Tempe Development Thread

[bwonger06]

Originally Posted by Jsmscaleros

"I definitely want it (downtown) to strive," he said. "(But) we have Borders . . . and other spaces empty. Some of these places just come here to advertise their (corporation) and then they close. We need something to stick around for a decent time on Mill."

Jake Schellenberger, the manager of Regions, said that many Valley residents feel that way about Mill Avenue.

"They just need to come out and support us," he sad. "Our food is great. We have a great happy hour. We even have lobster night."


I personally will enjoy a 24 hour eating establishment of ANY variety.

That is such a horrible indicator of Mill. Border is going to be gone in a few years with electronic becoming more popular by the day.

Its like CD stores after Itunes and online music.

[Leo the Dog]

I'm not convinced that book stores will cease to exist in the future. There is a huge difference between CDs and books. Reading a book on a computer is a totally different experience than the actual hard copy in your hands.

[TAZ4ate0]

Originally Posted by Leo the Dog

I'm not convinced that book stores will cease to exist in the future. There is a huge difference between CDs and books. Reading a book on a computer is a totally different experience than the actual hard copy in your hands.

Agreed. People will always want to pick up a hardcopy of a good book, whether it is fiction, non-fiction, a biography, a bibliography, etc.

I have tried reading electronic versions of books. I find myself easily distracted and disengaged while trying to do so. Why? Dunno. It's just not quite the same as reading a hard copy.

[NorthScottsdale]

Agreed with the last two posts. Electronic books 🞵🞵🞵🞵.

[glynnjamin]

It sounds like none of you have ever used an ereader. Quite simply, the ereader experience is superior to paper in almost every way. You can hold a thousand books in your hand. No more turning pages, no more folding binders back, no more dog ears, no more lost bookmarks, and no more bulky books to carry around. Reading a book on e-ink is not the same as reading a book on your computer. Try an e-reader out. They really are the best investment you could make if you like reading.

[KEVINphx]

Originally Posted by glynnjamin

It sounds like none of you have ever used an ereader. Quite simply, the ereader experience is superior to paper in almost every way. You can hold a thousand books in your hand. No more turning pages, no more folding binders back, no more dog ears, no more lost bookmarks, and no more bulky books to carry around. Reading a book on e-ink is not the same as reading a book on your computer. Try an e-reader out. They really are the best investment you could make if you like reading.

BINGO- this will be the Ipod of reading, I believe. Just as you stated, the number of offerings and pricing structures etc. is just like itunes and the ipod.

I still like real books but these devices are improving by leaps and bounds, it's really a matter of time!

[bwonger06]

Originally Posted by glynnjamin

It sounds like none of you have ever used an ereader. Quite simply, the ereader experience is superior to paper in almost every way. You can hold a thousand books in your hand. No more turning pages, no more folding binders back, no more dog ears, no more lost bookmarks, and no more bulky books to carry around. Reading a book on e-ink is not the same as reading a book on your computer. Try an e-reader out. They really are the best investment you could make if you like reading.

Exactly, everyone I talked to that has used a Kindle or the Sony reader have all loved the thing. You can write notes on it, check out book from the public library without even stepping foot in the door, in addition to what glynn wrote above.

People are going to be hesitant at first just like the Ipod because the price is a big hurdle but the technology has already and will get cheaper in the future.

[NorthScottsdale]

I have a kindle, but it's just weird. I'd rather read a book. I'm sure a lot of people like the kindles tho.

[Jsmscaleros]

I like collecting books (real books - on my bookshelves) after I have read them or lending them to friends. Kindle and other electronic devices do not allow me to experience books in the same ways I currently enjoy them.

[Tempe_Duck]

This could be a good move, it should make that portion of Mill more lively. Epically when/if the project at the Mill takes off.

Monti's opening new Mill Avenue entrance and will offer free Wi-Fi

8 comments by Jacki Shoyeb - Jan. 7, 2010 12:52 PM
The Arizona Republic

Monti's La Casa Vieja in Tempe is doing something it's never done in its 139-year history - establishing an entrance on Mill Avenue.

The adobe hacienda-turned restaurant will be opening a Mill Avenue entrance on Monday.

The door has always been there, but it was used as an exit.

"We're excited because it's like turning the face of our business toward the part of the city that is active," said Michael Monti, one of the restaurant's owners.

The awning for the new entrance went up Thursday, and a door handle is on order.

