Tempe Development Thread

[sundevilgrad]

Looks like the 11-story Marriot is getting under way...

Bandersnatch to be demolished Thursday
Katie Nelson
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 24, 2007 01:19 PM

Bandersnatch Brew Pub is scheduled to come tumbling down starting Thursday.

The gritty, downtown Tempe watering hole operated at the intersection of Fifth Street and Forest Avenue, a quick halftime walk from Sun Devil Stadium, for about three decades. It is slated to be replaced with a sleek new 11-story Marriott Residence Inn and parking garage.

A demolition crew will begin Thursday by removing the signs, ironwork art and handmade stained glass from inside the bar. Those pieces, along with the unique wooden front entry doors and a wood sculpture inside, are going to be squirreled away so they can be used to decorate the new Marriott's hotel bar, according to Darcy Gray, of Layton Construction.

The building itself will come down starting Friday. Clearing the site should take a four-person work-crew up to two weeks, Layton said.

Construction is expected to begin on the Marriott in mid-January, and it would open about 15 months after that.

[JAHOPL]

New Tallest in Tempe!

I haven't driven by in a week to verify it, but the second tower at Centerpoint should be passing the 22nd floor of the first tower any day now, if not already, on its way to a top-out at 30 floors.

[tempedude]

Originally Posted by wissundevil06

Does anyone know when Lumina Tempe will start construction? I know they are already well into the sales process.

Haven't heard news on any groundbreaking date yet. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't until after the first of the year.

Here is a link to the main site for Lumina, there are some videos there and some rough sketches of the floor plans if you haven't already seen them.
(oh and make sure you turn your speaker volume down a little for the videos, they have the volume set way high)

http://www.constellationproperty.com/tempe/

[vertex]

Originally Posted by JAHOPL

New Tallest in Tempe!

I haven't driven by in a week to verify it, but the second tower at Centerpoint should be passing the 22nd floor of the first tower any day now, if not already, on its way to a top-out at 30 floors.

Just barely squeaks by...

[tempedude]

Centerpoint taken today Oct 26, 2007

The right tower is set to rise 8 more floors

Photo Update of Tempe Transit Center - Centerpoint in background


I really need a better camera...

[wissundevil06]

In regards to CP, there are 8 more floors going up, but I'm curious as to the process of raising the height of the tower crane because it obviously must be done. Can someone explain how they do this?

[PHX31]

Check out this thread. It is explained in there at some point.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?p=3124686#post3124686

[wissundevil06]

Thank you so much! It makes sense now. The CP tower crane has an orange jack in the middle of its base.

[tempedude]

October 27, 2007 - 5:45AM
ASU’s Barrett plans a school within a larger school
Ryan Gabrielson, Tribune

Years before he arrived at ASU, Mark Jacobs had a vision for what the Barrett Honors College could be.

Jacobs headed the biology department at Swarthmore College, a tiny elite liberal arts school near Philadelphia. As he left the campus one Friday evening, he noticed how sedate it was. There was no loud music, no drunken students cackling.

The library, however, bustled with students.

“And I thought to myself, 'What these kids need is Penn State (University) right outside the gate,’ ” said Jacobs, who became dean of Arizona State University’s honors college in 2003.

Next month, ASU begins construction of an eight-acre campus within the main university in Tempe to house 1,700 honors students. The college will sit at the gates of a major university with a party reputation.

“For me, that’s a wonderful combination for bright kids,” Jacobs said. Students should be able to choose between a party and their schoolbooks.

For Megan Tollefson, a senior in the honors college, there was never a question where she would attend college. “My whole family’s gone to ASU,” said Tollefson, who graduated from Mountain View High School in Mesa.

But Tollefson is the first in her family to enroll in the honors college, which offers a more rigorous liberal arts education than the rest of ASU.

Most of Barrett’s students come from Arizona. But Jacobs recruits students nationwide, from Portland, Ore., to Washington D.C., and sometimes finds ASU a tough sell.

“I have to convince them that we’re good enough for them, not the other way around,” he said.

Jessica Peet chose Barrett over staying close to home at Penn State. “ASU’s a huge school, it’s easy to get lost in,” said Peet, an honors junior majoring in business. “But Barrett has a more personal experience.”

