Tucson Development Thread

[AZ71]

At least that proposed rail goes by both Phx-Mesa and Sky Harbor Airports. Thats a plus. Not good for TIA though. Thats why I've always felt it essential for the city to build a light rail or streetcar from airport to Amtrak station. I think you'll get a lot of Tucson's opting to take a train to Mesa or Sky Harbor for cheaper flights or direct flights that avoid layovers that practically any flight from Tucson encounters when going afar. I think thats the one thing that can derail this (no pun intended). TIA does have lobbyists trying to stop HSR or passenger rail from TUS to Phx because of their potential lost revenue.

I just got back from dropping a person off at TIA and I swear it's the most convoluted and difficult experience to get there from the Eastside.

[Sonoran Swami]

Tucson Sentinel weighs in. Some interesting reporting about how this may get sorted out over a period of years.


Pima County's RTA Board fires longtime executive director Moghimi

Heinz said the RTA’s reputation was so bad that he doubted it would be possible to persuade voters to approve an extension next year.

He said that a better option might be to allow the RTA tax to expire and return to voters in 2-4 years.

That would put the election as late as 2030.

In the meantime, he said, he hopes to persuade his fellow Pima County supervisors to pass a half-cent sales tax that could be directed to transportation projects and administered by the Pima Association of Governments, the parent organization of the RTA. Ideally, that would provide enough revenue to complete all the projects that voters were promised when they approved the plan in 2006.

https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/rep...res-longtime-executive-director-moghimi/

[Eapiwo]

RTA deserves this fate. It's absolutely bonkers that Romero can represent 50% of the population yet have an equal vote in this organization to mayors of towns with 5k and 25k residents.

Moghimi's expectation was that the residents of Tucson should bankroll/subsidize the far suburbs' pet projects while the city gets scraps. The wildest part is the scraps that the city was promised last time still went unfulfilled.

Heinz moving to fire Moghimi was a smart move for the County. He knows Romero and council can go their own way and wants to prevent that so the 300kish unincorporated PC residents can still have a shot at infrastructure improvements.

Sahuarita and Marana got greedy. They wanted a disproportionate amount of the funds relative to their tax base contributions. Romero/council should just make their own Tucson plan that has more of what their residents want.

Originally Posted by Sonoran Swami

Tucson Sentinel
weighs in. Some interesting reporting about how this may get sorted out over a period of years.


Pima County's RTA Board fires longtime executive director Moghimi

Heinz said the RTA’s reputation was so bad that he doubted it would be possible to persuade voters to approve an extension next year.

He said that a better option might be to allow the RTA tax to expire and return to voters in 2-4 years.

That would put the election as late as 2030.

In the meantime, he said, he hopes to persuade his fellow Pima County supervisors to pass a half-cent sales tax that could be directed to transportation projects and administered by the Pima Association of Governments, the parent organization of the RTA. Ideally, that would provide enough revenue to complete all the projects that voters were promised when they approved the plan in 2006.

https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/rep...res-longtime-executive-director-moghimi/

[ZonaRealtor2021]

I would agree 100% the city of Tucson got bamboozled while the rich suburbs got what they wanted.
My personal opinion is that it would’ve been better for the region to show a collective to help attract business but if the collective is not on the same page or have an honest understanding of who is putting in 50% of the money & not getting beneficial ROI to it’s residents from this tax for regional transportation improvements. Then the city should do what it needs to do for itself and its residence.

I’m hopeful that there can be a RTA 2.0 reset at some point.

Just look up to the dreaded neighbor up north and there regional collective benefits everybody!

Originally Posted by Eapiwo

RTA deserves this fate. It's absolutely bonkers that Romero can represent 50% of the population yet have an equal vote in this organization to mayors of towns with 5k and 25k residents.

Moghimi's expectation was that the residents of Tucson should bankroll/subsidize the far suburbs' pet projects while the city gets scraps. The wildest part is the scraps that the city was promised last time still went unfulfilled.

Heinz moving to fire Moghimi was a smart move for the County. He knows Romero and council can go their own way and wants to prevent that so the 300kish unincorporated PC residents can still have a shot at infrastructure improvements.

Sahuarita and Marana got greedy. They wanted a disproportionate amount of the funds relative to their tax base contributions. Romero/council should just make their own Tucson plan that has more of what their residents want.

[somethingfast]

Tucson has been achieving absolutely nothing transportation wise for the last 50 years. It really has to be the most inept town in America relative to size for transportation planning (endless) and execution (never!).