While customers can walk in off Mill to the new entrance, the existing entrance facing Tempe Beach Park will still be open.

And that's not the only thing new coming to Monti's. Free Wi-Fi will be available at the restaurant starting Monday, Monti said.

"These are tight times and people aren't dining out as much, but that doesn't mean we relax on our commitment to evolve and improve this place steadily, Monti said.

[glynnjamin]

Originally Posted by Jsmscaleros

I like collecting books (real books - on my bookshelves) after I have read them or lending them to friends. Kindle and other electronic devices do not allow me to experience books in the same ways I currently enjoy them.

The Barnes & Noble nook allows you to electronically lend books to friends...just sayin'

[nickkoto]

http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2010/01/10/20100110biz-centerpoint0111.html

The empty Centerpoint high-rise condominium towers that loom over Tempe, once a symbol of the city's downtown residential boom, have fallen into foreclosure.

A foreclosure auction date is set for April, according to documents filed on Tuesday with the Maricopa County Recorder's Office. The property could be sold to the highest bidder.

ML Manager LLC, acting on behalf of a dizzying list of investors, filed foreclosure on the high-rises. Officials for ML Manager placed the unpaid principal of condo developer Tempe Land Co. LLC at $135 million. Tempe Land is a subsidiary of Tempe-based Avenue Communities LLC.

Good. The sooner someone can buy this thing for pennies on the dollar, the sooner a large team of construction workers can be employed and the sooner we won't have to be taunted by such a lifeless concrete skeleton.

[Don B.]

^ Just so you don't get your hopes too far up, a lot of foreclosure sales have no buyer, and the lender is forced to take it back and sit on it for a while. Generally speaking, the bigger the numbers, the less likely it will find a buyer. A massive multi-million dollar white elephant in this economy may languish for a couple of years yet.

I have noticed some damage to the structure when I was last by it during the day, as it is not weatherproofed. Not good...

--don

[Tempe_Duck]

More news about Centerpoint.

Foreclosure auction may lead to new life for Centerpoint high-rises

by Dianna M. Náñez - Jan. 13, 2010 10:03 AM
The Arizona Republic

Downtown Tempe stakeholders still hold hope that the empty Centerpoint high-rises will be a boon for Mill Avenue.

That's if the 22- and 30-story towers ever are finished.

An April foreclosure auction date set last week may pave the way for a second life for the condos that were stalled in bankruptcy and other legal proceedings. Vic Linoff, a longtime downtown Tempe business owner, said the best-case scenario is that an investor with solid financial backing will purchase the towers and reopen them as a mixed development that includes affordable condos and apartments.

That would be a stark change from the initial plans for the condos. Tempe Land Co. LLC, had hoped to open the first tower of condos in late 2008. Ken Losch, a principal developer for the project, had planned Centerpoint as high-end condos with starting prices of $300,000. The development was to include an estimated 375 condos in two towers near Maple and Sixth streets. The project was to include an upscale retail plaza, fine dining and a winery.

But the development stalled when Tempe Land's lender, Mortgages Ltd., went bankrupt in 2008 after the suicide of Chief Executive Officer Scott Coles.

Even before the financial unraveling, many Tempe residents and business owners thought the condos were unrealistic.

"Ken went out on a limb to try and create a high-end district in Tempe," Linoff said. "A university town is not where you normally find high end - Scottsdale or 32nd Street and Camelback (Road) that would be the perfect place for that (type of project)."

Still, Linoff said he hopes that a new investor would realize the potential for people to want to live in downtown Tempe. Tempe officials also hope that a new investor would complete the project within a year.

The foreclosure was welcome news for Tempe officials, said Chris Salomone, Tempe's Community Development manager.

"I think it's an opportunity to see an end to this prolonged process of bankruptcy and litigation," he said. "We're optimistic the project will get finished. There is a time frame now at least."

The sooner that time frame comes to a close, the better for downtown Tempe's economic recovery, Linoff said.

"There's a lot of good things happening downtown," Linoff said. "But certainly vacant buildings and incomplete projects don't help the image of downtown."

[ciweiss]

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic...0/01/10/20100110biz-centerpoint0111.html

Tempe towers in foreclosure
by Dianna M. Náñez - Jan. 11, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
The empty Centerpoint high-rise condominium towers that loom over Tempe, once a symbol of the city's downtown residential boom, have fallen into foreclosure.

