Tuesday. Hein also declined to talk to reporters and left City Hall immediately following the vote. Letcher is left holding the bag on an out-of-balance city budget, an angry Legislature threatening the future of downtown redevelopment, a do-over police chief search and numerous other items that frustrated some council members and prompted Tuesday's vote.

Nobody thought a trip to the soda machine would take longer than the council's evaluation of its top administrator. But Roger Tamietti, president of the firefighters' union, like Prior, missed the vote on a short jaunt to buy a soda. Tamietti shook his head in response to a question about where the vote leaves labor group negotiations with the city over changes to employee benefits that are intended to plug about $10 million of next fiscal year's projected budget shortfall. "I'm not sure," he said. He declined to comment on the vote. Police union leader Officer Larry Lopez, a vocal critic of both Hein and Letcher in the past, echoed the uncertainty but said he hoped the decision would lead to greater openness in city decision-making. "It's time to move on," he said.

Uhlich, who made the motion to dismiss Hein, said Tuesday evening that the decision to fire Hein would not have a substantial effect on the city's wrangling with precipitous drops in revenue or its struggle to maintain the Rio Nuevo sales tax stream the state Legislature has threatened to sever. "The city certainly doesn't ride on the rise or fall of one person," she said. Romero provided similar assurances, referring to the city as "a well-oiled machine" staffed with top-notch department leaders. She cited concerns about transparency. "I think Tucson deserves better," Romero said. The vote left Hein's three council supporters fuming. "I think it was one of the most patently short-sighted and ill-conceived decisions they could have made," Trasoff said of her colleagues. Glassman said, "I supported the city manager based on his work performance and the importance of consistency and focus on taking care of our neighbors during these troubled economic times."

Hein was scheduled to present a recommended budget April 18. He said earlier Tuesday that the document was nearly finalized. Interim budget supervisor Marie Nemerguth was not available Tuesday evening to comment. Some council members' tempers flared in recent weeks as they faced the prospect of tax and fee increases, layoffs, staff furloughs and department consolidations to balance the budget. They were frustrated to learn of previously unacknowledged fund shortfalls and vocabulary mixups that caused shifting impressions of the city's finances, and were alarmed by the abrupt resignation of ex-Finance Director Frank Abeyta after just four months on the job.

Just two weeks ago, Uhlich and Romero supported exploring ways to separate Hein from the city's embattled downtown development effort, citing a lack of clarity in financial and managerial boundaries. Uhlich proposed the division immediately after a unanimous vote to explore doing a detailed audit of the Rio Nuevo downtown development district, which has been faulted by state legislators for a perceived lack of transparency, accountability and visible results. Hein recently announced decisions to halt work on several Rio Nuevo projects, citing the economic downturn. Hein was hired in 2005 from Pima County, where he was assistant county administrator, with resounding support from the business community led by restaurateur Bob McMahon. Tuesday, McMahon still supported Hein. "This just shows that these four people on the City Council accept no responsibility for the way they have mismanaged Rio Nuevo and various other issues all over Tucson," McMahon said. "They're using Mike Hein as a scapegoat instead of looking in the mirror and seeing the real culprit," he said. "I can't imagine anybody of any quality wanting to work for this City Council."

Other business leaders were silent for a few seconds when asked for comment on Hein's dismissal. Steve Lynn was the architect behind the formation of Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities and the Downtown Tucson Partnership, both formed in collaboration with Hein. Lynn is the partnership's chairman and Hein sat on its board. "I think Mike has been trying to be helpful with downtown," said Lynn, vice president of communications at UniSource Energy Co. and its subsidiary, Tucson Electric Power. "He was trying to work to put Rio Nuevo back on track. I fear it will have a negative impact on our ability to keep the (tax increment financing that funds Rio Nuevo.)

Glenn Lyons, chief executive of the Downtown Tucson Partnership, worked closely with Hein, who delegated the sale of a handful of city-owned properties to Lyons' group. "I believe that Mike Hein was an excellent city manager," Lyons said. "He had managed to extend the (tax increment financing) and move us well along on expansion of the convention center and development of a new hotel." Jack Camper, president of the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, said the timing of Hein's dismissal is unfortunate with the city's financial problems and efforts to hire a police chief, let alone the risk of losing Rio Nuevo's funding. "It will no doubt impact the Rio Nuevo legislation as it works its way through the Legislature," Camper said. "Sen. (Jonathan) Paton has made no bones of the fact that he's supportive of Rio Nuevo, but if Hein goes, all bets are off." Paton did not immediately return calls. Hein's salary is $211,820. He will receive half that amount in severance plus benefits under the terms of his contract.



And here is a future council candidate's observation of the current situation, taken from the Arizona Daily Star's comment board:

Comment by steve k. (skozachik) — April 7,2009 @ 7:38PM

Earlier this afternoon the Tucson City Council voted to terminate City Manager Mike Hein. This was yet another clear indication of the inability of this council to work either together or in cooperation with other departments within the City governance structure. Accounts of the day's events indicate that this decision was discussed for a mere 20 minutes in a closed door session. It is remarkable that such a critical move was given such a brief airing. If any of the council members who voted to retain Mr. Hein had any designs on demonstrating leadership, they should have not allowed the move to go forward without an extensive discussion. Evidently nobody chose to exert a position of leadership and so the vote proceded. The vote is yet another demonstration that this council lacks the capacity to look at the implications of their actions prior to simply shooting from the hip. With this move, the City of Tucson now has a Fire Chief who may have to resign in June if he cannot sell his house and move into the City limits, an interim City Finance director, no eligible candidates for the vacant Police Chief position (a situation the council put themselves into after spending over $10,000 on a search, only to declare the search void and express their intent to consider internal candidates - none of whom meets the residency requirements imposed by the council itself), and we are left with an interim City Manager who has already submitted his resignation, effective in November. All of this while we are looking at a City budget deficit estimated to be at $80 million. You cannot make this stuff up, folks.

The State Legislature has made it clear that ousting Mr. Hein would set in motion the process of removing TIF funding for Rio Nuevo. Without that funding source, there is no Rio Nuevo, which means there is no downtown revitalization any time in the foreseeable future. We are additionally left to sail this rudderless ship towards the iceberg of a budget deficit that places the fiscal integrity of the City in serious jeapardy. Tucson deserves better. Tucson needs leadership and it is clearly not getting that from any of the current council members or the mayor.

Support my candidacy - votestevek.com - and I committ that I will at the very least bring a clarion call to within the council chambers that we simply cannot continue on in this direction or the City of Tucson will continue to lose quality jobs, continue to live in a lock-down situation due to a lack of police to respond promptly, and continue to provoke the State Legislature in the direction of pulling the life blood from any hopes we may have of revitalizing our downtown. It is the responsibility of the council to provide direction to the office of the Manager. None chose to do that - all of the council is culpable for the situation we now find ourselves in.

Steve K.
Council Candidate Ward 6

[kaneui]

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/WalgreensOriginalFacade.jpg http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/Walgreens-today.jpg
The Walgreens building original facade (left) and as it stands today (right).
(photos: Tucson Citizen archives)


Restoration of downtown Walgreens facade could begin Friday
by TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
04.08.2009

Facade work to restore the original 1929 look of the downtown Walgreens building at 44 N. Stone Ave. could begin as early as Friday, a county official said. Durazo Construction will erect scaffolding and pedestrian tunnels before peeling off the 1956 skin, said Reid Spaulding, director of the county's Facilities Management Department. "This is not a demolition," Spaulding said. "It is a deconstruction. Durazo will deconstruct the corner of the building (at Stone Avenue and Pennington Street), the tower part of the building."

The county owns the Walgreens building, which it acquired in 1987 along with the neighboring Legal Services Building, the 20-story blue tower that is Tucson's third-tallest building. Spaulding said the facade work will help get the Walgreens building ready to sell to the private sector. The tower facade deconstruction is the first of a six-phase, $780,000 project funded with 2004 county bond money. The Durazo contract for $103,702 covers the first phase only, Spaulding said. Durazo has 90 days to remove the 1956 moderne false facade, but Spaulding said Durazo's work may be done by 60 days. Future contracts will restore the tower facade and reconstruct other facades along Stone and Pennington.

