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Ra has a pretty decent happy hour but I've never been a sushi fan. Maybe this new place will change my mind. Totally unrelated, is anyone else on foursquare? Because if you're the Mayor of Cartel Coffee in Tempe or in Phoenix, you get free cappuccino when you go there. |
http://www.azcentral.com/community/t...wers-0424.html
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^ Here's to hoping they sell to somebody. Apartments are probably the best thing for them.
Arizona Mills aquarium set for May 14 debut http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/05/04/20100504arizona-mills-sea-life-aquarium.html#reply19997858#ixzz0mzRS834B The Valley may be hundreds of miles from the nearest ocean, but in less than two weeks, desert dwellers will be face to face with tiger sharks, eels, rays, sea horses, an octopus and thousands of neon tropical fish. On May 14, Tempe's Arizona Mills mall will open its doors to the Sea Life Arizona Aquarium, an underwater world that will house more than 5,000 marine creatures. Many have arrived during the past several days. On Monday, a school of spotted yellow fish welcomed the aquarium's newest arrival, a gray female tiger shark with black spots... --don |
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Would a bankruptcy here affect their other properties? The Grigio complex at Apache and McClintock looks awesome, I would hate to see it become derelict like Centerpoint. |
This should not affect their other properties.
I am assuming since this is a Chapter 11 reorg. that Gray is using this as a ploy to delay a foreclosure proceeding while renegotiating terms on the current loan for the property. Multifamily properties have seen a significant decrease in values over the last 2 years and short sales and foreclosures are currently very common in this segment due to depressed rents and high current loans. Don't be surprised if you don't here much about this going forward as the banks and developer will continue discussions behind closed doors. Unfortunately this is usually just a typical first step to force the banks to actually start negotiating. |
http://www.azcentral.com/community/t...-raitings.html
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This was today, Thursday May 13. The ISTB IV science building at ASU seems to be moving full speed ahead.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_o9mnJUciFkY/S-...0/IMAG0017.jpg http://lh6.ggpht.com/_o9mnJUciFkY/S-...0/IMAG0018.jpg http://lh5.ggpht.com/_o9mnJUciFkY/S-...0/IMAG0016.jpg and here was the town lake waterfall http://lh3.ggpht.com/_o9mnJUciFkY/S-...0/IMAG0020.jpg |
and here was the town lake waterfall
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_o9mnJUciFkY/S-...0/IMAG0020.jpg[/QUOTE] In this shot, I wonder how long they've been releasing water. |
water has been flowing over it for a long time. i walk my dogs over there almost every day and i don't really remember the last time i saw it with no water being released.
I didn't know ASU had started construction already. I'll have to go check that out now |
New development on Apache being built. Apache Trails ASL Project.
http://wsmarch.com/project.php?MA=7&PROJ=41 This 75-unit tax-credit project creates a campus for Arizona Deaf Seniors who use American Sign Language (ASL) as their primary form of communication. Due to a tight budget, this project is designed primarily of wood frame construction with stucco. The project includes a master campus plan for a dynamic infill site along the new light rail line in Tempe, Arizona. The master plan includes the 75-unit four-story apartment building, as well as a 60 unit Cooperative building to the east. A large community room with kitchen on the first floor will serve deaf seniors from throughout the Valley of the Sun. Each four-story building incorporates retail and community spaces on the ground level, and special deaf communication systems. |
APACHE TRAILS
The Apache ASL Trails Project has commenced construction. The project is a 75-unit Low Income Housing Tax Credit Deaf Senior Project. This has been an ongoing project for several years, with the original tax credit award by the Arizona Department of Housing in 2007. Cardinal Capital, the developer estimates construction will take approximately 13 months, with an anticipated project opening in July 2011. http://www.tempe.gov/comdev/WeeklyUpdate/11JUN10.pdf |
