How about an old fashioned construction update thread?
View from the mesa area between the office tower and future hotel. Though the building on Patriots Square are inward facing, at least the whole thing is open to the street and personally I don't think it has the seem feeling as Arizona Center, which feels like a suburban outdoor mall.
Finally...a cool little old house on 3rd St south of downtown. I wonder how old this thing is...would love to see it moved north one day, looks like such a jewel.
Yea there was a security guard at the top of the mesa and said to come on up. He actually said the office tower opens April 1st and that the mesa is open to the public now...thought that doesn't make sense since they are still working on the stairs on the east side. Either way, it should be open to the public come April 1st.
A couple thoughts came to mind, the south side of the office tower, that plaza looks like its going to be blazing hot in the summer, unless they build the hotel tower to provide some shade.
Did you get the same impression?
And secondly, the house on S. 3rd st, if you look at the refreshed google maps, it appears that more and more houses have been demolished in the neighborhoods south of DT and replaced with a grayish gravel for dust control. It appears that the destruction of these neighborhoods has accelerated in recent years. I wonder what will eventually come to these areas??
Some may think this is a crazy idea but I think the small parking lot beside Bianco is stupid and useless. People going there need to be walking or taking LTR or Dash. If they want to drive they can park in the garage or valet could easily be supported there. Why not move a historic home that is endagered somewhere in Phoenix to that spot? As the economy slowly improves in 2011 I think that plaza could have 4 eateries in addition to the two bars. It would look great on 7th St and mae the idea a little more walkable.
The South 3 stories will create a good amount of shade, and the hotel will as well for half of the mesa. The rest will be hot, but in years to come, when they build the towers on the block East of Cityscape, that will create a ton of shade too.
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Ug way too much hardscaping. It never ceases to amaze me how stupid architects and developers can be, its hot here, provide more shade! Plant twice that number of trees, use permeable pavers, shade overhangs, etc.
Permeable pavers? .....You do realize that this mesa is 15 feet in the air? It is on the second story.
Also, look at an earlier picture. With just the little plywood 1/2 wall, there is 3 feet of shade. Imagine how much shade will be cast by another 2 stories above the mesa level. Also add the hotel shade to the west side of the mesa.
Also, look at an earlier picture. With just the little plywood 1/2 wall, there is 3 feet of shade. Imagine how much shade will be cast by another 2 stories above the mesa level. Also add the hotel shade to the west side of the mesa.
Yes but keep in mind that as summer comes around, the sun isn't as low in the sky and that shadow won't reach nearly as far.
You could do it with vine pockets and overhead trellis structures. I completely agree with Hoover that this 'plaza' will be barren, hot, and generally unfriendly.
I'm still trying to figure out why it's not at street level (didn't they learn anything from Collier Center?)
I also am curious...is there a midblock cross-walk to be put in on Central or are they attempting for FORCE everyone to to across the bridge? If there's not, it's extremely short-sighted planning and makes those elaborate stairs pretty wasteful.
Great pictures HX. That courthouse tower is just massive.
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The bridge is an alternate route. It adds levels to the place. You can use the crosswalk, street, and bridge. It makes it easier for those in the tower #1 and hotel to get across the street too.
The mesa is there and not street level because there is a loading dock underneath at street level to serve the hotel, tower #1, shops, and restaurants.
The mesa is cool. It could have just been a flat space, but instead they put trees, and water feature, benches, and space for events. Some people really look to the negative.
Did you also see all the plants going up each side of the mesa? How about the water feature that will have cascading water going down to east side of the mesa stairway?
This picture is awesome with the plantings and the luhrs in the background.
But it just looks cool. I'm not sure it's a great design. Isn't there some staircase on the south side of the colliers center with a cascading waterfall from the top down to street level on Jefferson? It looks pretty nice, but doesn't mean anyone ever is walking there or is a good use of urban space.
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How about an old fashioned construction update thread?
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