Many downtown buildings have 1910s and 1920s facades hidden behind 1940s and 1950s coverings. How intact the original facades are varies from building to building. "Our pessimism exceeds our optimism," Spaulding said. Initial peeks under the Walgreens skin revealed heavy damage to the 1929 facade, Spaulding said. That will make creating new Spanish colonial elements challenging. The building originally housed Montgomery Ward. Walgreens occupied it from 1956 until moving out in 2003. It has stood empty since then.

Another downtown facade project is under way at 64 E. Broadway, the recent home of Southern Arizona Legal Aid. It is the first project among the four downtown buildings chosen for the city's $500,000 facade improvement program. Architect Robert Bailey is using $125,000 in city funding to remove a 1984 facade to reveal and restore two separate facades from 1909 and 1919. Work started a month ago and restoration should be done in the summer, general partner Ron Schwabe said. The other projects in the city program are Wig-O-Rama, 98-110 E. Congress St.; the Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St.; and the Rialto Block, 300-320 E. Congress St.

[PHX31]

/\ Thanks for the facade restoration update. I actually clicked on this thread specifically hoping you had an update on the progress. I think it is a fantastic idea. It might seemingly be a waste of money initially, but I think in the long run it is a good idea, especially visually. Like I said before, I wish more of these could be done, even here in Phoenix. There is one building a block or two from my house on 7th St that is HIDEOUS right now... but the original brick facade underneath (I've seen a picture of it originally) is really nice. I wish they'd bring it back... and I guarantee you if they did, the business would flourish inside. The look of the building now is sooooooo bad, it really is uninviting. Restoring it would make it extremely appealling, especially considering the building houses antique stores and an old school style diner.

[Locofresh55]

It would be fairly ironic if CVS were to buy out the building once it was restored.

[BrandonJXN]

Did anyone go to Dub Crawl?

[kaneui]

Check out this website for lots of photos of historic Tucson structures:

http://www.pbase.com/bearpaw/historic_tucson


Also, a site of architectural preservation/restoration showing numerous projects in Tucson and southern Arizona:

http://www.rwboucher.com/

[kaneui]

With Rio Nuevo on the skids, future downtown development momentum may depend on landowners/business partners like Scott Stiteler and Don Martin, who have plans for a number of parcels on the east end of downtown. To be financially viable, however, most of those plans probably won't come to fruition without a hefty dose of city subsidies:


http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/DMartinandSStiteler.jpg
Don Martin (left) and Scott Stiteler (right) are slated to partner with the city
on a plan that includes a land swap for a $10 million construction investment.
(photo: Samantha Sais)



East Side Story
Downtown's future will be shaped in part by what's about to happen in the area around the Rialto and the Warehouse District

by Dave Devine and Molly McKasson
Tucson Weekly
April 9, 2009

Rocked by complaints about its handling of Rio Nuevo, the City Council is now looking to come up with a winning plan supporting new development on the east end of downtown. The city has already invested large sums of money to encourage development there, including buying and renovating the train station, purchasing the Rialto Theatre and awarding two façade- improvement grants for the same block. The city is also finishing up a new Fourth Avenue underpass, building a parking garage in the area and considering the construction of another nearby.

In addition, the city is contemplating a large financial incentive, worth millions of dollars, to spur a privately funded east-end project. In a December City Council communication about a predevelopment agreement regarding this proposal, City Manager Mike Hein wrote that it could "create the critical mass from which a downtown neighborhood can grow over time." However, many people are now criticizing the proposal. "I can't prove it was a bait-and-switch deal," says former city employee John Laswick, a longtime Warehouse District supporter (see "Funky Places," Sept. 4, 2008), about what's happened with the predevelopment agreement since December. "But it sure feels like it."

The predevelopment agreement (PDA) was with the Downtown Tucson Development Company (DTDC). In December, this group included subdivision developer Scott Stiteler, commercial builder Jim Campbell, and the Portland, Ore., planning-and-development firm of Williams and Dame. Stiteler, along with his business partner, local manufacturer Don Martin, owns the block which adjoins the historic Rialto Theatre. Stiteler has also been involved with the conversion of the former Martin Luther King public-housing project into rental complex One North Fifth, and owns retail space in the 200 block of East Congress Street.

The city's agreement with the DTDC called for the group to do extensive—and expensive—planning work in a large area along the north and east ends of downtown. They were also slated to provide funding for a building-conditions survey and establish a $2 million revolving-loan fund for structural renovations in Tucson's historic Warehouse District. "The concept is the city has no money," explains Jaret Barr, of the city manager's office. "What if the DTDC could do the work, and our compensation (to the DTDC) would be properties?" Under the terms of the predevelopment agreement, the developers would be given options to acquire numerous parcels of valuable property for $1 each. This land was to be transferred when the DTDC finished specific tasks.

Within weeks of the City Council's approval of the agreement, Williams and Dame dropped out, and Stiteler and Martin split off from Campbell. At the same time, the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) ended negotiations with the city over transferring ownership of approximately 15 warehouses to local control, despite months of assurances from both sides that things were going smoothly. Despite the setbacks, the momentum toward a final development agreement doesn't seem to have slowed. "The PDA had (us paying) $5 million around the Rialto, $2.5 million for planning, and $2.5 million for the warehouses, or a total of $10 million," Stiteler explains, "... The focus has shifted to $10 million on building things. We were concerned that we'd end up with a pie-in-the-sky plan which would make us feel good for three or six months, but wouldn't get built."

While Rialto-block plans are still included in the ongoing negotiations with the city, Stiteler and Martin are now proposing to also invest $5 million on a multifaceted project along Toole Avenue just west of Sixth Avenue. Stiteler can't supply an estimated cost for this entire concept, but does say: "There are lots of pots (of money) out there." One of these is a federal tax-credit program for which the city recently applied. The uncertainty over the financial viability of the proposal, however, isn't the only hurdle the project will have to overcome. The Toole Avenue property is presently owned by ADOT. Despite the state agency's earlier rejection of a land swap, city officials insist they're now interested in swapping other land to acquire the parcel. Barr thinks this land exchange should occur before the final development agreement can be submitted to the City Council. "It absolutely has to happen before May, with a comfortable time period before then," Barr explains. As of the deadline for this story, though, the sides were still haggling. If that land swap doesn't take place, Martin is philosophical. "If those (Toole Avenue properties) don't transfer," he says, "we'll reorganize."

Stiteler and Martin say they'd implement several improvements to the property, presuming the city can acquire it. In addition to renovating two existing warehouses—one of which now houses the youth-club Skrappy's—and installing a small park, the developers would construct a new building. "It will be a three-story building with the first floor serving as artist space to tell their story," Stiteler explains. "The second and third floors would be 40 new affordable-housing units priced at under $100,000." While he hopes these units can be sold, Stiteler doesn't rule out the possibility of rentals. In addition to their $10 million commitment, Stiteler says he and Martin have already invested another $15 million in the area, a figure questioned by other downtown investors. In exchange for their future financial outlays, the two will soon ask the City Council to give them $3.5 million in municipally owned land. "It doesn't make economic sense to do this alone without a public/private partnership," Stiteler says. "When you add the whole package together, it seems like a reasonable subsidy."

Martin explains: "The Rialto has had four partnerships in five years, but nothing's happened, because it's difficult to bring in renters. Almost all of them have to be subsidized by us (the city), because the market's not strong enough." Plans for upgrading the Rialto block began in 2002, when Doug Biggers, former owner of the Tucson Weekly, bought the property, but his ideas for improvements never materialized. "The main reason I didn't rehab the block is I had insufficient capital at key moments," Biggers says. As to why he didn't ask for a city subsidy, Biggers responds: "(Land) swapping was out of my experience." About a year ago, Biggers sold his interest in the block to Martin and Stiteler, who now have ambitious plans for the Rialto block as well as the Toole Avenue property. "We want visible construction in both areas this year," Stiteler says. Martin elaborates: "We want to put in a courtyard behind the Rialto Theatre, and turn the former Skrappy's building on Broadway Boulevard into a cabaret. There'd be outside dining and music and offices upstairs (in the Rialto building)."