Lender fields bids for Centerpoint condo towers
by Catherine Reagor, The Arizona Republic Two years ago, Arizona's largest private real-estate lender, Mortgages Ltd., was forced into bankruptcy. Its high-profile and expensive projects stalled shortly after that, as did the lender's dividends to investors. ML Holdings, successor to Mortgages Ltd., is now taking offers on one of the biggest developments in its portfolio, the Centerpoint Condominiums in downtown Tempe. Proceeds from the sale will go to pay back the development's many investors. At least 75 large real-estate firms have expressed serious interest in the two towers, said Mark Winkleman, chief operating officer for ML Holdings. Those companies have signed confidentiality agreements and provided ML with information on how they would finance the deal. More than 300 firms initially asked for information on the condo high-rises. Tyler Anderson and Sean Cunningham of CB Richard Ellis are marketing the condo project, which ML Holdings foreclosed on a few months ago. The 22-story tower is nearly complete, while much more work is needed on the project's 30-story tower. The towers are being sold "as is." Other Mortgages Ltd. real estate that ML Holdings is now trying to sell: • About 1,680 acres in Pinal County. • Two central Phoenix townhouse sites with some partially built houses at 121 W. Maryland Ave. and 802 E. Missouri Ave. • Also in Phoenix, partially built commercial buildings and some vacant land along Van Buren and 48th streets, a 42-unit apartment complex at 4540 E. Belleview St., and 5 acres of vacant land at McKinley and 44th streets. • About 510 acres of vacant land in Eloy. In March, ML Holdings sold the 21 brick mansions in central Phoenix called Chateaux on Central for $7 million. The homes, nearly complete, with elevators and wine cellars, were marketed in 2007 for more than $2 million a piece. Mesa land Mesa is trying to sell 11,000 acres it owns in Pinal County to fund a new training field for the Chicago Cubs. The city has hired Scottsdale-based land brokerage Nathan & Associates to sell the site, southeast of Coolidge along Arizona 87. Mesa bought the Pinal land for $30 million in 1985. |
http://www.tempe.gov/comdev/WeeklyUpdate/18JUN10.pdf
FROM HERE Vulcan Real Estate, the real estate investment arm of Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Inc., expanded its holdings with the acquisition of the Tempe Gateway building on Third and Mill, representing their first investment purchase outside the Seattle market. Completed in 2009 by Opus West, the eight-story, 260,000 sq ft Class A office building was purchased for $35 million. |
http://www.azcentral.com/community/t...t-tension.html
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http://www.azcentral.com/community/t...west-sale.html
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I haven't seen this posted yet. Looks like Tempe is trying to redevelop 8th St between Rural and McClintock. It actually looks really good. Four Peaks seems to be in favor of it from the tone of their newsletter.
Try this one, should be fixed: http://www.tempe.gov/tim/Traffic/8thstreet.htm |
/\ that link didn't work
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http://azbigmedia.com/azre/new-market-mayjune-2010
Lakeside Medical Commons Developer: Irgens Development Partners Contractor: TBD Architect: TBD Size: 105,000 SF Location: Scottsdale Rd. & Loop 202 in Tempe Currently in pre-development stages, this project will feature a 10-story medical office building that includes a 5-story vertically integrated parking structure, with 4 stories of Class A office space on Tempe Town Lake. Estimated groundbreaking is scheduled for 4Q10. Brokerage firm is CB Richard Ellis. |
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Is this at the old Club Rio lot?
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Judging by the rendering in the article, I'd say yes.
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More on the 2 new UOP buildings under construction.
