Tempe Development Thread

[ASU Diablo]

Originally Posted by Forrester1998

New Preliminary Site Plan Review for the parcel on the hard NW corner of Rural and Rio Salado, its for an amended PAD for "Marina Heights Buildings G and H." I believe in the annual NOVUS review a couple of years ago there was some mention of this being an upcoming project, Ill try to find that document and link it. In the NOVUS plan this parcel is split into two plots (west and east) with the west being planned for residential (probably high rise) and the east being high rise office. It will be interesting to see what we get here, hopefully there will be some more detailed news soon.

https://epermits.tempe.gov/CitizenAccess...AKZ&agencyCode=TEMPE&IsToShowInspection=

This is from 2022 (Page 564). I wonder if this is still the plan.

https://arizonastateu.sharepoint.com/:b:...uDEYJInw68YpBXrUYBJCq52u0TUOxuur3QAX9d5g

Originally Posted by ASU Diablo

I'm counting 20+ stories for the most western tower (looks like a total of 3 buildings on this site?). Would be amazing and agreed that it does look like Optima!

[xymox]

Originally Posted by muertecaza

Nice! Gotta love seeing another big ugly surface lot bite the dust.

Can we have a send off for ol' Lot 59 then? The most affordable parking at ASU in the early 90s...

[muertecaza]

Originally Posted by xymox

Can we have a send off for ol' Lot 59 then? The most affordable parking at ASU in the early 90s...

Haha yes, pour one out for all of us that parked there and got to class on the 'Flash Forward'

[combusean]

I miss that bus like I miss having some rando's armpit in my face.

[builder03]

The final crane for South Pier came down today.

[Forrester1998]

Originally Posted by builder03

The final crane for South Pier came down today.

The speed of the South Pier construction is fairly impressive considering vertical construction there started less than 2 years ago IIRC. Meanwhile, The Pier has been under construction for so long that many rising 3rd graders were not born yet when that crane went up (Fall of 2017).

[BurjKhalifa2Builder]

Originally Posted by Forrester1998

The speed of the South Pier construction is fairly impressive considering vertical construction there started less than 2 years ago IIRC. Meanwhile, The Pier has been under construction for so long that many rising 3rd graders were not born yet when that crane went up (Fall of 2017).

Why did the first set of towers take so long?

[Forrester1998]

Originally Posted by BurjKhalifa2Builder

Why did the first set of towers take so long?

So my understanding of this is that "The Pier" is a completely different developer and not affiliated with the rest of the "South Pier" project (just happens to be in the middle of it). I have heard on here that this developer OWNS the construction equipment including the crane (which is unusual) so they dont feel any time crunch related to those costs. But also just poor management in general, they have had many workers safety violations over the years.

[builder03]

Fence is up for the 7th Street Development at the House of Tricks Site. 7th Street is going to look and feel a lot different in the next two years as all three of these high rises go up at the same time.

[Forrester1998]

New PSPR for a location/area not often discussed in this thread, this one is for CenTria Tempe, which would be a 78 unit mixed use multifamily development on 2.29 acres on the NE corner of Southern and Dorsey (next to the National Bank of Arizona building).

https://epermits.tempe.gov/CitizenAccess...AW0&agencyCode=TEMPE&IsToShowInspection=

I have to admit Im not really familiar w/ this parcel. What I can glean from satellite/street view it looks like a small park w/ a field, parking lot, tiny skate park (really just a couple of ramps) and some other grassy areas. I cant imagine this is a very high traffic park but somebody else can tell me if Im wrong.

The mixed use aspect of the proposal matches the general plan but it is a bit denser than the general plan (about 34 du/acres vs 25) and this would come out to a 2-3 story apartment complex. I dont know if the council will go for a deviation against a newly approved general plan (this is what killed The Standard) but one thing this development would have going for it is that its incredibly difficult to argue against it on the basis of height considering its next to what might be the tallest building south of Broadway in Tempe.

This is one of those areas where a 1st floor business might struggle at first before other surrounding areas get more housing (as the general plan would seem to suggest) but its nice to see some density in this area, I support additional density any way we can get it.

[TllrSkyline-01]

Originally Posted by Forrester1998

New PSPR for a location/area not often discussed in this thread, this one is for CenTria Tempe, which would be a 78 unit mixed use multifamily development on 2.29 acres on the NE corner of Southern and Dorsey (next to the National Bank of Arizona building).

https://epermits.tempe.gov/CitizenAccess...AW0&agencyCode=TEMPE&IsToShowInspection=

I have to admit Im not really familiar w/ this parcel. What I can glean from satellite/street view it looks like a small park w/ a field, parking lot, tiny skate park (really just a couple of ramps) and some other grassy areas. I cant imagine this is a very high traffic park but somebody else can tell me if Im wrong.

The mixed use aspect of the proposal matches the general plan but it is a bit denser than the general plan (about 34 du/acres vs 25) and this would come out to a 2-3 story apartment complex. I dont know if the council will go for a deviation against a newly approved general plan (this is what killed The Standard) but one thing this development would have going for it is that its incredibly difficult to argue against it on the basis of height considering its next to what might be the tallest building south of Broadway in Tempe.

This is one of those areas where a 1st floor business might struggle at first before other surrounding areas get more housing (as the general plan would seem to suggest) but its nice to see some density in this area, I support additional density any way we can get it.

I doubt 1st floor retail would work in this area. It is not conducive to pedestrian traffic or extra vehicular parking to accommodate.

