Jackson Street Entertainment District Thread

[Phxguy]

Awesome news! Hope to see this materialize.
http://www.brewaz.com/content/index_...?story_id=8295

[nickw252]

Originally Posted by Phxguy

Awesome news! Hope to see this materialize.
http://www.brewaz.com/content/index_...?story_id=8295

That's awesome news, I hope it comes to fruition and isn't just a bunch of speculation. That area of downtown sorely needs some investment.

[glynnjamin]

Well, the dream has been long dead but I call this the nail in the coffin. No more warehouses, no more revitalized district to rival Gas Lamp or Power & Light. Shame. They'll demo those warehouses in a heartbeat for housing.

[combusean]

According to the Planned Unit Development associated with the parcels, here's what I think is going to be saved:

Gerardo’s Building at 421 S. 3rd Street and Arvizu’s El Fresnal Grocery Store at
310 E. Buchanan Street currently have HP overlay zoning. The Gerardo’s Building
is a rare two-story 1928 commercial and residential brick building which once
housed a café on the first floor and residential rentals on the upper level. Arvizu’s
El Fresnal Grocery Store, constructed ca. 1901, is the oldest intact neighborhood
grocery store in Phoenix. Both buildings are extremely intact and unique
examples of commercial non-warehouse brick buildings surviving in the
warehouse area of downtown. Both buildings are the only survivors from a subarea of the warehouse area of downtown which once encompassed both
residential units and commercial uses predominantly for Hispanic workers.
Because of the rarity of these two buildings, their early age, their overall excellent
physical integrity and their association with Hispanic history, both buildings meet
the HP-L zoning criterion of possessing “historic or architectural significance,
integrity, distinctive visual character and quality that is a level of exceptional
significance...”

and

Graham Paper Company Warehouse at 521 S. 3rd Street/310 E.
Lincoln Street. These two buildings appear to be extremely intact and in good
condition.

Here's what I think is going to be razed:

Pioneer Fruit Co. Warehouse at 401 S. 3rd Street and Coe Sales Co. at 301-309 E. Buchanan Street.

http://phoenix.gov/planning/Z-78-08.pdf

[kingofleos]

Anyone seen this? Interesting pics, especially the Pikes Market Center - esque sign.

http://www.jacksonstreetphx.com/index3.html

[HooverDam]

Originally Posted by kingofleos

Anyone seen this? Interesting pics, especially the Pikes Market Center - esque sign.

http://www.jacksonstreetphx.com/index3.html

Yah its old. Sadly this whole idea seems dead at the moment

[kingofleos]

It's frustrating. Especially seeing the original specs for the whole thing. I hate when they put out these amazing specs and articles on this stuff and then years later we're still sitting with nothing.

[ChaseM]

Not gonna lie if there's one project I wish the city/developers could revisit and make a reality, it's definitely this one! We definitely got cheated on this one, what a shame!

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by ChaseM

Not gonna lie if there's one project I wish the city/developers could revisit and make a reality, it's definitely this one! We definitely got cheated on this one, what a shame!

Completely disagree these plans never work you need to work with the entertainment areas that grow organically not try to invent them arbitrarily

[DesertRay]

Originally Posted by Obadno

Completely disagree these plans never work you need to work with the entertainment areas that grow organically not try to invent them arbitrarily

I'm a big fan of city planning, but I have to agree. I have seen a number of dual efforts (organic and centrally planned) happening, and the organic efforts always win with these districts. The organic spots get buzz, and business owners and entrepreneurs notice. The planned districts end up shelling out money to the disreputable and the naive. They are usually disasters in comparison.

[ChaseM]

Originally Posted by DesertRay

I'm a big fan of city planning, but I have to agree. I have seen a number of dual efforts (organic and centrally planned) happening, and the organic efforts always win with these districts. The organic spots get buzz, and business owners and entrepreneurs notice. The planned districts end up shelling out money to the disreputable and the naive. They are usually disasters in comparison.

Originally Posted by Obadno

Completely disagree these plans never work you need to work with the entertainment areas that grow organically not try to invent them arbitrarily

So in looking at similar projects around the country would you guys say the same about 16th Street Mall in Denver and Power and Light District in KC to name a few? Just asking what your thoughts are on those.

[DesertRay]

Originally Posted by ChaseM

So in looking at similar projects around the country would you guys say the same about 16th Street Mall in Denver and Power and Light District in KC to name a few? Just asking what your thoughts are on those.