http://southwest.construction.com/fe...wthSpurt-1.asp The 34-year-old private education giant plans to soon occupy 439,070 sq ft inside two new midrise office and classroom buildings in Tempe in suburban Phoenix. Metro Commercial Properties, Tempe, is developing the build-to-suit project along with San Antonio-based USAA Real Estate Co. The six- and 10-story buildings are going up on 11.33 acres inside the 170-acre mixed-use, master-planned Fountainhead Corporate Park near Priest Drive and Broadway Road. There is also a six-level, 1,885-space precast concrete parking structure. The concrete, post-tensioned, cast-in-place office buildings and accompanying garage are being built by Tempe-based Sundt Construction Inc., as are the tenant improvements. “To be constructing a 440,000-sq-ft office project given the economic climate in Phoenix is extremely rare,” says Marty Hedlund, Sundt Southwest District manager. “It’s a testament to our performance in past projects for University of Phoenix and USAA Real Estate Co.” One of those past projects for the university was Riverpoint Center in Phoenix. Riverpoint was awarded Best Office Building in Southwest Contractor’s Best of 2008 Arizona awards. University of Phoenix, North America’s largest private education provider, has signed a long-term lease to occupy the buildings and garage in Tempe. Besides offering online education, the University of Phoenix, a unit of publicly traded Apollo Group Inc. (Nasdaq:APOL), offers high school, undergraduate and graduate-level programs in over 200 locations across 42 states. Fountainhead Office Plaza “represents one of the few shovel-ready sites in the airport/north Tempe submarket that can accommodate this large University of Phoenix requirement,” Patrick Althoff, Metro Commercial Properties president, said in a statement. “The allowable site density, prime freeway visibility and proximity to existing University of Phoenix facilities make Fountainhead a logical location to facilitate the growth of the university.” The $70-million project is located 4 mi southeast of the University of Phoenix’s headquarters. Construction began in October with the demolition of three existing single-story masonry office buildings built in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The property, which fronts Interstate 10 near the Broadway Curve, has poor soil conditions due to its proximity to the usually dry Salt River. To handle the problem, Sundt is placing 240 caissons up to 50 ft deep and 5 ft in diameter to stabilize the foundation. It additionally requires reconfiguring a 50,000-sq-ft lake, used for park irrigation, which sits between a 140-ft-high, 273,780-sq-ft building that faces perpendicular to a smaller 84-ft-tall, 165,290-sq-ft building. “The architecture is a glass curtain wall façade with precast spandrels,” says Buck Yee, project architect with Tempe-based DAVIS. “It has a blue-tinted, low-energy glass that reduces heat gain and improves insulation.” The project is seeking LEED gold. The buildings will have high-pressure, low-flow plumbing fixtures; variable air-distribution systems; and VOC-free glues, sealants and paints for improved indoor air quality. Building debris is being recycled during construction, and building products have recycled content. The 30,000 cu yds of concrete required for the project include 20% fly-ash. Sundt is self-performing the concrete work valued at $7 million. “The primary reason for pursuing LEED was because the project is a long term investment,” Yee says. “It makes the resale of the building more marketable.” About 100 workers will be onsite during the peak of construction activity. The project is expected to finish in fall 2011. |
http://southwest.construction.com/so...hicCollege.asp
Construction Starts on Naturopathic College in Tempe. The Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine broke ground on the first phase of a 40,000-sq-ft medical center. The $1.9-million, initial 15,000-sq-ft phase will renovate a 25-year-old corporate office complex in downtown Tempe to be home to a six class rooms teaching space, a retail medicinary, community outreach clinic including 25 private office/exam rooms and a new hydrotherapy clinic. The concept and design phase started in late 2009 and on April 7, the groundbreaking and construction of the project began with general contractor Kitchell. The design, by merzproject, a studio of Shepley Bulfinch, creates a healing and educational environment that represents the college’s philosophy and teaching methods based on nature and life in balance. Featuring a combination of light infused spaces throughout the facility, emphasis was put on nature and a healing environment represented through environmental conscious building materials, paired with architecture to assist the naturopathic principles. Anyone have any ideas where this is at ??? |
New Medical Center Update
After an extensive due diligence process of obtaining valuable input from all the constituents of the College, alumni and patients, the Kitchell-merzproject design-build team has melded everyone’s vision and created a remarkable, LEED certified, state-of-the-art naturopathic medical center to be housed in the 2164 E. Broadway building. The plan envisions, among other features, six classrooms, 25 exam rooms which include the hydrotherapy suite and a clinical integration study area. The project’s design team is creating a facility that espouses SCNM’s vision. http://208.109.201.5/scnm_insider/is...#anchorborders Nowhere near downtown Tempe... |
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While hanging out on Mill Ave today I saw that something is going into the spot where Regions used to be. (6th and Mill.) It's owned by the people who own La Bocca across the street. It has the word "Tequila" in it. I like it already.
The sign had a website address on it but I don't remember what it was. This is all I could find... http://www.urbanrealtyaz.com/Blog/Do...Bar_Tempe.html |
There is a big crane up on ASU campus now for the new science building. I'll get some photos.