A foreclosure auction date is set for April, according to documents filed on Tuesday with the Maricopa County Recorder's Office. The property could be sold to the highest bidder.

ML Manager LLC, acting on behalf of a dizzying list of investors, filed foreclosure on the high-rises. Officials for ML Manager placed the unpaid principal of condo developer Tempe Land Co. LLC at $135 million. Tempe Land is a subsidiary of Tempe-based Avenue Communities LLC.


Centerpoint's foreclosure is the second high-profile Valley development to be foreclosed on in less than two weeks.

Chicago-based Capmark Finance filed to foreclose on Phoenix's CityNorth's High Street, the first and only phase of the 144-acre development to be built so far. A foreclosure auction date for High Street is set for March 31, according to county-recorder documents filed on Dec. 30.

Centerpoint Condominiums' path to foreclosure shares similarities with High Street's financial collapse.

Both were victims of the recession, built at the peak of the real-estate boom and almost ready to open when the bust began. Both faltered when lenders filed for bankruptcy protection.

Centerpoint broke ground in downtown Tempe in 2005. The development was to include an estimated 375 condos in two towers near Maple and Sixth streets. The project was to include an upscale retail plaza, fine dining and a winery.

The Tempe City Council waived height requirements to approve the 22 and 30-story buildings. Tempe leaders hailed the coming of hundreds of affluent condo dwellers and wagered Mill Avenue's future on the promise of an urban mecca.

Instead, weathered plastic tarps now drape the windowless towers, and the fenced structures have become shelters for transients.

Centerpoint's slide became public when Mortgages Ltd., once the state's largest private commercial real-estate lender, went bankrupt in 2008 after the suicide of CEO Scott Coles. Centerpoint Condominiums was among the lender's many investments.

Although Tempe Land principal Ken Losch sought to secure additional financing to complete the project, the collapse of the financial markets froze lending. Mortgages Ltd. investors' wrangling to protect their losses created hurdles.

After the bankruptcy, the investors formed a new company, ML Manager, the company that is foreclosing on the condos.

Much of Centerpoint's first 22-story tower was complete when Tempe Land began looking for new financing. Thirty-story Tower II was about half done when Tempe Land filed for bankruptcy in 2008.

Mark Winkleman, a chief operating officer for ML Manager, is part of the team representing the collection of real-estate moguls, Phoenix Suns players and the hundreds of other investors who had a stake in Mortgages Ltd. Winkleman said that buyers already are inquiring about Centerpoint.

"It's a high-profile project . . . in a terrific location that's attracted the attention of major companies around the country looking for a project like this that needs to be completed," he said.

ML Manager's investors will vote on the project's future.


Reporter Catherine Reagor contributed to this article.

[Vicelord John]

I love TCA!

[mwadswor]

http://www.azcentral.com/community/tempe/articles/2010/01/20/20100120tr-budget0120.html

Tempe bracing for 'significant financial challenge'

by Dianna M. Náñez - Jan. 20, 2010 11:07 AM
The Arizona Republic

As Tempe works to close a $30 million budget gap, residents could see their Police and Fire departments' emergency-response time spike, library hours get slashed, youth-sports program dwindle and a senior center close.

"The city is facing its most significant financial challenge in its history," warned Jerry Hart, Tempe's financial services manager in a council report released Friday.

Hart outlined a woeful economic downturn that has weakened sales-tax revenue and left Tempe readying for its first layoffs in the city's 115-year history. He will discuss the city's financial forecast at Thursday's council review session.

To meet budget-reduction targets, departments outlined some revenue-generating ideas and proposed cutting about 245 full- and part-time positions. An estimated 215 of those positions are occupied by workers with the rest being vacant. About half of the occupied positions on the chopping block are held by sworn police officers.

The deep personnel cuts follow last year's incentive for workers to retire or leave. More than 100 workers accepted that incentive. The mounting staff reductions would drastically affect Tempe services and programs.

[ciweiss]

It appears Mills End is no longer. Hang on folks its going to be a bumpy ride...

[vertex]

Too bad, I used to frequent that place.

It seems like the suburban DT with the most going on now (business-wise) is Chandler. Yes, Tempe has a few new places, but it's lost so much more. It's becoming a shadow of it's former self. Even the events (i.e. last New Year's Eve block party) don't draw the crowds they used to.

It's time for an intervention...

[Vicelord John]

What was mills end?