Bitter & Twisted is the most comparable of those you listed - dedicated retail space within a historic property. But, Luhrs' retail was empty for 6-7 years until B&T opened, and the majority is still vacant. Valley Bar was pursued based on the allure of a basement bar/venue in the same building in which Levy had offices; Hanny's was completed during the boom/early recession days; Blue Hound is part of the Palomar (boutique hotels come with excellent, unique dining establishments); Crescent opened in an abandoned warehouse - similar properties are seeing a ton of investment downtown (MilkBar, Songbird, DeSoto, etc.). Retail within a larger project? Not so much (Luhrs, Skyline, Tapestry, Roosevelt Point).

I was mainly basing my rationale on the failure of quite a few bar/club ventures in the immediate vicinity, like Monroe's, Ghost Lounge, Copper Door, etc.

Anyway, I feel a little bit better about the project after reviewing the following leasing package for the hotel; it includes a site plan which shows the majority of the lobby being dedicated to a bar & restaurant (as part of the HGI, not leaseable space) - given that the interior of the lobby is being restored and must be pretty impressive, this could still become a destination/attraction IF they come up with a decent concept AND include signage along Central to attract the public and not just hotel guests.

http://www.phoenixcommercialadvisors...o/centmonr.htm

We'll have to wait and see how the other 3, leaseable spaces, do... they're pretty small spaces for any kind of decent-sized bar or restaurant, but maybe that's a good thing (smaller = cheaper)? While a speakeasy lounge with a dance floor would've been awesome... a small whiskey room or martini lounge would still be cool.

I have high hopes right now there are thousands of new residents slated to be downtown in the next couple of years, each of those new residents brings family and friends around occasionally. New hotels. Also potentially the Coyotes may be back, Students at ASU/biomed continuing to expand Uber just opened up 400 jobs downtown and an unknown number of more units that will be announced over the next couple years.

the trajectory of downtown has never looked better in my opinion.:tup:

The Phoenix Real Estate Advisor's booklet linked above only predicts 152 additional residents within a half mile of the Hotel Monroe by 2018. That seems a little low to me but "thousands of new residents" is probably way too high.

I was estimating based on the number of units under construction/slated for construction right now. Of course im not limiting myself to 1/2 mile.

Union, Portland, Proxy, Barrister Place, Ballpark, Central station, metro west, Lennar, Arthause (and two more projects one by Roosevelt point and the other by hance park cant remember the name) the shipping container apartments + private residents that move into any single family homes.

I have no idea ware they come up with 152. Central station, and Barrister place are within a half mile (so is Portland I think and proxy) each of those has more than 152 residents (besides proxy).

http://cronkitenewsonline.com/2014/1...ment-dwellers/

^article from 6 months ago saying that 2000 beds will be in by 2017 and construction has only increased in the last 6 months.

That's way low. Illuminate and the other project across the street, along with Proxy will be at least 500. Then if Central Station happens you can add another 800.

I also forgot there is like 4 buildings under construction 11th/12th and Washington each with 100~ units and probably a solid ~200 beds each.

They are going to take the light rail 1 station to downtown for food and entertainment

Haven't seen this posted before:

http://emvis.net/~sean/ssp/projects/...en_inn/hgi.jpg

They also have a facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hgiphoenixdowntown

Thanks, Sean. They posted a similar rendering when they first bought the property, but this is the first with the HGI logo. Looks pretty decent if it indeed ends up being lit as shown at night.

Obadno - definitely, downtown is headed in a positive direction with more momentum than ever before (even during the boom, most big wins were public projects; while there more proposals than now, hardly any broke ground). But, I don't know that ASU and the PBC should be expected to add much of the city, aside from a few meals here and here. With no housing for the PBC, and only Taylor Place for ASU (filled with freshman forced into meal plans), as well as parking structures and lots underneath or adjacent to most buildings, both are essentially commuter campuses. I hope that the southeast parcel of the law school lot is developed sooner rather than later with a housing tower - privately developed or not - aimed at upper classmen, and/or that one of the many student housing big-guns throughout the country develops a highrise project on a lot like Fillmore/1st St.

Perhaps the low residential number comes from 1) only counting units under construction, and/or 2) only counting owner-occupied housing units? Still seems low.

Great news. HGI confirmed that they have a few exciting options they are considering for the 2-story Stein-whatever lodge adjacent to the hotel! They can't provide details until an agreement is official for the concept, but even calling it a "concept" sounds really intriguing! No matter what, a great space in that building will be a huge piece in connecting Monroe St to the rest of the convention hotels.

Great news!! I was thinking for sure that building was going to be demoed but glad it will be brought back to life. Can't wait to see what the final concept will be.

That is great news! I also thought that was a goner. Hopefully they don't come across too many problems and change their minds. And hopefully they're able to rehab the facade.

From their response, it sounded like they were taking 3rd-party offers for handling the process of renovating the building into whatever concept is chosen' and, the response was worded in a way that indicated that there have been multiple proposals, so even if one backs out after seeing the extent of work needed, it sounds like that won't necessarily be the end of it.

Even if all current proposals don't pan out, it seems that they are truly interested in seeing the building renovated, so I think the worst case scenario is that it sits for a while as they try to find a new partner or put it up for sale. With the success of so many adaptive reuse projects downtown, the cache of rehabbing the oldest commercial building on the original town site has to attract some buyers.

I just hope it doesn't turn out to be a freakin' incubator or some private office. I want it to be something in the arts/dining/nightclub realm.

I thought the building that Majerle's is in is the oldest commercial building.

Either way, my number 1 wish would be for the facade to be rehabilitated. If that happens, I'd be OK with whatever goes in there. At that point it would be playing with house money.

I think the distinction is that Majerle's is technically not from the original town-site? But, I may be wrong.

Certainly the sides of the building should be able to be restored to its original brick, but the face of the building looks less stable... I'd be okay with it if they kept the same form (placement of doors and windows, etc.) with some modified materials that still reflect its history. Or, they could rebuilt what was there a la Dudley Ventures. A big question would be whether or not any photos exist of the site in its original form?

/\Perhaps whatever was the original facade is still hiding under that white plaster/form and that just needs to be removed. If not, you're right, at least one side should be fine to rehab the brick.

Work is progressing on the HGI. Snapped a quick photo on some new signage on the side of the building.

https://mail.google.com/mail/ca/u/0/...&sz=w1342-h537

Glad someone mentioned it. The amount of exterior construction that is now going on is shocking. I didn't realize that many modifications to the exterior were going to be made. Honestly, not sure what to expect when it's done.

I don't think the image link came through right...u can't direct link to an image on your Gmail. Maybe another image hosting service??

Drove by the site today and definitely lots of works happening...didn't see any signage on the side of the building though, and looks like its far from being ready for signage. Good to see something finally happening with that building though.

Hotel Monroe redevelopment in downtown Phoenix looks to open in December

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/n...article_search