Honors students have the same majors as other Arizona State students, but take additional classes that are restricted to those in Barrett. Those classes include Perspectives in Nanotechnology and Latin American Intellectual History.

Tollefson is majoring in art and marketing and takes many of the same classes as regular ASU students.

But her honors classes are far smaller than what most other students experience. Honors classes are limited to 20 students per section.

“We get much more one-on-one interaction with the faculty,” Tollefson said.
The college’s professors also run class differently.

“It’s more challenging and you don’t get stuck doing busy work,” Peet said. “They know that you know it and trust that you’re going to do the work it takes to get the understanding you need.”

When finished in 2009, Barrett’s campus will include seven buildings, including a dorm, faculty offices, a dining hall and computer lab set aside for honors students.

The campus will be near the northwest corner of Rural Road and Apache Boulevard.

Sixty-five of the nation’s public universities have honors colleges. ASU is the only one that will have built a college campus within the university, Jacob said. “They all would like this,” he said. “But this campus is costing $120 million and I don’t think most places either could do that or have any plans to do that.”

American Campus Communities, a private developer that specializes in college dorms, is paying the cost of the campus’ construction and will manage student residences.

[tempedude]

^ I had/have reservations about posting the above article, but it is a redevelopment where ASU has torn down everything on the corner of Apache and Rural. I believe that there was some controversy too. Something about an old bank with a dome that used to be on the corner. Irrelevant now, its too late. Just good to see something happening with the corner.

On another note. Has anyone heard anything about condos being planned for 8th street and Rural? Right now there is a lot that is wrapped right next to the LRT station on Rural on the west side of the street. Or, I was wondering if they might be locating where the old ACME Roadhouse Bar used to be.

Edit:I misread the tempe development projects progress graph. The plans for the the 8th and Rural condos are still in the conceptual stage as of 4/16/2007. This chart seems to be a little outdated though, and it is probably due for an update.

http://www.tempe.gov/business/Development_Report/pdf/Tempe%20Projects%20Graph.pdf

[wissundevil06]

On Saturday I noticed that ASU has already begun building the next phase of the Biodesign Institute. Does anyone have any renderings what the new phase will look like?

[bwonger06]

The dorms at the new Honors college is also trying to go sustainable and LEED silver certified. Trying to get the whole complex fitted with grey water system, green garden roof top and more i am sure.

[flyer84]

Originally Posted by wissundevil06

On Saturday I noticed that ASU has already begun building the next phase of the Biodesign Institute. Does anyone have any renderings what the new phase will look like?

I'm not sure they are starting the next Biodesign building because the sign that is on the fence says that it is just a "Biodesign Landscaping project". My guess is they are just going to landscape it all nice for now and then when ASU has more funding available for the last phase of the Biodesign Institute they are going to start building the final two buildings. On the Biodesign website it says "Buildings C and D are proposed for future construction as need and funding dictates" so there is no date set in stone as of yet. Anyway, here is the rendering of what the site will look like when all 4 buildings are complete. Also, I'm glad to see that hideous Ritter Building finally torn down. It was an absolute eyesore and since it was right along Rural Road it always bothered me.

[wissundevil06]

Glad ASU is going green. Can't wait to see all of ASU projects when it's complete

[tempedude]

Originally Posted by wissundevil06

Glad ASU is going green. Can't wait to see all of ASU projects when it's complete

yeah, there is a lot of construction going on around campus. In two years things will look very different.

[tempedude]

Hey, does anyone have a progress update on whats going on with the old mill?
It seems to me that something should start rolling soon on that project. Hasn't the archaeological study been done for months?

Which company is responsible for the project(development)? Avenue Communities? If so, weren't they planning on locating some of their offices at the mill?

[DevdogAZ]

Originally Posted by flyer84

I'm glad to see that hideous Ritter Building finally torn down. It was an absolute eyesore and since it was right along Rural Road it always bothered me.

I agree about the Ritter Building. Glad to hear it's getting the ax.

It would suck to have a nice east facing window office in Building B and then have it covered up by the new phase.

