Here are the two full project plans for both the west and east sides of Central/Pierson: Omninet West and East. FYI, the east side at least had been planned for a high-rise tower as of late last year. I posted the renderings somewhere on here, but can't find them any longer.
WEST:
https://www.phoenix.gov/pddsite/Documents/Z-26-15n.pdf
EAST:
https://www.phoenix.gov/pddsite/Documents/Z-27-15n.pdf
On one hand, I can't help but think that 5-story apartments lining Central is a bit of a letdown. Given that much higher residential projects have historically been built in the Midtown corridor, there's obviously precedent for taller construction that would fit the scale of the high-rise office towers that are scattered about. In Midtown, once you move a bit east or west, you hit (quite a few historic) single-family neighborhoods, who have and will fight height proposed close by. That means Central is essentially the only place where taller projects would be possible. In response to the article posted that asked "what will Central Phoenix look like?" with all these new apartments - I feel like the answer might be "exactly the same" if they're all maxing out at 5 stories. Midtown is a huge area to cover, and 4-5 projects of this height built miles away from each away won't add up to much of an impact on the street life.
On the other hand, this is the first project that is at least proposing the kind of commercial/retail space that will make any kind of potential impact even possible. While the other single-use lowrises are being built in the middle of single-use office structures, requiring residents to still do almost everything via their car, this project is adding urban retail space that is sorely lacking along Central/in Midtown. Even if the combination of all these 5-story apartments was enough to create some kind of critical mass, it means little if there is no infrastructure for walkable shopping, services, etc. With the light rail on Camelback adjacent, some infill/reuse projects nearby, and the potential of sites like the transit center lot, the potential apartment conversion on the SEC, and the Uptown Plaza renovation, there's potential for a decent-sized residential neighborhood to form alongside a successful urban retail center. That isn't occurring, and likely won't be for some time, near the other proposed developments.
I guess my point is that I think a lot of people are eager to accept these mediocre proposals because the prospect of filling in all of the vacant lots we've grown so tired of is exciting. I definitely understand that, and in a lot of cases, it doesn't matter that developers are proposing lowrises because either 1) the ideal height/density really isn't that much higher (like for a lot of the Roosevelt Row projects - 6/7 stories vs. 4/5 isn't a huge deal), or 2) the lowrises are at least replacing blight and providing a neighborhood with more potential to revitalize down the road (such as the somewhat crappy projects going up in Eastlake). But, for lots adjacent to the Central/Camelback intersection, a LRT station, and a park-and-ride transit center... is the most sustainable, ideal use of land 5-story apartments? Or, should 5-story apartments be built toward the east and west while that product is "hot," so that in 10 years, as the neighborhood gradually improves, the lot can be filled with a 15-story condo project?
For the time being, I'm not going to complain about this project considering the positive attributes it does have. But, I don't think this or the Muse project on McDowell/Central are ones that make the most of their respective locations, and I think we'll all be disappointed in a decade or two that they were built.
Prev
Linear Mode