[Sonoran Swami]

Linked up: Dunbar Spring residents hopeful as Downtown Links nears completion

A major infrastructure project that has reshaped traffic in downtown Tucson for years is finally nearing the finish line, and residents in the surrounding neighborhoods are eager for relief.

According to the City of Tucson Department of Transportation and Mobility, Phase Three of the Downtown Links project is slated to wrap up by the end of 2025.

https://www.kgun9.com/news/community-ins...peful-as-downtown-links-nears-completion




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[Sonoran Swami]

City Successfully Competes for $2.5M in LIHTC Funding from the State

On Monday, June 2, the Arizona Department of Housing (ADOH) announced that the City of Tucson successfully competed to receive $2.5 million in LIHTC credits that will result in approximately $20 million in private investment to build 59 new apartments in the second phase of Amazon Flats on West Miracle Mile.

https://www.tucsonaz.gov/Departments/Hou...for-2.5M-in-LIHTC-Funding-from-the-State

[Sonoran Swami]

Casino Del Sol Grant Road | Construction Progress Update



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[AZ71]

I wish we'd go back to the days where we hid parking garages under a building or at least build on top of them. There isn't a whole lot of land there and seems like a huge waste of space that could have had the casino on top of it. Hopefully they built it so a structure could be built on top of it one day.

[ZonaRealtor2021]

I agree it’s a monstrosity of a parking garage it looks larger than the actual casino itself.
That doesn’t bode well for the second phase I was hoping they would have a nice pool along with some type of cabana service,
I wonder where they’re going to be able to build the hotel aspect and conference space?
I don’t see this being more than probably 4 to 6 stories with such a tight space and I wonder what the height restrictions are in this particular location? or if the neighborhood associations adjacent would cause any serious blow back like standard bc of there obstructed mountain views and “neighborhood character”.

Originally Posted by AZ71

I wish we'd go back to the days where we hid parking garages under a building or at least build on top of them. There isn't a whole lot of land there and seems like a huge waste of space that could have had the casino on top of it. Hopefully they built it so a structure could be built on top of it one day.

[ZonaRealtor2021]

Keep it coming! Only need another 100k plus units within the next ten years.

On another note I was listening to an episode on the Buckmaster show from earlier this week & Miss Coffee was giving an update on the Tucson economy, apparently they’re trying to get over 8000 acres of state trust land south of the airport for industrial use and then annex into the city. Not to mention all the other projects that we have been talking about the past week coming online as well. I wonder if they have tons of suitors that we just don’t know yet as she does allude to that bc Tucson is a prime location being so close to México for on shoring plus due to our low cost of land compared to Phoenix and other western pier cities.

With that luncheon this past week hosted by the Eller college of management talking about the State of the Tucson economy and potential headwinds for the next coming year, it was stated Tucson was once again well below the Phoenix MSA in every metric possible and only adding 6300 people last year in the city.
I wonder if Tucson will indeed need all of those units? we were below the national average of one percent population growth at just 0.6 percent?

Originally Posted by Sonoran Swami

City Successfully Competes for $2.5M in LIHTC Funding from the State

On Monday, June 2, the Arizona Department of Housing (ADOH) announced that the City of Tucson successfully competed to receive $2.5 million in LIHTC credits that will result in approximately $20 million in private investment to build 59 new apartments in the second phase of Amazon Flats on West Miracle Mile.

https://www.tucsonaz.gov/Departments/Hou...for-2.5M-in-LIHTC-Funding-from-the-State

[Sonoran Swami]

Originally Posted by AZ71

At least that proposed rail goes by both Phx-Mesa and Sky Harbor Airports. Thats a plus. Not good for TIA though. Thats why I've always felt it essential for the city to build a light rail or streetcar from airport to Amtrak station. I think you'll get a lot of Tucson's opting to take a train to Mesa or Sky Harbor for cheaper flights or direct flights that avoid layovers that practically any flight from Tucson encounters when going afar. I think thats the one thing that can derail this (no pun intended). TIA does have lobbyists trying to stop HSR or passenger rail from TUS to Phx because of their potential lost revenue.

I just got back from dropping a person off at TIA and I swear it's the most convoluted and difficult experience to get there from the Eastside.