Past publicity has focused on Kwang C. An, owner of the Great Wall China restaurant and former owner of Sakura, as possibly opening a restaurant/bar in the Rialto building. Stiteler has also been talking to Janos Wilder about establishing a restaurant in a nearby space on Congress Street. Both Stiteler and Martin insist that without the city-land subsidy, renting out the Rialto block wouldn't be economically feasible. "The city set the stage for this by giving free rent (to nearby restaurants located in city-owned buildings). We have to have (this subsidy); it's the only way we and the city can see to make this a viable economic deal."

This proposed subsidy has sent up a red flag for others who have invested heavily in downtown, including John Wesley Miller. He developed the Armory Park del Sol subdivision a few blocks south of the Rialto building, and spent more than $2 million to acquire and renovate a former department store located on the corner of Congress Street and Scott Avenue. "Nobody offered me anything," Miller says about the latter project. "Does this mean (the City Council) will give me one-third? I believe in incentives, but I question the fairness to those of us who invested our own money, and no payback was given." Dominic Moreno owns On a Roll Sushi and is Miller's tenant on Congress Street. He also has problems with the proposed development deal. "It's not fair," Moreno declares. "Here comes some bigwig, and they can wheel and deal just for themselves."

On the other hand, two of the members of the City Council's Downtown Subcommittee who support the $3.5 million land subsidy have only words of praise for the proposed deal and Stiteler himself. "I think what Stiteler is doing is very good," says Regina Romero. "Nobody else has said they have millions to invest (downtown). ... Despite the economic situation right now, it will bring much more activity downtown, and sales taxes." Nina Trasoff agrees with Romero. "I believe Scott Stiteler to be a highly honorable man with a passion for this project. This is going beyond one project to the whole east end of downtown, so we're looking at a vision of the whole thing, and getting it done. ... We have to find a way to encourage now, not when the economy bounces back."

The third member of the subcommittee, Steve Leal, is much more cautious in his comments. "They're predicating their ability to follow through on external unknowns (extra funding and the city acquiring the land)," Leal says about the developers and their Toole Avenue proposal. "In other words, it's pie in the sky." As for the Rialto block, Leal says: "They're doing something they were going to do anyway. The city should provide resources (to projects) which weren't going to be done." Both councilwomen mention the involvement of the Warehouse Arts Management Organization (WAMO) in developing the concept for the Toole Avenue project. However, WAMO board members have reservations about it. "The details are so sketchy," comments printer and warehouse tenant Dwight Metzger. "I don't buy it at all." Ceramic artist Susan Gamble adds: "It sounds so incredibly vague to me. It could go south incredibly fast."

However, the land-transfer between the city and the DTDC that's called for in the predevelopment agreement is quite specific. It states that as soon as 90 percent of the 8,800 square feet of new commercial space in the One North Fifth project is leased, the developers will be given a site on Broadway Boulevard near Park Avenue formerly occupied by a Volvo dealership. According to a city appraisal, this land is worth almost $2 million. Stiteler says the still-vacant commercial space in the One North Fifth building is currently 50 percent leased, and he is talking with a couple of other potential tenants. If the Volvo property is included in the final development agreement, both Leal and Trasoff say that they want to see what the site would be used for before agreeing to give it away. The PDA also called for the developers to be given the land where the Greyhound Bus station once sat, at Broadway Boulevard and Fourth Avenue, after they completed substantial rehabilitation of the Rialto block.

Despite that, Campbell—who is now working independently of Stiteler and Martin—says he will pay either the appraised value or a similar in-lieu amount for the Greyhound site. He wants to build a commercial project on the vacant land after acquiring it through a separate development agreement. An above-ground, city-owned parking garage is planned across the street from the land. Campbell says his company will bid to build the garage. "The goal is that I will work with the city to reduce construction costs through value engineering," he says about his possible involvement. Furthermore, the PDA mandated that once the Rialto block was 90 percent leased, 35,000 square feet of the Ronstadt Transit Center fronting Congress Street and Sixth Avenue would be turned over to the developers. A provision in the agreement states that if there are environmental factors which severely impact any of the land to be given away, "the city will provide (the) developer with a replacement site ... or with a cash reimbursement, either of which will be in an amount at least equal to the fair market value of the site being replaced."

Before the PDA was approved, Stiteler sent an e-mail to his partners outlining his views on the city subsidy. In it, he expressed his optimism about the future investment value of the property the city was proposing to provide. He calculated it could increase in value from a present $4.5 million to $12.5 million, based on the implementation of city-funded proposals to be completed in the next few years. These projects include the modern streetcar and downtown landscaping improvements. Assuming a better economy in six to nine years, Stiteler went even further: He estimated the land could be worth $25 million by then—an almost six-fold increase compared to its present assumed value. "I hope the value of the (option) land goes up," Stiteler now says in an interview. "If we make a profit, I believe that's acceptable. I don't think anyone is behind us (with such major plans for investing downtown)."

However, there's no way of telling if that's true or not, since the city hasn't put out a request for proposals offering other developers a land swap. Leal, who is finishing his final term on the City Council, calls downtown "an attractive place to invest" because of all the improvements being made in the area. However, he also declares: "If Stiteler believes in that increase in value (of the land), how can he say they're at risk with investments on their own property? If your own land is (increasing in value), what's the risk?"

The downtown group that's being asked to assume the biggest risk may actually be WAMO. As Stiteler and Martin ask for public subsidies, WAMO's vision to preserve the historic Warehouse District as an affordable area for artists appears to be evaporating. The first blow came when ADOT concluded that the three parcels of property the city of Tucson was offering to swap—for about 15 state-owned warehouses—were basically worthless, because of environmental problems. The possibility that ADOT may eventually auction off the warehouses instead of transferring them to city ownership has many artists worried. They fear that investors, not artists, will end up buying the buildings, and the dream of preserving the downtown enclave as affordable studio and gallery space will disappear.

Despite the state's decision on the land swap, Romero still expresses hope for the Warehouse District. "The holistic look at downtown is still in place, because Scott (Stiteler) believes in the arts component downtown," she says. Trasoff adds: "Scott Stiteler really is a master planner. It's unfair to criticize someone who has come forward with such a large investment, and this big a concept." The second setback to WAMO occurred after the ADOT land-swap rejection, when city officials decided to regroup by trying to only acquire small portions of the Warehouse District from ADOT. In addition to the Toole Avenue site desired by Stiteler and Martin, the city hopes to obtain the historic Steinfeld and Citizens Transfer warehouses on Sixth Street west of Stone Avenue. The city wants to use Regional Transportation Authority funds to purchase these two structures—an idea that was previously rejected by the RTA.

At the same time, some members of the WAMO board are no longer convinced that the organization should eventually assume management responsibility for the century-old Steinfeld building. "Do we want to take on such a huge money pit?" asks Metzger, considering millions of dollars are needed to rehabilitate the Steinfeld property. "It's a great idea, but I don't know if it's financially practical." Money is an especially important consideration for the organization, which has no financial resources of its own. WAMO has yet to obtain nonprofit status from the federal government and has less than $100 in the bank while having thousands of dollars in unpaid debts.

The City Council in February did authorize the transfer of $65,000 to WAMO, money which came from rent payments made by Warehouse District tenants. However, the organization needs to jump through a lot of bureaucratic hoops if it ever wants to receive that money. For her part, Gamble is willing to take a risk on the Steinfeld building. "I say 'yes' to Steinfeld's," she remarks. "It may be a money pit, but it can hold a lot of artists." Leal and Romero both say WAMO's position on the city acquiring the Steinfeld and Citizens Transfer buildings is critical. "WAMO's opinion is very important," Romero says. "If they have a different opinion (about the two buildings), the city will have to change priorities." As the arts organization debates its position on that issue, it is also debating what role, if any, it should play in the final development agreement between City Hall, Stiteler and Martin.