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I snapped a picture of the ITSB site at ASU today. It was totally the wrong time of day for taking pictures from that garage, so I just took this one from a well-sheltered portion of a stairwell.
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/1567/itsbq.jpg Not bad for a phone camera. |
Thanks Nick. I did find some pics on the Sundt.com website. Not sure which building this is but they show two on their site. Biodesign institute building A and B.
http://www.sundt.com/projects |
I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly where that building is going... and I went to ASU. Is it like the southeast corner of McCallister and Terrace?
Anyone know what's going on with the planned new sweet Business building? |
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http://www.hdrcuh2a.com/#Our%20Work/...ISTB%20IV.aspx
has the render. It's at the SE Corner of Terrace and McAllister, where Lot 44 used to be. |
/\That's a pretty sweet building.. I'm a fan of most of ASU's newbuildings. They look sleek and a good kind of modern and functional. The campus has changed so much since i graduated in 2003.
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I forgot to mention, the roof level of that Rural parking structure was closed because they're also installing more solar panels (the Tyler, Stadium, and Apache structures were done over the last few years, as well as some buildings). I think they've started on the Hayden library as well.
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http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/loc...cc4c002e0.html
Developer sells Hayden Ferry Lakeside plot The Hayden Ferry Lakeside property has been sold, in what is the third major land transaction to take place recently in Tempe’s Mill Avenue District. The deal came just after the University Square block at University Drive and Myrtle Avenue changed hands, and weeks after Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen snapped up an eight-story office building. The trio of sales coincides with an increase in leasing downtown office space and shops, said Sheri Wakefield-Saenz, the city’s community development manager. “I would say it’s a very good indicator that we’re well on our way to some recovery in Tempe,” Wakefield-Saenz said. The Hayden Ferry Lakeside property spans the south side of Tempe Town Lake, from Mill Avenue to Rural Road. It was sold by its original developer, SunCor, to Scottsdale-based Sunbelt Holdings. The deal included several Valley developments owned by SunCor, which decided to sell many of its properties because of the real estate slump. The price was not disclosed. Sunbelt wanted Hayden Ferry Lakeside for its potential when the economy recovers, president and CEO John Graham said. “We bought it because we think it’s a very key location and has a very good future,” he said. The deal includes 16 acres and an option to develop 15 acres now owned by Arizona State University. Sunbelt also bought the 2,500-space parking garage and 25,000 square feet of retail space attached to that structure. The sale did not include the west end of the project, where SunCor built two office towers and two condo buildings. Sunbelt will look to SunCor’s master plan for a hotel and more condo and office towers before considering any alterations, Graham said. The company will clean up the vacant land for now, but any major work will wait until demand returns. “In light of the commercial market, it is at least a few years away,” Graham said. Another significant sale is the University Square property, a full block on University Drive where 3W Companies won approval for a 300-foot-tall cluster of offices, condos and a hotel. Tuscon-based Sundt Construction paid $10.13 million for the site of slightly more than three acres. The block was once full of businesses, but 3W tore down all but one low-slung slump block building in preparation for construction. The plans stalled at the front end of the real estate crash. Sundt plans to demolish the sole building and turn the block into a parking lot, Wakefield-Saenz said. “Their immediate intent is to clean up the site and reduce some of the visual blight that’s there now,” she said. Sundt plans to have the parking lot ready when the fall semester begins in August. The company will evaluate development plans as the economy recovers, Wakefield-Saenz said. The other major downtown transaction involved Seattle-based Vulcan Real Estate buying the eight-story Tempe Gateway tower at Mill and Third Street. Microsoft’s Allen paid $35 million and is actively trying to lease a building that’s sat idle since Phoenix-based Opus completed the tower a year ago. Opus filed for bankruptcy protection at the time. No leases have been announced since the June sale. However, Tempe has seen a fairly active interest in leasing downtown properties since about May, Wakefield-Saenz said. “It’s another good step in the recovery,” she said. |
http://www.azcentral.com/business/re...jects0716.html
