Very disappointed that they city selected an almost identical proposal for the Barrister as it chose last time. The last proposal was for two 6-story buildings and 111 units, so 88 condos is in line those numbers. 88 units for that intersection is absolutely horrible. Nobody is going to invest in a high-rise that might eventually be blocked by an even taller building adjacent to it, but I'd like to think something a bit more inspiring than 6 stories could have been possible. If 88 units was truly the max this site was going to see, I would have much preferred a hotel from Bayrock. And while we don't need retail at the bottom of every building, it makes sense to try and build on the popularity of CityScape and the visibility this site will have from the future Central light rail and Luhrs Marriott tower.
Continuing its RFP-crazed agenda, the City just authorized one for the HR building at 135 N 2nd Ave, adjacent to 111 W Monroe. I really can't imagine what type of project would be viable given the size of the site, but with the activity happening near 4th Ave (Welnick Mkt and Baptist Church), anything that extends the walkable portion of Monroe west is a good thing. It'd be great if somehow the City could get ownership of the awful Fed Courthouse parking lot across Monroe- a mixed use parking garage to serve it and this new project would make that block much less of a dead zone, and then a future 200 Monroe development would create the best urban street downtown on Monroe from 4th Ave - 1st Street. Too bad for the CenturyLink building, and that horrible garage that swallows up the gorgeous Masonic Temple. The Temple, at least, could be turned into something cool like a museum, performing arts space, etc.
I'm convinced Mackay is a complete hack.
http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/blog/...-co-hoots-expands-its-nest-with-new.html
CO+HOOTS is moving to a building in Midtown because Mackay convinced them NOT to stay downtown, which is where they were set on finding a new space for expansion. Diverting jobs and economic development downtown in order to fuel your ego and mission to revitalize Midtown is a big mistake. With all of the great things happening downtown, the one piece that is blatantly lagging is jobs. CO+HOOTS is the perfect fit for downtown- an employment base that will spend and live downtown, small businesses being incubated in high-paying industries that may eventually be successful and need more space downtown, etc. The article mentions that all employees live within 8 miles of the new location... that's great, but if they were willing to travel to downtown for work from those 'hoods, you've now basically expanded their options ~5 miles north. Why stay in Midtown when you can now move to Scottsdale for the same commute?
Midtown is doing just fine attracting residential development, which is its best bet moving forward since no new office towers will ever be built near these historic neighborhoods (5-story Omninet is currently facing opposition). The focus should be on residential infill, converting older towers to new uses, and renovating the ground levels to make it an actual walkable, urban area. When it makes sense, companies choosing Midtown is obviously not a bad thing; filling Park Central with healthcare next to a hospital obviously makes sense. Or, a company that nixed downtown due to lack of contiguous space and parking and was about to look at different cities- promote Midtown which has an abundance of both. But, don't take a perfect fit for downtown and put them in an office building with ground level parking when these employees were perfect fits to live downtown and walk/bike to work.