WAMO's mission from its inception has been to preserve the entire Warehouse District. Thus, even though City Council members may believe the arts organization is supportive of Stiteler's proposals, only reservations were expressed at a recent WAMO meeting. "I don't think WAMO is smart to support (Stiteler's) plan until it hears about the rest of the ADOT-owned buildings," Metzger says. "We should advocate for the whole arts district and make that contingent on our support. ... Stiteler shouldn't feel like he'll get a slam-dunk (when the council considers the final agreement) in May."

At a meeting held last week to discuss the Toole Avenue proposal, representatives of Romero's and Trasoff's offices attended. Marvin Shaver, WAMO's president, says that he mentioned the importance of the other ADOT-owned warehouses, but Stiteler says he doesn't recall it coming up. "My focus is on the three (Toole Avenue) properties," Stiteler says. "I'm sensing a lot of support for what I want to build there." On the other hand, Shaver emphasizes: "We shouldn't forget the other warehouses along Toole that need help. We need a plan of action (for them)," whether that plan is part of Stiteler's arrangement with City Hall or not. With a draft development agreement between the city, Stiteler and Martin nearing completion, Shaver says WAMO may take a stand on the document before it's presented to the City Council. "I don't know what that position will be," he admits.

[kaneui]

Led by Tucson-area representatives, it appears the state legislature will control the funding and direction of Rio Nuevo, if it survives at all. With tens of millions of TIF dollars spent and little to show for it, Rio Nuevo now represents a squandered opportunity for Tucson to direct its own downtown redevelopment:



State legislators moving to take control of Rio Nuevo
by TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
04.14.2009

Last week's daily scramble to save Rio Nuevo is having little impact in the Legislature, where lawmakers are poised to take control of the downtown revitalization project from the city. The firing of former City Manager Mike Hein, cutting Rio Nuevo director Greg Shelko's position from the budget as of July 1, and the Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District Board's announcement Friday that it would seek new management and financial management for Rio Nuevo are hitting on deaf ears with the Legislature. "It's irrelevant," state Rep. Frank Antenori, a Tucson Republican said. "We're going full-speed ahead for a state oversight board."

State Sen. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, is crafting legislation to either add state-appointed members to the Rio Nuevo board or create a new board with state-appointed members. "We're still working on the language," Paton said. "I'd say we're not going to have a budget soon." Antenori said legislation would focus Rio Nuevo entirely on the Tucson Convention Center expansion and companion hotel. "No trolley, no Fox Theatre, no Mercado District, no more anything else," Antenori said. "We gotta get the convention center built."

The City Council, in the meantime, will consider a resolution Tuesday stating the TCC and its hotel are the top priorities for downtown revitalization, a position the council had already taken March 17. The Rio Nuevo Board on Friday made its first public hint at changing the intergovernmental agreement that has the city operating the Rio Nuevo district, but no marching orders were issued to Rio Nuevo legal counsel Bill Hicks. "I have none to speak of," Hicks said about assigned duties regarding refashioning Rio Nuevo. "It's at this point an undefined course of action." Hicks said "presumably" there would be modifications to the IGA, "but none of that has been discussed."

The decision to cut the Rio Nuevo director from the fiscal 2010 budget also presumes changes to the agreement, but interim City Manager Mike Letcher said he would get advice from the city attorney about the IGA. Letcher dismissed notions the city was handing off Rio Nuevo, even though it won't have a director for day-to-day operations. "There's still people in charge," Letcher said. "I'm in charge."

[BrandonJXN]

So is this the building that's going to rise on the parking structure behine OneNorthFifth?

http://www.lloydconstruction.com/images/portfolio/government/mlk1.jpg

And are there any updates on The Post and 44 Main?

[finmqa1]

While I think ABQ, Tucson, and El Paso are all similar, Tucson has one definite advantage. Being so close to Phoenix has allowed Tucson to gain more attention nationally than both ABQ and EP. The weather there also makes it more attractive to retirees and travelers willing to spend money at your beautiful resorts. ABQ has added some nice resorts as well but for Tucson to land a Ritz Carlton is impressive. One thing that is advantageous for ABQ is that we are the largest city in NM and therefore receive most of the state's money and attention. Whereas Tucson plays second fiddle to Phoenix, and EP is in a distant 5th place in Texas. I definitely think Tucson has a more pro-growth attitude than ABQ, but ABQ and EP seem to be more planful with their infrastructure and infill projects throughout the city.

[kaneui]

So is this the building that's going to rise on the parking structure behine OneNorthFifth?


And are there any updates on The Post and 44 Main?


^That's one of them--there will also be another five-story apt. building next to it. Re: 44 Main--I believe you meant 44 Broadway. All the latest info. on these projects is on the Tucson project list that is updated regularly.


Now, for a few success stories after all the recent Rio Nuevo doom and gloom:


http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/MaynardsMktandKitchen.jpg
More than 180 people took part in the start of the first Meet Me at Maynards
weekly Southern Arizona Roadrunners social run. The Monday run started at
Maynards Market at the Historic Depot, 400 N. Toole Ave.
(photo: Xavier Gallegos)


New Maynards Market carving out niche downtown
Shop's focus on local products delights clientele
by TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
04.17.2009

Defying a depressed economy and a closed Fourth Avenue underpass just a few feet away, Maynards Market appears to be growing. The 2-month-old market in the Historic Depot, 400 E. Toole Ave., is a local business with local products for people who live and work downtown - and also for people from all over who add a market stop while dining next door at Maynards Kitchen. "People are really yearning for something to happen downtown," said Shana Oseran, who with her husband, Richard, owns Maynards Market and Kitchen, along with Hotel Congress across the street. "What's happening is we're willing to take a chance and offer what people want."

Maynards has already developed a loyal customer base that makes suggestions on what the market should carry, such as bottled Coca-Cola from Mexico; Orangina, a carbonated citrus drink; and Sanpellegrino mineral water. "I sell the heck out of this," market manager Mark Black said about Orangina. "A lot of these drinks have cult followings." But about half of its merchandise is made in and around Tucson and elsewhere in Arizona. "I think over time we're going to move closer to 100 percent local," Black said.
Black recruited 30 local vendors to supply goods from candles, artisan breads and organic spices to scone mix, recycled vinyl accessories and fresh farmer's cheese and butter. The store carries nearly 900 items.

Monroe Racz, who lives a block away at One North Fifth Apartments, manages to do all her food shopping at Maynards. "It's filled my dream of not having to use my car," Racz said. "The store makes my shopping more convenient." "The market is really focusing on local products and having amenities that need to be available for people who live downtown," Shana Oseran said. "To tell you the truth, we throw everything up in the air and see what's selling. Believe me, it's the local products." So far, the restaurant is subsidizing the market, but sales figures grow every week. Richard Oseran is pleased with the results, considering that a prime customer base is on the other side of the Fourth Avenue underpass, which is closed for construction. Many market patrons are restaurant diners, largely because they must order their lunch at the market counter. Dinner has table service. "Some people had to get used to the idea of not having table service at lunch," Richard Oseran said. "The reason (for it) was to have people moving through the whole area."

This week, runners and walkers discovered Maynards en masse. The Southern Arizona Roadrunners staged its first "Meet Me at Maynards" Monday, drawing about 200 people to run or walk through downtown along the blue painted line known as the Presidio Trail. Before and after, participants wandered through the market, dined at the neighboring Maynards Kitchen and socialized on the track-side patio. "The first social run was a blast," said Randy Accetta, a former Roadrunners president and co-developer of the Maynards event. "The market is a great idea. The Maynards location was splendid: plenty of room on the patio, great drinks, discounted food - couldn't ask for anything more." The Roadrunners plan to meet at the market at 6 p.m. every Monday, at least through the end of May, Accetta said.

Maynards Market and Kitchen is among a string of relatively new downtown businesses that bring an enthusiastic spirit to downtown, said Chris Early, owner of Chris' Cafe and chair of the Downtown Tucson Partnership's Merchants Council. "It's another one of those new businesses coming downtown with fresh ideas and a willingness to be open when events are going on in the evenings," Early said. The market fills about half of the former waiting room space at the train depot. The Oserans decided to craft shelves from pallet wood to give the space a rustic feel. The merchandise includes an eclectic mix of breakfast items, snack stuff, detergents, decorative items, and enough components to assemble a dinner.