I haven't been to that Denver district, but I generally like the Power and Light district in KC. I would be curious about the extra investment that was made with that particular district. I'm a fan of anchoring a few signature projects (like America West...er Talking Stick Arena), planning transit, and then letting business fight it out for customers. I would be interested in the history of these two projects.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by ChaseM

So in looking at similar projects around the country would you guys say the same about 16th Street Mall in Denver and Power and Light District in KC to name a few? Just asking what your thoughts are on those.

The 16th street mall in denver was not invented out of nothing. It was an enhancement to an exsisting/growing retail corridor

[ChaseM]

Originally Posted by Obadno

The 16th street mall in Denver was not invented out of nothing. It was an enhancement to an existing/growing retail corridor

Either way whatever it was before it was still an enhancement to make it more appealing kind of like Arizona Center. The Power and Lights District in KC was built basically from scratch utilizing a mix of new and old, building new structures while at the same time refurbishing and modernizing older buildings like what would've been done with Jackson Street.

The biggest issue I see with projects like what we have here in PHX like CityScape and Arizona Center is complete loss of interaction with the street in most cases. CityScape has a courtyard type feel so a majority of the stores and shops face away from the street and don't interact with pedestrians on the main drag, same could be said about Arizona Center and Denver Pavilions. It makes the area around the center seem less walk-able.

[ASUSunDevil]

This should give a nice boost of confidence to the Warehouse District. Couldn't help but laugh at 10 CBRE agents representing the seller

https://azbigmedia.com/real-estate/b...ict-for-9-75m/

[PHXFlyer11]

I was thinking yesterday how Jackson St. used to have Cooperstown and Jacksons on 3rd. Then further south was Coach & Willies, although i think perhaps Jacksons closed before Coach's opened?

Jackson's was kind of a dump, but it was a quick place to grab cheep beer at before or after the game. Cooperstown had pretty crap food but has some novelty value. Coach and Willies was ALWAYS hopping for DBacks games.

Now that area south of the Arena and Ballpark is completely void of bars and restaurants. I think this is what really has led to the failed vision of the Warehouse Entertainment district.

I can only attribute this to the increase in options north of the arena and ballpark. I think it started with Cityscape, the light rail and the rise of Roosevelt. In addition, the low quality places where you go to stuff your face or pound drinks immediately before or after a game seems to have shifted to the parking garage in front of the Jefferson St. station.

The music venues have largely focused to the north and west with Cooper Blues, Crescent Ballroom, The Van Buren and Valley Bar.

At this point I see the future of the warehouse district being a rather sleepy commercial and residential area. Maybe a bar or restaurant or two will pop up to serve the influx of residents with The Blue and Ballpark Apartments in the future, but I don't ever see the vision being realized.

If I had to point to one thing, I think it was the light rail that killed these hopes. It brought all the concentration of development north into downtown's center and up central.

[PHXFlyer11]

I'll just add that I hope once the light rail extensions through downtown are done and downtown continues to expand north, south, east and west, that they will see value in a street car (let's hope Tempe shows success) that can move people within downtown rather than to and from downtown. Some circular routes through the Warehouse district, downtown, Roosevelt and Grand would be pretty awesome and IMHO would fuel a development frenzy like we've never seen.

[ASU Diablo]

Originally Posted by PHXFlyer11

If I had to point to one thing, I think it was the light rail that killed these hopes. It brought all the concentration of development north into downtown's center and up central.

If true and the reason why it killed this area in the first place, hopefully the South Central Extension will bring it back to life. Would love to see more residential built along Lincoln as well.

Man Coach and Willie's and Jacksons on 3rd were such cool spots in their prime. Might get stabbed at Jacksons on 3rd but hey you would've had fun in the process LOL

[CrestedSaguaro]

I took a nice long walk around there today. The Battery is going to get people living in the area and the Home2 Suites going up will bring some visitors staying south of the tracks. It's a plus that Home2 will be keeping the adjacent warehouse and I hope they are smart enough to at least have a decent bar in there.

If Thunderbird and Jefferson get off the ground along with LRT stops at Lincoln and Buckeye, this should be enough to really start to turn things around for the area and probably be a catalyst for more development in the next couple of years.

[pbenjamin]

Jackson's on 3rd was nothing great but what it had going for it was proximity to the ballpark. It used to be packed on game nights. I think it ceased operations during the Great Recession, but I was expecting to re-emerge in time for the All Star Game in 2011 and was surprised that it didn't.