[Forrester1998]

It looks like the city of Tempe has found a location that will be the new home of the Harry Walker House, and the site developers have applied for a permit to move it. The new location will be...Tempe city hall (lol).

https://epermits.tempe.gov/CitizenAccess...B4X&agencyCode=TEMPE&IsToShowInspection=

I guess my question here is, is the city of Tempe land availability so bad that they have no choice but to do this? Im not exactly sure where they plan to put it but my main concern is theres a few more historical buildings near downtown that may need to be moved for future developments, including the Hackett House (at 4th and Maple near Mill Ave, this is the site of a recent city of Tempe RFP) and the Elias Rodriguez House (on 8th street near Rural/University) and possibly the Birchett House (next to CAVC but this is ASU property). Unless the "historic" nature of these buildings are being oversold relative to the Walker House, those will need a new home eventually too.

[combusean]

It's literally on that little lot between City Hall and the Mill/5th buildings. That's a great spot for it and yes, I'd say it is necessary, Tempe really doesn't have a lot of good sites left in its downtown core.

[Forrester1998]

Originally Posted by combusean

It's literally on that little lot between City Hall and the Mill/5th buildings. That's a great spot for it and yes, I'd say it is necessary, Tempe really doesn't have a lot of good sites left in its downtown core.

Upon further consideration (and some Google street view scrolling) I have come around to this configuration. I think that moving the Walker House (and maybe an additional downtown historic home in the future) to the city hall site makes sense, I think it makes this area of downtown more interesting. I think mostly I was miffed that during the months that this project was going through approvals members of the council kept alluding to "some great and creative ideas" for where to put the Walker House and in the end it was the obvious spot lol.

In other news, the College and 7th project officially filed.for their building permits this week (they previously had filed for demo permits). No link provided yet, this isnt a surprise but just further confirmation that this project will be immediately moving forward once the site prep is done.

I think its interesting that the most recent wave of downtown core construction projects have been along 7th Street in the "interior" of the downtown core, while the projects near University/Mill (Skye Tempe, 16 East University, whatever project ends up happening along Mill between University and 7th) seem to all be on hold for now. This seems mostly like a coincidence but I wonder how it will impact the character of downtown for the major developments to be away from the arterials for now.

[Phxguy]

Originally Posted by Forrester1998

I think its interesting that the most recent wave of downtown core construction projects have been along 7th Street in the "interior" of the downtown core, while the projects near University/Mill (Skye Tempe, 16 East University, whatever project ends up happening along Mill between University and 7th) seem to all be on hold for now. This seems mostly like a coincidence but I wonder how it will impact the character of downtown for the major developments to be away from the arterials for now.

Can't speak for the rest of the developments but 16 E University is moving through plan review with an amendment to add an additional floor to the proposed tower.

[Forrester1998]

Originally Posted by Phxguy

Can't speak for the rest of the developments but 16 E University is moving through plan review with an amendment to add an additional floor to the proposed tower.

Would be cool to see the 16 E University development get going, I did go check and I saw the DPR for a site plan modification from a couple weeks ago. The original PAD was already one of the densest proposals from this most recent batch (was 453 units overall I believe) so would Im interested to see what that gets pushed up to with an additional floor.

In other news, I was reading about the new ASU dorms opening up near Mill Avenue (for Herberger students) and apparently in an interview earlier this year, the ASU VP of Facilities Management explicitly stated that the opening of this new dorm will allow ASU to tear down the Arcadia dorms (Best, Irish, and Hayden halls) and pursue a "public-private partnership" for construction on those parcels (I assume this means constructing new dorms in collaboration with American Campus Communities). This is on the ASU website so I dont think any more confirmation would be needed here!

https://news.asu.edu/20250219-university...iversitys-commitment-keep-moving-forward

The new dorms accommodate ~800 students, I guess I dont know how many students the Arcadia dorms house. I know a lot of Herberger students live in Hassayampa and maybe some in Adelphi II. I assume that the future demolition will happen after the 2025-2026 academic year, but we will probably get more info on this during the September Regents meeting (which is when the 3 state universities get their Annual Capitol Plans/Capitol Improvement Plans approved). In general this is pretty big news and Im surprised more people havent reported on this!

[builder03]

Harry Walker House being prepped to move:


Astria and "The Samuel" (College and 7th)

[muertecaza]

Originally Posted by Forrester1998

New Preliminary Site Plan Review for the parcel on the hard NW corner of Rural and Rio Salado, its for an amended PAD for "Marina Heights Buildings G and H." I believe in the annual NOVUS review a couple of years ago there was some mention of this being an upcoming project, Ill try to find that document and link it. In the NOVUS plan this parcel is split into two plots (west and east) with the west being planned for residential (probably high rise) and the east being high rise office. It will be interesting to see what we get here, hopefully there will be some more detailed news soon.

https://epermits.tempe.gov/CitizenAccess...AKZ&agencyCode=TEMPE&IsToShowInspection=

They have initiated a PAD amendment with the JRC so hopefully we get some details there.

[muertecaza]

Originally Posted by builder03

Harry Walker House being prepped to move:


Astria and "The Samuel" (College and 7th)

Awesome pictures, thanks. Hopefully they are preserving both structures, not just the Walker House?

[muertecaza]

Originally Posted by muertecaza

Comparing this to my last pictures, I suppose The Pier is making progress, albeit glacially. There are a few more floors of partial glass on the west tower in the past few months. South Pier will definitely finish first though.