Lisette Sacks, creative director at a downtown advertising firm, assembles her lunch three days a week with Maynards Market merchandise. The bar manager at the Hotel Congress selects the beer and wines, which include handcrafted beers, ales and stouts from New Mexico, Oregon, Colorado, north San Diego County, Ukiah in northern California and overseas. Some of the beer and wine is served at the Maynards restaurant bar, and an asterisk on the dinner menu denotes ingredients available in the market. Monica Cota provides candles hand-poured at her Rustic Candle Co. shop, 324 N. Fourth Ave. She said sales have increased 20 percent since her product has been available at Maynards. "I'm just thrilled with the response we have had in there," Cota said. "(Maynards) have kept reordering."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/StAugustinePlacita.jpg
(photo: Val Canez)


Placita at St. Augustine Cathedral nearly finished
Dedication May 31 for community facility honoring Monsignor Carrillo

by TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
04.17.2009

A 22-foot-tall, steel lattice band shell with decorative floral details now graces the St. Augustine Cathedral grounds, the signature piece for the Monsignor Arsenio S. Carrillo Placita and Hall. The placita's dedication is set for 1 p.m. May 31, said John Shaheen, property director for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson. Work on the placita, at 192 S. Stone Ave., will continue until mid-May. "The idea behind it was, this would be a community space, not just for the parish," Shaheen said. "The whole placita area is designed to handle craft fairs, farmers markets and such."

The placita can seat 600 for concerts and 300 for sit-down dinners, he said. The band shell covers a 1,600-square-foot stage. The shell is decorated with more than 300 steel flowers;1,000 steel leaves and branches; 18 steel butterflies; and a half-dozen steel birds, all crafted by blacksmith Joe Hernandez and two people he hired for the four-month forging job. Hernandez also supervised the installation of his floral work during the past four weeks. "I just came up with a design (for the flowers)," said Hernandez, who owns Adobe Anvil Iron Works. "Each flower is about seven pieces." The flowers range from 24 inches to 12 inches wide. They were airbrushed with color by Fernando Holguin and Chris Andrews.

The placita is a 4-year quest of Tony S. Carrillo to honor his brother, Monsignor Arsenio S. Carrillo, who was the cathedral's rector for 40 years. Tony Carrillo chaired the 31-person placita committee that has raised about $1 million. It still needs about $150,000 to pay for the sound and lighting systems. "It's very exciting to be able to have a facility that is going to be open to the public that can be used for weddings and quinceañeras," Tony Carrillo said. "The fact that it will spur interest in further development downtown is also important to me and the bishop."

The placita has been taking shape since last April, as crews transformed the cathedral's long-neglected space at Stone Avenue and Ochoa Street into a dedicated gathering place. About 1,200 paver bricks will make up the placita surface, and new restrooms were attached to the exterior of the former cathedral hall. A small grotto in honor of the monsignor is being built at Stone and Ochoa.

[Locofresh55]

While I think ABQ, Tucson, and El Paso are all similar, Tucson has one definite advantage. Being so close to Phoenix has allowed Tucson to gain more attention nationally than both ABQ and EP. The weather there also makes it more attractive to retirees and travelers willing to spend money at your beautiful resorts. ABQ has added some nice resorts as well but for Tucson to land a Ritz Carlton is impressive. One thing that is advantageous for ABQ is that we are the largest city in NM and therefore receive most of the state's money and attention. Whereas Tucson plays second fiddle to Phoenix, and EP is in a distant 5th place in Texas. I definitely think Tucson has a more pro-growth attitude than ABQ, but ABQ and EP seem to be more planful with their infrastructure and infill projects throughout the city.

El Paso is getting attention but now in a good way. Since it is the cross border town from Ciudad Juarez, all people talk about is Drug war. Tucson is starting to hear about it as well with the situation in Nogales. I myself was planning on heading to Nogales soon but the military is giving out special permission to go to the border towns on a case by case basis. I think Nogales is safe and the fact that I'm Latino and I speak spanish should ease the minds of the leadership. I've heard good things about ABQ and hope to visit it someday.

[kaneui]

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/MissionGardensWall2.jpg
(photo: Renee Bracamonte)



Mission Gardens: No gardens yet
Adobe walls going up on city's re-creation of 18th-century structure

by Renee Bracamonte and Teya Vitu
Tucson Citizen
04.27.2009

The adobe walls re-creating the 18th century Mission Gardens should be completed in a couple of weeks, but don't expect to see anything growing there any time soon. Former City Manager Mike Hein in February shelved planting the gardens in favor of focusing all Rio Nuevo attention on the Tucson Convention Center area. That hasn't changed under newly appointed City Manager Mike Letcher. "I have not received any other direction," said Fran LaSala, an assistant to Letcher. "As far as I know, we're going to build the walls and vacate the site until they have funding to complete the gardens and maintain them in an appropriate manner."

The garden walls cost $900,000 and completing the gardens would cost another $900,000 to $950,000, LaSala said. The 4-acre site includes a buried pit house. "There is still a lot of archaeology there that we are not disturbing," said Jeff Dupuis, superintendent with Lloyd Construction, the firm building the walls. The gardens were supposed to be completed by this winter, but the City Council switched course in February and put the entire Tucson Origins project on hold. That includes the Mission Gardens, the Mission San Agustín, the University of Arizona Science Center/Arizona State Museum, Arizona History Museum and Tucson Children's Museum.

[oliveurban]

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/MaynardsMktandKitchen.jpg
More than 180 people took part in the start of the first Meet Me at Maynards
weekly Southern Arizona Roadrunners social run. The Monday run started at
Maynards Market at the Historic Depot, 400 N. Toole Ave.
(photo: Xavier Gallegos)


New Maynards Market carving out niche downtown
Shop's focus on local products delights clientele
by TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
04.17.2009

I was in Tucson this past weekend for a concert at the Rialto. On our way home the following day my party and I ate lunch at Maynards Kitchen, which for those who may not know, is inside the beautifully restored historic rail depot Downtown (* Phoenix's Union Station should take note). The food was good, the space very attractive and the atmosphere even better. Definitely a nice new addition.

[kaneui]

Other than Rio Nuevo, Scott Stiteler is one of the few developers with downtown projects that are moving forward:



Developer set to propose major new downtown arts and entertainment complex
By Lee Allen
Inside Tucson Business
May 01, 2009

Despite recent turmoil involving personnel and projects connected to downtown redevelopment, some significant new plans are coming to light — including a new multimillion dollar arts and entertainment district at Sixth and Toole avenues. The collective reality of projects completed — or nearing their finish dates — helps form a picture of the transition of downtown:

• Reconstruction of the Fourth Avenue underpass of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks is on target to open to traffic by Aug. 10, according to project manager Mike Skilsky.

• Renovations are nearing completion for the MacArthur Building, 345 E. Toole Ave., which will be the new home to Madden Media. “We opted for downtown because stuff is happening here,” said John Hudak, publisher and partner in Madden.

• Residential units are nearly sold out in One North Fifth, the redeveloped former Martin Luther King low-income housing building. Developer Ron Schwabe says leases are being signed for street level retail space.

• Improvements to Scott Avenue are almost finished. “This was an amazing 11-month pace to complete the $4.8 million renovation with a grand opening later this month,” said the city’s project supervisor, Fran LaSala.

• The Depot Plaza parking garage, with about 300 spaces, is starting to rise up from the underground levels with less than nine months left to that construction schedule.

And nationally-acclaimed chef Janos Wilder announced he would return downtown with a restaurant, after an 11-year absence. “This is completion of a circle for me to return downtown where I started,” Wilder said. “In my heart I felt I had never really left, and a return has always been important to me. Downtown is happening, and I’m proud to be a part of this revitalization.” In addition to his Janos and J-Bar restaurants at the Westin La Paloma Resort and Spa, Wilder will lease 2,500 square feet in the 200 block of East Congress Street for his as-yet-unnamed restaurant-bar-demonstration kitchen-cooking school. “There are three storefront doors at Fifth and Congress, one will open to lunch and dinner dining, a second will lead to a bar and behind door number three will be our combination demo kitchen-cooking school where I can experiment on some new recipes,” he said. Wilder is hopeful of opening his downtown venture this fall after pending infrastructure construction is completed on Congress Street. “The construction and congestion are part of the growing pains that downtown is going through and I understand that,” he said. “There’s been lots of progress already made, more is continuing, and I’m buoyed by all that. It hasn’t dampened my enthusiasm whatsoever because I know downtown is exciting and vibrant.”