I agree that one of the most important places a mass transit system should serve is the local airport. For example, Denver got that right early in the system build out there. In juxtaposition to Denver, Los Angeles finally connected LAX just last week more than forty years after the opening the first light rail line there: https://www.foxla.com/news/lax-metro-transit-center-opens

On Tucson-Phoenix passenger rail, there was a solid article in the Phoenix New Times in December 2024 that hashed everything out as it was known at the time:

https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/pho...hes-toward-reality-what-to-know-20744524

So yeah, it seems we're waiting on the FRA to approve the “plan for the plan” by spring 2025.

I am not at all worried about TUS being affected by what's currently planned and that is pretty standard heavy rail service with three round trips a day - usually this will be top speeds of 79 miles an hour max on ROW shared with UP's busy Sunset Route freight traffic. HSR is an entirely different much more expensive animal. Just give me something akin to Amtrak's Surfliner in SoCal. That'll work and I predict will be wildly successful demanding even more train frequency in the future.

The best thing that can happen to TUS is get the south leg of the planned BRT line built. And build the BRT to a gold standard as rated by the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP): https://itdp.org/library/standards-and-guides/the-bus-rapid-transit-standard/

Additionally, I'd love to see BRT powered by overhead catenary as San Francisco's Muni has done with its trolley buses: https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/muni/munis-electric-trolley-buses

Currently, as I understand it, there is no funding for Tucson's planned BRT lines. This is 🞵🞵🞵🞵 🞵🞵 in the current RTA soap opera. So the sooner that all gets sorted the quicker we're going to get BRT in Tucson.

My humble dos centavos.

[Sonoran Swami]

Originally Posted by ZonaRealtor2021

Keep it coming! Only need another 100k plus units within the next ten years.

On another note I was listening to an episode on the Buckmaster show from earlier this week & Miss Coffee was giving an update on the Tucson economy, apparently they’re trying to get over 8000 acres of state trust land south of the airport for industrial use and then annex into the city. Not to mention all the other projects that we have been talking about the past week coming online as well. I wonder if they have tons of suitors that we just don’t know yet as she does allude to that bc Tucson is a prime location being so close to México for on shoring plus due to our low cost of land compared to Phoenix and other western pier cities.

With that luncheon this past week hosted by the Eller college of management talking about the State of the Tucson economy and potential headwinds for the next coming year, it was stated Tucson was once again well below the Phoenix MSA in every metric possible and only adding 6300 people last year in the city.
I wonder if Tucson will indeed need all of those units? we were below the national average of one percent population growth at just 0.6 percent?

On the subject of industrial development, a follow-up article in the Arizona Daily Star on data centers:


Secretive plan for up to 10 data centers headed to Pima County board vote

A proposed massive complex of 8 to 10 data centers is coming up for a Pima County board vote as soon as June 17, two county supervisors told the Star, but they and the public have been denied key information, including how much water and electricity it would use.

The details of the complex are currently shielded from the public by a nondisclosure agreement between the county and the still undisclosed company that would buy and develop the site. Local officials have simply referred to this planned development as Project Blue.

The project is planned for a 290-acre site, now owned by Pima County, that lies on the far southeast side near the Pima County Fairgrounds. The property is north of Brekke Road, bounded by Harrison Road on the west and Houghton Road on the east.

https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/article_e0bca45b-276b-4ac3-b5fa-f6711de5fbb9.html


Looking back, as the Pima County Project Blue story was breaking in local media, none other than Sandra Watson, President and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority, wrote an opinion piece in the Arizona Daily Star on May 18 touting the economic benefits of data centers for Arizona in general and Tucson specifically and addressed the water issue head-on:

Arizona’s data centers are increasing the use of sustainable water sources, improving efficiency, and maximizing water reuse. These facilities incorporate recycled water and rainwater harvesting wherever possible, adding to Arizona’s long legacy of smart water practices.

Recycled water plays an important role in conserving local water supplies. For instance, the City of Tucson, in collaboration with other investors, has laid the foundation for a thriving economic future through strategic and forward-thinking investments in reclaimed water infrastructure. Data centers can contribute to the success of these initiatives by expanding reclaimed water infrastructure, allowing new and existing users to transition their water consumption and minimizing use of potable municipal water.