[vertex]

ASU wants to replace frats with dorm-type houses
Ryan Gabrielson, East Valley Tribune

ASU hopes to tear down its aging fraternity houses to open space for a dorm-like development where the Greeks would live and school officials would have greater control over the raucous party scene.

A group of eight fraternities that own land on Alpha Drive is working with Arizona State University to build a major development across from Wells Fargo Arena. In addition to Greek housing, the project might include a hotel, convention center, retail, restaurants and regular student housing.

Within two years, the cluster of fraternity houses that have stood more than four decades could be razed.

The residences that replace the houses would run far more like ASU’s residence halls, allowing the university to better crack down on misconduct.

“When students are in a residence hall community, it’s an opportunity for them to get better amenities and also for them to have a better environment in terms of being healthy and being safe and secure,” said Leah Hardesty, an ASU spokeswoman.

The fraternities are leading the project, but several of the students living in the houses said demolishing Alpha Drive would damage the Greek system.

Moving fraternities into residence halls — which prohibit alcohol — would take away the groups’ independence and history.

“These houses are our pride and joy,” said Mike Fennell, a member of ASU’s Delta Sigma Phi chapter.

Few would comment on the record because the Interfraternity Council, which governs ASU’s fraternities, has asked members not to speak to reporters.

University police have responded to four alleged sexual assaults and four aggravated assaults this year at the fraternity houses, ASU records show. There have been at least 11 alcohol violations just since the fall semester began in August.

Jeff Abraham, who represents the eight Alpha Drive fraternities, said the students are misinformed. ASU’s chapters will have a say in how their residences are built.

“Everyone will have independence,” Abraham said.

ASU is a perennial top 10 party school in unscientific rankings by Playboy and other magazines, a reputation university officials have long tried to shed.

The Greek community isn’t solely responsible for the designation — fewer than 5 percent of Arizona State’s undergraduate students are in a fraternity or sorority — but it has contributed.

ASU gained national attention in 2002 when the vice president of the student body starred in a pornographic movie filmed at his fraternity house.

Alpha Drive’s houses are in bad shape. Several are boarded up and surrounded by chain link fences. Those still occupied haven’t been maintained well.

On Wednesday afternoon, several cars were parked in the Delta Sigma Phi house’s front yard.

The former Pi Kappa Alpha house is literally crumbling and has been vacant since a fire gutted it in 1997. That fire prompted ASU’s fire marshal to threaten to close all the Alpha Drive houses for not having sprinkler systems.

However, some of the houses sit on lots worth more than $1 million.

The Sigma Chi house is valued at more than $1.4 million, according to the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office.

Abraham said they began considering the development after the Pi Kappa Alpha fire.

The redevelopment could take several years to begin due to the complexity of the negotiations, Abraham said.

“When you’ve got nine separate landowners on an 18-acre site, there’s a lot of work to be done contractually to put that all together,” he said.

The group, tentatively named Threshold Properties, approached ASU in 2004 about the redevelopment, Hardesty said. The university is waiting for the fraternities to reach a final agreement before work can begin.

“It’s our understanding that the fraternities are in support of this project,” she said.


Hayden Butte, Sun Devil Stadium and Wells Fargo Arena make up the skyline from the westerly view of the Sigma Pi fraternity house at ASU. Some of the surrounding houses have been boarded up and fenced in.

ASU has been talking about raising this property since the late 80's. It looks very much like a slum now, especially in contrast to all of the new construction on the northeast corner of campus (Biodesign labs, Light Rail station, etc).

The demand for student housing, so close to the University/Rural LRT station, is what's really accelerating the negotiations now.

[PhxSprawler]

Isn't the party scene part of what makes a fraternity thrive? Also, for historic preservation's sake, wouldn't these be the buildings to preserve? As ghetto looking as they are, they have had some great times. Porno, sexual assault, murder, and enough alcohol to endrunken a small continent. In addition, give it five years, there will be nothing left to be nostalgic about for the ASU alumni. All the bars will be gone, all the buildings will be replaced, all the breasts will be fake. What will be left?

[jvbahn]

Touche! Not everything needs to be clean, safe and sterile....people are supposed to have fun in those years, not turn into automotons right out of high school. Isn't Animal House one of the best pieces of Americana?