Helping make it so is developer Scott Stiteler and others who joined under the abbreviation of DTDC (Downtown Tucson Development Company). Stiteler owns Wilder’s retail space on Congress, co-owns the block adjoining the historic Rialto Theatre, and is involved in One North Fifth. Development is not a new concept for him. Stiteler is about to make more of that happen with a planned appearance before the City Council May 12 to present his concept for the new arts and entertainment district on three acres at Sixth and Toole avenues. “Under a newly-created nonprofit umbrella, we want to provide the capital and expertise to work with MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) to renovate the building at 197 East Toole as an artist-in-residence site and work with Skrappy’s to modernize the building at 191 East Toole,” Stiteler said. “We’d like to work with the city to build a park, a small oasis of green, and then work closely with WAMO (Warehouse Arts Management Organization) on a new three-story, 40,000 square-foot building with commercial space for art galleries and cafés on the first level and 40 new residences on the second and third floors.”

Project groundwork has already been laid with on-going meetings since February involving art community decision-makers, representatives of the youth center Skrappy’s, the city council and other city officials. “Every detail is in our development agreement and barring any misalignment of the dominoes we’ve lined up, the flow should go smoothly,” Stiteler says. “Our presentation should be real enough and sizeable enough that the city can show proof positive that things are actually happening. We have good momentum now and even pessimists — if they are reasonable people — should be impressed.”

Admitting there are lots of ideas, people, and moving parts to be fit into a project of this scale, Stiteler is confident that once the entitlement process is completed and a nonprofit entity created, construction could start within 12 months. “One hundred percent of my business is in Tucson and has been since 1995 when I purchased my first parcel of land. Since then I’ve quietly finished 16 projects in this community and escalated my footprint in downtown because I’ve always had a soft spot for urban revitalization. I like old buildings, the challenge they provide, and the ability to link them together to create synergy and critical mass.” As to forward movement in tough times, he says, “A lot gets done in a terrible economy because that’s where real opportunities show up. For 18 months now I’ve had laser focus going from a passive investor to the most active investor here. Many of my peers have walked away from opportunities in the last 90 days or so, but I haven’t waivered one iota. Tucson and downtown are both the right choices. There are enormous challenges, but I believe in this town and the fact that downtown is ready for a lot of activity.”



P.S. - The One North Fifth is an apartment building, and not "for sale" units as noted in the above article.

[kaneui]

The poor economy could save Rio Nuevo? Who wudda thunk...



Proposal would give state voice on Rio Nuevo board
by TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
05.01.2009

The bad economy will likely save Rio Nuevo from the legislative wolves, said state Sen. Jonathan Paton. The Tucson Republican's proposal to add state-appointed board members to the Rio Nuevo board is the only Rio Nuevo proposal being drafted by the Republican majority caucus staff to insert into the state budget, he said Thursday. "There's no money in Rio Nuevo right now," Paton said. "There's nothing to scrap. I think the (economic crisis) actually helped out."

Phoenix legislators in the past several months had threatened to withhold Rio Nuevo's tax increment financing, which is generated from a share of the sales tax in downtown and along the Broadway corridor to Park Place. The Rio Nuevo board has four members - two appointed by the Tucson City Council and two appointed by the South Tucson City Council. Enabling for Rio Nuevo requires at least two municipalities to form a multipurpose facilities district. "There are a few wrinkles we need to work out. I think we have a framework we can work out," Paton said.

One wrinkle is how many board members would be added. Another is whether Tucson and South Tucson would still appoint board members, Paton said. Tucson city lobbyist Mary Okoye said legislators are looking at expanding the board to nine or 12 members, with one-third appointed by the governor, one third by the state Senate and one third by the House of Representatives. "I would like to thank the leadership, the governor and the southern Arizona delegation for supporting us to help us keep much needed revenue for investment in our community," Okoye said. Paton said the Rio Nuevo board would become like many of the other state-appointed boards and commissions.

Paton's amendment also would add a searchable database for Rio Nuevo expenditures and a provision for a "real, independent audit." "The general consensus is we would prioritize revenue-producing projects," said Paton, referring to investing in the Tucson Convention Center expansion and hotel rather than the Tucson Origins museum complex. Okoye said the city applauds Paton's amendment. "We welcome the transparency and accountability," she said. "We welcome more people that can participate to create a world-class downtown."

[kaneui]

Initial cost estimate for downtown convention center hotel: $167M
by TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
05.02.2009

The first cost estimate released Friday for the Sheraton Tucson Convention Center Hotel is $167 million for a 25-story, 525-room building where the TCC grand lobby is now. The hotel is part of a $239 million Garfield Traub Development project that will also expand the convention center for $39 million and include a 1,160-stall parking garage for $33 million, said Steve Moffett, president of Garfield Traub's Hospitality Division. "These are all preliminary numbers, not guaranteed prices," Moffett said. "I think all three of those numbers are going to come down. We're budgeting on something that we haven't even designed yet. We're very much expecting a guaranteed maximum price will be lower." The guaranteed maximum price will be delivered in December after schematic, design and construction documents are drawn, he said.

Moffett will make formal presentations of the hotel, TCC expansion and garage projects at 3 p.m. Monday to the Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities Board at the TCC Greenlee Meeting Room, 260 S. Church Ave.; and at 2 p.m. Tuesday to a City Council study session at the Council Chambers, 255 W. Alameda St. All Rio Nuevo priorities have shifted to these TCC projects. The Tucson Origins museum complex was pushed aside in February by the City Council with a favorable nod from the Legislature. State lawmakers are poised to change the composition of the Rio Nuevo board to have members appointed by the Legislature and governor rather than the city councils of Tucson and South Tucson.

The TCC hotel project has reached the end of its pre-development phase. The Garfield Traub team has come up with a concept design, a preliminary budget, a capital plan and a pro forma income statement. Construction is expected to start in March 2010, with the hotel opening in June 2012, Moffett said. The hotel was downscaled from 707 to 525 rooms after Garfield Traub submitted its first proposal in June 2007. Moffett said the smaller hotel resulted from the city cutting back the TCC expansion to just the first phase, adding 33,000 square feet of exhibition space and 30,000 feet of meeting space to the west end of the TCC.

The $167 million hotel price is based on the TCC expansion and the anticipated room rates and occupancy. The average daily room rate is forecast at $138 the first year and $180 the fifth year. Occupancy is projected at 58 percent in the first year and 72 percent in the fifth year, according to Garfield Traub's predevelopment agreement report. The city planned to pay for the hotel with a revenue bond separate from Rio Nuevo tax increment financing, but now that TCC projects are the predominant Rio Nuevo work, TIF bonds likely will come into play, said Jaret Barr, assistant to the city manager. Moffett believes the bond market will improve substantially by the time the city goes bond shopping. "If we were (ready to build the hotel) today, we might have a problem," Moffett said. "We're probably in a perfect place today because we're not going to the bond market for eight, nine, 10 months."

Moffett believes the TCC hotel is the key to downtown revitalization. "I've been in the business a long time," he said. "This kind of development can trigger explosive growth in the construction area. Dynamic growth happens naturally." Garfield Traub plans to open an unbranded 303-room hotel in Lubbock, Texas, in June and a 500-room Sheraton in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in November. The firm is at a similar design stage as in Tucson for a 600-room Westin in Portland, Ore.