The economic contributions of data centers include substantial capital investments that support local tax bases as well as high-wage, high-skill job opportunities in roles such as data center engineers, network specialists, and engineering operations managers. Additionally, data centers create demand for indirect jobs in supporting industries, including construction, utility trades, building maintenance, equipment repair, and security services.

https://tucson.com/opinion/column/article_d77dc265-09d1-432e-afa6-826195fca3c2.html

[Sonoran Swami]

Now for something completely different on highly successful transpo infrastructure:




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[Sonoran Swami]

Community leaders celebrate project milestone as casino construction nears completion

The new Grant Road property will bring more than 1,000 new jobs and expand the tribe's economic footprint in Southern Arizona. The 172,000-square-foot development will feature a 73,000-square-foot casino floor, multiple dining venues, and a four-level parking structure.

https://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/co...-as-casino-construction-nears-completion

[Sonoran Swami]

For local coffee fans, the long awaited Tucson episode of the documentary series COFFEE The Universal Language has been released. In addition to local coffee shops, it is a great look at a slice of the urban fabric that's makes Tucson such a cool town in the eyes of many. To attract new residents, businesses, and development, it helps if your town has an it factor. And Tucson's coffee scene certainly helps in that regard.

Among others, featured in the Tucson episode is former professional cyclist Curtis Zimmerman who owns Presta Coffee. Presta's Mercado location is huge with the local cycling community. Exo and Carino are shown as well. Tucson's coffee story well told.




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[Sonoran Swami]

Punch Line Comedy Club Negotiations May End as Tucson Deal Hits Wall

“Live Nation’s interest in Tucson was an endorsement of the work we are doing to revitalize our downtown, and their increase in the tax base was huge,” McCusker said. “Rio Nuevo does not have the privilege of hate. Any person or organization, large or small, that wants to set up shop in our urban core will be welcomed by our board. Over 80% of our dollars go to small, local operations and big organizations are attracted to our collective energy. If all we did was support local business there would be no downtown.”

https://tucsonfoodie.com/2025/06/10/punc...ations-may-end-as-tucson-deal-hits-wall/

[ZonaRealtor2021]

I just got done watching the Rio Nuevo board meeting and while there wasn’t much there, there was one huge piece of new information that really caught my attention. Fletcher Mccusker said that the OBIE group will be presenting in September to the board their intentions on what they’re going to be building downtown, one of the options was what we have all known already that 7 story building with some retail & a boutique hotel, to now possibly a 20 story building that was originally planned with residential, hotel, and retail. I doubt we will get the 20 stories but a boy can dream. This was completely out of left field!

Also mentioned was that the hi-fi location is to be turned into an adult entertainment concept, Whatever that is? I’m thinking maybe a Hooters type of business?? Also that the funky monkey location has interest to be converted into retail of some sort. Lastly mentioned today was that the city was looking to get a new appraisal of the Ronstadt done. I’m guessing too hopefully find a new capable developer for that long over due project?

[Sonoran Swami]

Comedy club likely not coming to old Borderlands Brewery building in downtown Tucson

Company still interested in opening a club in Tucson, according to Rio Nuevo Chairman Fletcher McCusker

“To remind y’all, we don’t control those conversations,” McCusker said Tuesday. “LiveNation had identified Tucson as a good market for their comedy club. It seems like they will continue to pursue it, but we are 99.9 percent sure it won’t happen at Borderlands.”

https://www.kold.com/2025/06/10/live-nat...coming-old-borderlands-brewery-downtown/

[AZ71]

Maybe this small-town Obie Company is seeing other buildings like the Speeway+Campbell project and being pushed to develop something larger like before. I mean isn't Obie partnering with Opus, Daboub, Schwabe and Sundt on this too? Regardless I'm sure we'll be disappointed.

As for Fletcher saying Hi-Fi would become adult entertainment. I'm sure he meant an establishment for the 30yo+ crowd. Like an upscale hotel bar or venue for adults and not a bar aimed at youth. Downtown has been having a lot of problems with young people getting in fights and stuff and its all in that same vicinity of whats supposed to be a nice area with the AC Marriott, this new 75 E Broadway/55 Scott Development, etc. I'm sure thats what he meant. I wouldn't be surprised if that Punchline Comedy Club wants to move into that space. Wonder why they're not considering the old Chicago Store or the Indian Trading Post. All seem like viable options. I actually wish they'd get rid of Cobra Arcade and put it there.

Man I hope you're right that they're creating a new RFP for Ronstadt Transit Center. After a decade of no movement from Peach...it's time to toss them. With all this drama happening with Borderlands, Punchline, stalled Ronstadt...maybe Rio Nuevo is waking up and distancing themselves from Peach. They need to.