Plans for downtown Tempe Hotels sidetracked by the economy Brad Hultquist says he has watched the Arches Plaza in downtown Tempe, which used to house his salon, slowly "decay." In 2006, the Tempe City Council approved plans to transform the 1960s-era brick buildings into University Square, a $500 million megaplex of development that would span a city block near University Drive and Forest Avenue. Developer Tony Wall's project was to include a high-rise Westin hotel, office and retail space and condominiums. Hultquist and Dave Cheren, the owner of neighboring Arches business Dave's Dog House, fought to stay but were forced to move out in 2008 to make way for the swanky development. Today, the Arches lot is littered with trash and weeds. The west windows of the dilapidated building are shuttered with particle board, and the east window where Hultquist's Grooming Humans Hair Studio once stood, is still plastered with copies of his goodbye message. "We will have to leave our beloved little spot in the Arches. Since August . . . 1988, my staff and I have tried to provide the friendliest service," he wrote. Hultquist moved his studio into a space across the street. Each day he waited for construction on University Square to launch, hoping to be one of the first stores to move back into a retail space. But the project went into foreclosure, and the building slowly deteriorated. It was recently purchased by Sundt Companies for a bargain $10.13 million. "Of course it makes you sad, but we've been there watching it decay for so long. You become kind of numb to it," Hultquist said. "But if you're a visitor who came back to see what it's become, you would be devastated." University Square was one of a host of hotel projects proposed in the past decade in downtown Tempe and around Town Lake. The tourism boost was supposed to help reinvigorate the Mill Avenue District with hundreds of consumers. "At one point we had about 12 different (proposed) hotel (developments)," said Sheri Wakefield-Saenz, Tempe's Community Development manager. "In early to mid 2000s . . . Tempe was really that place where the industry leaders were looking to expand. . . . There was clamoring demand." As proposals stacked up, the council waived height requirements for high-rise hotel developments, and developers began clearing out small businesses. The city drew criticism for flooding the market with too many hotel developments. But a 2006 study commissioned by Tempe backed the city's goals of wooing luxury hotels and a major hotel with enough conference space to attract large conventions. The study noted Tempe's hotel market was underbuilt. The city had some of the highest hotel-occupancy rates in the state. There was more demand than the 47 hotels and motels in Tempe could handle. About 80 percent of the city's hotel-room rates were under $150 a night, according to the study, which meant Tempe could benefit from tapping the luxury market. At the time of the study, Tempe officials were convinced that three hotel projects in downtown Tempe and at Town Lake were just around the corner. Hayden Ferry Lakeside, Rio East and an expansion of Tempe Mission Palms would help meet the demand. The Hayden Ferry Lakeside project was supposed to include a hotel on the south bank of Town Lake. Mission Palms' expansion would have increased the number of rooms by more than 60 percent. Plans at Rio East, which was part of the Pier 202 project near the eastern part of Town Lake, included an upscale hotel. None of those projects materialized. The only hotel that was built near downtown Tempe was Aloft, which opened in 2009 on the north shore of Town Lake. But Wakefield-Saenz remains certain that when the economy rebounds in a few years, Tempe will see construction of a luxury hotel and larger hotel with conference space. "The demand . . . will still be there," she said. Stephanie Nowack, president of the Tempe Convention and Visitors Bureau, agrees. She points to several groups that wanted to host their conventions in Tempe but the existing hotels could not accommodate the size of the group. David Rosenbaum, director of sales and marketing for Fiesta Resort Conference Center near Broadway and Priest Drive, said the resort increased its conference space two years ago and has seen a major boost in its group bookings. "We've done great with groups of 200 to 400," he said. "I could see the potential for a large conference center in Tempe capturing the major conventions." But some hotel-industry analysts think the economy is so bad that construction of new hotels is unlikely in the Valley for at least the next few years. John Pappas, a principal owner and Valley lodging analyst with Scottsdale-based SCS Advisors, won't even predict when the Valley will see a new hotel built. Arizona's hotel industry was doubly hit because of the recent passage of a tough immigration-enforcement law, he said. |
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This is a good thing in the long-term. It could be worse, they could put another Jack in the Box or Taco Bell drive through there. |
Tempe unlikely to recover from condo crash anytime soon
This story is, of course, very discouraging to me, who lost my $81,000 deposit on Centerpoint.