[kaneui]

TCC to get $3 million entry work
It must be finished before construction can begin on hotel, garage on hotel, other projects
By Andrea Kelly
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
05.10.2009

Construction of a $3 million entry on the east side of the Tucson Convention Center could begin as early as Oct. 1 to make room for a hotel on the southwest side of the complex. The new entrance must be done before work can start on a $240 million Sheraton hotel, parking garage and Convention Center expansion to be built by Garfield Traub Development. The hotel is supposed to include 525 rooms and 35,000 square feet of meeting space attached to an expanded Convention Center exhibit area. The parking garage is slated for 1,160 spaces. The City Council is expected to approve the master development agreement for the project Tuesday. The agreement says Garfield Traub would also get a fee of 3.5 percent of the total project budget. A memo from City Manager Mike Letcher says the parking garage estimate of $33.2 million is high because of "extraordinary site and design issues." He said it could end up costing less. The additional exhibition space could be reduced by about 15 percent to reduce costs too, Letcher said in the memo.

The city plans to get a guaranteed maximum price for the project from the developer. The project would likely be paid for with bonds to be repaid by future hotel and Convention Center revenue. That bond financing cannot be done now, but the Rio Nuevo Multipurpose Facilities District hopes to sell the bonds by the time construction on the main hotel and meeting-space expansion begins next spring, according Letcher's memo. In a presentation to the City Council last week, project staff said they hope the city puts the 6 percent hotel-tax revenues from this property into paying off the bond. Another 2 percent surcharge could be added to the taxes charged at the hotel for debt service, said Stephen Moffett, president of the Garfield Traub hospitality division. That surcharge would put Tucson's city-run hotel at the national average for hotel taxes, Moffett said. "The hotel would have to be significantly underperforming before it wouldn't be able to cover the debt," he said last week. However, outgoing Rio Nuevo Director Greg Shelko emphasized last week the financial plan for the project isn't nailed down. "None of us can tell you the final form of the financing yet," he said. Councilman Steve Leal said he was comfortable with the plans. "I don't think we're settling," he said.

The hotel design will incorporate rocks, water and light to make it reflect a "sense of place" in Tucson, said Ken Martin, principal in DLR Group, the architecture firm for the project. Councilwoman Nina Trasoff said she thought the project showed a sensitivity to the community, but she wondered whether the hotel would be successful right when it opens. Other Sheraton hotels will start advertising the new Tucson hotel as soon as construction starts, said Hoyt Harper. "We'll sell the newness," he said. Councilwoman Shirley Scott also questioned the occupancy estimates and said the project is "a very ambitious and exciting move." If the city cancels the project because it is "neither legally nor economically feasible," it would owe the developer all costs to date on the project, according to the master development agreement. If the city cancels the project without cause, it would owe the developer all costs to date and would be prohibited from entering another agreement with another developer for one year, the agreement says.

[Don B.]

A couple of shots I took yesterday of downtown Tucson:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/City%20Photos/Tucson%20AZ/IMG_2783copy.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v22/don85259/City%20Photos/Tucson%20AZ/IMG_2780copy.jpg

:)

--don

[somethingfast]

where? i don't see it??? oh, you mean those tiny little buildings lol. seriously, nice pics don as usual. i can make fun of tucson cuz i was born there and, well, it deserves it :haha:

[BTinSF]

where? i don't see it??? oh, you mean those tiny little buildings lol. seriously, nice pics don as usual. i can make fun of tucson cuz i was born there and, well, it deserves it :haha:

Go soak in that "wet heat"! ;)

[jvbahn]

Now if they could just get those few blocks filled between downtown and the University, then you've got yourself a real cityscape and AZ's first real pedestrian urban area.

[kaneui]

Proposed nearly four years ago but on hold until completion of the new 4th Ave. underpass, Plaza Centro will provide more density and residential housing on the east end of downtown:


http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/PlazaCentroMap.png


Plans for lots near Fourth Avenue underpass take shape
by TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
05.13.2009

Forty-two months is the milestone date for the Plaza Centro project at the east end of downtown, as described in the city development agreement with developer Jim Campbell. In those 3 1/2 years, the city pledges to design and build a roughly 375-space parking garage, while Campbell gets his 2.47-acre residential-and-commercial project ready to start construction as soon as the garage is finished. Campbell, president of OasisTucson, a local development company, proposes to build 100 to 150 residential units targeted toward university students and 40,000 square feet of commercial space on two plots of land bisected by Congress Street. One lot is the former Greyhound lot just east of the Rialto Theatre and the other is across Congress just south of the Fourth Avenue underpass.

The City Council scrutinized the project in a Tuesday study session, with formal approval of the development agreement expected May 19. Either the city or Campbell can terminate the contract if the 42-month tasks are not completed. However, the agreement spells out that Campbell "will not be deemed to be in breach . . . if developer is unable to secure financing . . . on commercially reasonable terms" as long as he resolves financing within two years of the garage's completion. Campbell would pay the appraised value for the land, which an appraiser will determine in the next 90 days. There is no preliminary inkling what the land is worth, said Lou Ginsberg, the city's real estate program director. The three-level garage would cost an estimated $3.5 million to $5 million and would potentially be funded with a revenue bond, City Attorney Mike Rankin and ParkWise coordinator Chris Leighton said.

Council members Regina Romero and Karin Uhlich were concerned about spending money on a public garage as the city is wrestling with a huge budget deficit. "I think it's proper to have a Plan B for that garage," Romero said. City Manager Mike Letcher, Leighton and the City Attorney's Office will meet in the coming week to determine the financial feasibility of the garage. "If it doesn't pencil out, we don't build a garage," Assistant City Attorney Chris Avery said. Leighton said in an interview that a 2004 parking study revealed that downtown has a shortage of about 1,000 spaces east of Stone Avenue and north of Broadway.

Campbell expects to invest $25 million to build three four-story housing structures - two on the Greyhound plot and one atop the garage - with a variety of commercial space on street level that could include a gym, retail, services and an Underpass Cafe. There would be walkways along all three sides, Campbell said. The Plaza Centro project has been in the works for nearly four years, but has been on hold while the neighboring Fourth Avenue underpass was under construction. In the meantime, Campbell was part of the brief life of the Downtown Tucson Development Co., which brought together financier Scott Stiteler, Williams & Dame Development and Campbell to master plan east downtown development from Sixth Street to Armory Park. The partnership collapsed within two months earlier this year, Williams & Dame left town, and Stiteler and Campbell are independently negotiating development agreements. Stiteler's involves Depot Plaza and its One North Fifth Apartments, the Rialto Block and the Ronstadt Transit Center. "We could not come to terms on how we could work together," Campbell said.

[kaneui]

City OKs deal for $167 million convention center hotel
by TEYA VITU
Tucson Citizen
05.13.2009

The TCC hotel is on. The City Council, with an "absolutely" from Councilwoman Nina Trasoff and "yeah" from Mayor Bob Walkup unanimously approved a development agreement Tuesday for a 525-room, 25-story Sheraton Tucson Convention Center Hotel. "We're coming here to build an astounding hotel edifice," Trasoff said. Garfield Traub Development is the hotel developer. Schematic design work will start this month, with construction of a new east-side main entrance for the TCC set to start in September. The hotel will be built where TCC's grand lobby is now. Construction is to start at the TCC's west lobby in March 2010.

The $239 million hotel, TCC expansion and parking garage project has become a priority for the city as it tries to save Rio Nuevo from the Legislature's budget ax. Focusing on the TCC complex came at the expense of the Tucson Origins museum complex on the West Side. "I want to make sure we do not forget many of the things voters approved in 1999," said Councilwoman Regina Romero. "We also have a cultural complex that the people of Tucson voted for." Councilwoman Karin Uhlich urged fiscal caution during economic hard times. The estimated $167 million hotel will be funded with a tax-exempt revenue bond, and certificates of participation will likely pay for the $39 million TCC expansion and $33 million garage, Rio Nuevo director Greg Shelko said.

[Locofresh55]

Two great posts Kaneui. So the hotel is a-coming after all. And what the hell is up with Plaza Centro? I had forgotten all about that. Hopefully these projects along with the depot plaza project are a good start of signs of these to come. I would love to 44 broadway start up again too.

[oliveurban]

Now if they could just get those few blocks filled between downtown and the University, then you've got yourself a real cityscape and AZ's first real pedestrian urban area.


In terms of skyscrapers?

