Oh okay. I thought Chase was right near 400'.

I believe Central Station is proposed at 390'. So if even if a grocery pad is added and the current proposal is built on top of it, the height increase would be about 15 to 20' at best. Chase is at 483', still a good deal taller.

i can bet you anything that the project has been significantly redesigned from what we saw last year. Now I only hope it isn't worse than the original. The way things work in Phoenix, anything could go. That being said, I like being optimistic about these kind of things and don't want to be negative.

I'm heading to NYC at the end of the week for 2 weeks. Can someone make sure they get started on this before I return? :)

I am getting concerned. I really hope it breaks ground soon.

^ They have till the end of May 2016 to commence construction. I wouldn't get too concerned about this one, considering they've been in review meetings recently just to get the the setbacks and massings right. Takes many months from there to finish designing the plans and finalize things with the contractors.

I think they were looking at a fall groundbreaking originally. That still looks right, I think.

They were actually looking at a summer groundbreaking originally.

No, there is no retail underneath the apartment tower. All of the commercial space is contained within the ground level of the garage; the present plans show small spaces along 1st Ave and Central - one for the transit office, one for the incubator. Van Buren is just garage ramps. So, either the grocery store is the same kind of hype that every developer used during the boom to attract attention (and it really doesn't fit into the design), or they reconfigured the garage so that the commercial space extends beyond just the edges. Either way, any added height would be to the garage, not the tower.

It's cool if people want shiny towers and amenities and don't care less about creating an actual city (which is the sum of the connections made by buildings, interactions with pedestrians, etc.); I disagree and while I'll try to keep my points shorter, my opinion isn't any less valid than yours. 90% of what I defend/expect the City to defend is directly from the Urban Form which the City itself adopted years ago. If you disagree with those guidelines, you have that right, but why shouldn't I expect the City to follow its own rules?

Just 1-2 years ago, people went apeshit over this rendering, which would have replaced a parking lot with a major office development. The reasons were the blank facades on 2nd and 3rd Aves, and the monstrous presence of the parking structure. Why was this terrible for Phoenix, but Central Station - as proposed - a great thing? I am genuinely asking because I don't see the difference - except that this old project left room for future development, whereas Central Station takes up the whole lot.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/432/1...ec0da557_z.jpg

That garage had nothing, this building has a grocery store, retail, a transit station and offices built into the base.

Its not even comparable.

The project I posted had retail within the office tower, and like I mentioned, the other side of the garage was left open for future development. So, it had two edges of garage frontage compared to Central Station's one. The two potential towers vs. one should make up for that, no? Especially given that Van Buren is a much more important street than either 2nd Ave or 3rd Ave.

But, okay, if they aren't comparable then nevermind. I think they are almost identical aside from the potential for a 2nd tower in the older office project - or, at least close enough that some of the same concerns could apply.

Central station is NOT a huge lot. The park and the historic buildings directly North actually make it fairly small. This is going to be an amazing project and I'm sick of hearing you bash it constantly.

Here we go again... I think you have made your point several times. You don't like this project. We get it. I don't see the point of your endless verbose diatribes. Again, for all you know the design of the building could have been completely changed. It seems pointless to gripe about a building that we haven't even seen final renderings for.

The building that was proposed across from Crescent is hideous. The building itself is ugly and the setback of the parking garage from Van Buren is odd. I'm pretty sure Central Station will look nothing like this.

They are both the same size.

I think we all should wait until more finalized plans are provided until loving or bashing Central Station.

As someone mentioned, they are the exact same size. Polk-Van Buren, 1st Ave-Central Ave is an entire city block. But, of course, they are turning Polk into a private driveway, so it's easy to forget that it was once an actual city street. But, that's fine - who wants residential towers to open onto the street anyway?

And, I'm just as sick of hearing people acting like I'm the devil for mention the project's deficiencies. I accept everyone else's opinions and have never been nasty to anyone who disagreed with my views.

I suspect that Jjs5056 has gotten the message. He can be (more than) a little obtuse at times but he does add a lot of value IMO.

Does that mean there could be many changes/modifications that would be noticeable in a new rendering whenever that may be ready to be released?

Why was vicelord banned anyways? And, is he on SSP today??

You guys should be thankful to have jjs5056 post here because he has such a passion for Phoenix develoment. He provides good points and perspectives on most Valley projects. You may not agree, (I don't at times) but isnt that what a discussion forum is all about?

Agreed

I love all that Vicelord AND jjs5056 add(ed), but sometimes they get on a high horse and pontificate too much in a negative way. I am very cool with opinions and disagreement, as they hold import to any conversation, but it gets old when it comes across 24/7. I hope they both continue to add (Vicelord come back) but just with some insight as to filter their vitriol a bit. They both add a ton to the forum and are important voices!!!!!

JJ has been nasty to me many a times in the past. I notice that overall he changes the environment of the forum. Agree or disagree...anyone can't help but notice how off tangent simple discussions on projects become. A simple forum for those with like minded interest in current economic development news transitions quickly into sometimes unnecessary vitriol. That language he used was utterly unacceptable and unprofessional.