--Mike Williard http://www.azcentral.com/business/re...overy0717.html Experts say condominium development in downtown Tempe, which came to an abrupt halt when the recession began, will likely be on hold for the foreseeable future. The beginning of the recession halted many planned or in-progress condo and mixed-use developments, including the Onyx tower, the South Bank, University Square, The Armory, Centerpoint and 100 Mill Avenue. Will Daly, a real-estate agent specializing in condo sales, said those projects are unlikely to ever be completed as originally proposed. New high-rise condo projects could possibly be built somewhere down the road, but don't expect them anytime soon, he said. "High-rise condominiums are among the most expensive type of housing to build," he said. "As we come out (of the recession), I think investors - whether they be developers, lenders, bankers - are going to be cautious." Even before that happens, Daly said, real-estate agents will have to find a way to get rid of the surplus of vacant units in Tempe. For example, the 104-unit Bridgeview community has about 50 vacancies. The Centerpoint towers, which are for sale, have about 380 units, which may have to be converted to hotel or office space, he said. Most of those communities came at the tail end of a rush to develop condos over the last half of the decade. Downtown Tempe was seen by developers as a desirable market for condos because of its relative density and vibrant nearby shopping. The city welcomed the developments, which fit into its overall plan for high-density residential construction in the downtown area, according to deputy development services manager Lisa Collins. Demand shot up, Daly said, as low interest rates and lax mortgage underwriting guidelines lured people into investing in condominiums. Developers made extravagant plans, bolstered by the high demand. But when the market crashed, demand for condominiums bottomed out. Projects in the planning stages were put on hold and many of the newly-built projects stayed vacant. "You had all sorts of really wonderful projects proposed . . . and a few of them got built," Daly said. "But when the house of cards collapsed, some developers got cut short." Jay Butler, an associate professor at ASU's W.P. Carey School of Business, said the idea of attempting to transform the area from a college-student hangout to an enclave for wealthy urban professionals was flawed to begin with. "The couple of people I know who live in central Tempe are connected to ASU," Butler said. "The idea that suddenly we're going to be attract this different group of people to come was somewhat, in my mind, unrealistic." Tom Tokoph, a consultant for Tempe-based Urban Realty, acknowledges the market spun out of control - he recalls seeing asking prices for some properties in Hayden Ferry Lakeside in the high 800s. After foreclosure, banks sold some of those properties for about $200,000, he said. But Tokoph believes the overall vision most developers had for the area is sound. Eventually, he said, the allure of Tempe will bring demand back up and there will be more condo development. That is a prediction Stephen Huey and Patrick Cantelme, who share a condo in the Northshore community, are banking on. They purchased the unit, once valued at $300,000, for $165,000 in March. They plan to live in the unit for the next two to three years, then sell it for a profit - Huey said he expects the value to be more than $200,000 by that time. "The location is a big draw," he said. "There's going to be a lot of demand in a couple of years." |
I'd love to see Centerpoint purchased and converted into a hotel. This would be a more feasible short-term plan as the demand for luxury condos is currently nonexistent. It would also be a great long-term investment, especially if much of the lower-level retail and common space was converted into convention space and ballrooms. Centerpoint could possibly attract a lot of expo and convention business this way - that is, the ones that are still willing to come to Arizona.
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Its too tall for efficient use of a hotel, and the floorplates and ceilings wouldnt work for office. The fact that Daly suggested office makes me wonder how he had the lead in to the story...
I guess that's reporting these days. Call up two contacts, drive over there and hang out long enough till you interview somebody, then report what everyone already knows and question nothing. |
seems to me that the easiest thing to do is to finish Centerpoint, but not as condos, as apartments. If a good enough deal is made for the purchase and with the cost of materials still depressed versus a few years ago the cost of finishing them wouldn't be so high, thus apartments would be feasible, right?
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one of the west end damns at Tempe Town Lake just blew. Water is freely flowing down stream. Currently it is about 6ft below normal water level.
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It was crazy to watch the flow come down river. It was like a flash flood.
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