In terms of a more urban, pedestrian-oriented environment, the foundation already exists - 4th Avenue. Though there are voids here and there, 4th Ave already is one of the liveliest stretches of roadway in Arizona, let alone Tucson (in terms of pedestrian activity). You can easily walk between the majority of the downtown area, up 4th Ave, and over to the main gates of UofA. With the trolley, especially - it's not that far, and or lacking in user-friendliness.

Also, in short matter of time, it will progressively get better. Once the new 4th Avenue underpass is completed, and the modern streetcar line is fully operational, there will be no excuse not to ditch the automobile between, say, the Congress Street area of downtown Tucson (at least), and UofA. It may not show on the skyline, but that swath between the two main bookends, is already the urban heart of Tucson.

[PHX31]

I like to think the smaller "urban" areas around the state are quite a bit ahead of the larger urban areas in terms of pedestrianism. Flagstaff, Prescott, Bisbee, etc. are already years ahead of Phoenix (the city destroyed itself, removing much of it's older building stock) or Tucson (aside from the college area/4th avenue, there are a few breaks, as mentioned, as well as a lack of shops and restaurants and things to do downtown).

[kaneui]

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/kaneui/SantaRitaHotel.jpg
The hotel, which has fallen into disrepair, has been closed now for more than three years.
The current structure dates to 1972.
(photo: Dean Knuth)



Santa Rita could be torn down for new TEP building
By Andrea Kelly
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
05.16.2009

The Santa Rita Hotel, a Downtown landmark, could be demolished to make way for a new Tucson Electric Power Company office building. Company officials confirmed Friday they have a conditional purchase contract on the hotel, at East Broadway and South Scott Avenue, which has been vacant for more than three years. Santa Rita Hotel owner Humberto Lopez also said the property is under contract, but he said he could not say anything more because of a confidentiality agreement related to the contract.

The Santa Rita is one of several sites TEP has considered to relocate from its current headquarters in the Unisource Building at 1 S. Church Ave., scarcely over a block from the Santa Rita. TEP spokesman Joseph Barrios said the conditional contract was required to do some further investigation before a final decision is made on the purchase. The contract gives the company a chance to look at the site in more detail than someone with a passing interest, though he said the company's interest in the site is preliminary. "It would be premature to conclude anything, to say that we are going to buy the property. We have questions, and we're collecting information so that we can get the answers that we need before we make a decision as to whether or not to purchase it," he said.

The company doesn't want to get anyone's hopes up about the company redeveloping a Downtown site, Barrios said. "We don't want to raise any false hopes that we are definitely going to build Downtown. Building there may have issues as any number of sites might have. It would be a big investment for us and before we commit to a location we would have to thoroughly look at all options." He did not identify any other possible sites, other than to say that staying in the current location remains a possibility.

Lopez bought the hotel in 1979. It was closed in late 2005 for a planned $40 million renovation into condos, retail, restaurant space and parking. Those plans fell through in 2007, and Lopez said he planned to turn it back into a boutique hotel. Though the property isn't registered on the National Register of Historic Places, it does have historical significance, Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission member Gerald Juliani said. While taking no position specifically on the Santa Rita, Juliani said it is the philosophy of the commission to try to avoid demolition of historical properties. In addition to the founding location for the Mountain Oyster Club, the hotel was a social venue, a place to be seen, Juliani said. "The rooftop garden was a favorite place to take a date for dancing," he said, recalling the atmosphere at the hotel in the 1940s through the 1960s. The hotel was a premier place to stay for those who could afford it, Juliani said.

[NIXPHX77]

kaneui, can u plz clarify this?

is the Santa Rita made up of 2 bldgs, 1 from '72 and 1 from the 30s or 40s?

the photo tag states the hotel was built in 1972, and the article refers to older times, which is what i thought was the building era.

[kaneui]

kaneui, can u plz clarify this?

is the Santa Rita made up of 2 bldgs, 1 from '72 and 1 from the 30s or 40s?

the photo tag states the hotel was built in 1972, and the article refers to older times, which is what i thought was the building era.


Here's some additional info. from a sidebar in the same Daily Star article:


DID YOU KNOW
The 100-room Santa Rita Hotel was built in 1904 on land donated by the city. Fifty rooms were added in 1917.

In 1903, the year before the Santa Rita even officially opened, the Arizona Daily Star called it "The most beautiful hotel in the Arizona Territory."

The hotel was demolished and rebuilt in 1972.

It is remembered for its attraction of movie stars and other famous people, back when Downtown was "the" place to be — and for having gone through a succession of ownership and name changes during the latter half of its life. In addition to some of its high-profile guests, the Santa Rita was host to several well-known community organizations. The Mountain Oyster Club was founded at the hotel in 1948. The hotel was also the headquarters of the Tucson Press Club from 1956 to 1962.



Also, a link to a 1950 photo of the historic hotel that was demolished: http://azmemory.lib.az.us/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/ahswwf&CISOPTR=90&CISOBOX=1&REC=4

[NIXPHX77]

Thanks Kaneui. well, now i don't feel so bad if it gets demolished.
but, i'd still rather see it renovated/re-done and have TEP build something on a vacant lot downtown.

[Mrblue21]

Well I do feel sad about this.

The Star article is (intentionally?) misleading... it is not true that the old hotel was entirely demolished in 1972. The original 1904 portion was torn down but the 1917 addition - at the right in the historic photo in the above link - was retained and given a new facade. The architect, Henty Trost began his career working with Louis Sullivan and later became Tucson's first formally trained architect. He later moved to El Paso and his office (Trost & Trost) worked throughout the Southwest. Among the firm's specialties was hotels and he designed many of the region's most prominent examples ... the Gadsden in Douglas, AZ, the Paseo Del Norte in El Paso, the now demolished Franciscan Hotel in Albuquerque and many others. The Santa Rita helped build Trost's reputation as a hotel designer and was Tucson's first modern tourist hotel. It played an important part in helping to establish the city as a center of tourism.

The local news mentioned that the Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission wants to save the remaining portion of the original hotel building but has its hands tied due to the alterations to the original facade. They think it would be possible to restore the original facade as was the intention in the previous plan for the site. A restored Santa Rita in some form would do more for downtown at that location than a TEP HQ that could easily go elsewhere.

So, my point is that it would be a loss if the Santa Rita was demolished but it seems that Tucson hasn't learned much since 1972.

[Leo the Dog]

Now if they could just get those few blocks filled between downtown and the University, then you've got yourself a real cityscape and AZ's first real pedestrian urban area.

:haha: You can not be serious right? :koko:

[kaneui]

Well I do feel sad about this.

The Star article is (intentionally?) misleading... it is not true that the old hotel was entirely demolished in 1972. The original 1904 portion was torn down but the 1917 addition - at the right in the historic photo in the above link - was retained and given a new facade. The architect, Henty Trost began his career working with Louis Sullivan and later became Tucson's first formally trained architect. He later moved to El Paso and his office (Trost & Trost) worked throughout the Southwest. Among the firm's specialties was hotels and he designed many of the region's most prominent examples ... the Gadsden in Douglas, AZ, the Paseo Del Norte in El Paso, the now demolished Franciscan Hotel in Albuquerque and many others. The Santa Rita helped build Trost's reputation as a hotel designer and was Tucson's first modern tourist hotel. It played an important part in helping to establish the city as a center of tourism.

The local news mentioned that the Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission wants to save the remaining portion of the original hotel building but has its hands tied due to the alterations to the original facade. They think it would be possible to restore the original facade as was the intention in the previous plan for the site. A restored Santa Rita in some form would do more for downtown at that location than a TEP HQ that could easily go elsewhere.

So, my point is that it would be a loss if the Santa Rita was demolished but it seems that Tucson hasn't learned much since 1972.


Thanks for the clarification on the Santa Rita--even perusing some marketing photos taken by the hotel a few years back, it certainly looks as though parts of the structure predate 1972.

And speaking of Henry Trost, it was only a few years ago that I discovered that my grandparent's former long-time residence in Bisbee was a Trost design, which was thankfully bought and restored by architectural restorer/sculptor Rob Boucher (http://www.rwboucher.com/Portfolio01/index.html), who has also worked on numerous projects in Tucson and southern Arizona.