Phoenix Development News (3)

[haux]

Quick update on the Arizona Center: It looks good.

[exit2lef]

I walked through it yesterday. It does look nice. I'm still waiting to hear about new tenants to fill all the space.

Speaking of new tenants, a bunch have been announced for the Churchill:

https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertai...g-containers-downtown-phoenix/671263002/

[CrestedSaguaro]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

I walked through it yesterday. It does look nice. I'm still waiting to hear about new tenants to fill all the space.

Speaking of new tenants, a bunch have been announced for the Churchill:

https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertai...g-containers-downtown-phoenix/671263002/

Thanks for the pic Haux. I haven't seen an overhead pic since the renovation began, but now I'm like "Eh". I hope they clean up the roof a little bit. There are going to be a lot of visitors that see the roof from Sheraton and the upcoming AC Hotel and Palm Court Tower. It doesn't look quite so well from the top.

One new tenant is Kwench which sounds like it will feature healthy items such as quinoa bowls and such. I'm looking forward to trying this place out. I noticed another place called Foody which looks like it servers smaller portions from the current restaurant tenants and rotates daily. Not sure if this exactly counts as a tenant, but 1 less space to fill nonetheless.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by RonnieFoos

I noticed another place called Foody which looks like it servers smaller portions from the current restaurant tenants and rotates daily. Not sure if this exactly counts as a tenant, but 1 less space to fill nonetheless.

Fooda -- I bought lunch there yesterday. Basically, it's a pop-up that arranges for different restaurants to visit each day and offer a subset of their menu. The restaurants are actually not AZ Center tenants. The one yesterday was an Indian restaurant on Bell Road. Today, it's Even Stevens. I suspect Fooda's presence is a temporary arrangement until space is filled with long-term tenants. It helps fill space on an interim basis and gives nearby workers more lunch options.

[CrestedSaguaro]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

Fooda -- I bought lunch there yesterday. Basically, it's a pop-up that arranges for different restaurants to visit each day and offer a subset of their menu. The restaurants are actually not AZ Center tenants. The one yesterday was an Indian restaurant on Bell Road. Today, it's Even Stevens. I suspect Fooda's presence is a temporary arrangement until space is filled with long-term tenants. It helps fill space on an interim basis and gives nearby workers more lunch options.

Ah, I didn't know it was from other restaurants outside of AZ Center. I just kinda skimmed it as I walked by. Thanks for the clarification. Hopefully, some of those restaurants see some success and maybe consider AZ Center permanently.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by RonnieFoos

Ah, I didn't know it was from other restaurants outside of AZ Center. I just kinda skimmed it as I walked by. Thanks for the clarification. Hopefully, some of those restaurants see some success and maybe consider AZ Center permanently.

I tried to talk the Indian restaurant owner into that, but he had one objection after another. First, he said no traffic on nights and weekends. Then, I mentioned all the new apartments under construction nearby. He asked if they'd be occupied by senior or students. When I said more students than seniors, he said they'd go away for three months in the summer. I hope he's the exception, though, and some other operators use this opportunity to assess the prospects for a permanent downtown presence.

[mdpx]

So far, that entrance looks like a big, fat Meh. And what's with the suburban minimalist, tiny plant bullshit at the entrance to a rather large, urban project? What a disappointment considering how lush the landscaping is elsewhere on the property. Not impressed.

[haux]

I like it. It's significantly more modern than the previous design. I just hope they cover up those open areas below the white panels. The tiny plants will grow.

[soled]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

I tried to talk the Indian restaurant owner into that, but he had one objection after another. First, he said no traffic on nights and weekends. Then, I mentioned all the new apartments under construction nearby. He asked if they'd be occupied by senior or students. When I said more students than seniors, he said they'd go away for three months in the summer. I hope he's the exception, though, and some other operators use this opportunity to assess the prospects for a permanent downtown presence.

I was under the impression(based on hope alone) that most of the new apartments downtown weren't students. Are you referring to all the new apartments in Roosevelt Row? Are the Link and The Stewart going to focus on students?

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by soled

I was under the impression(based on hope alone) that most of the new apartments downtown weren't students. Are you referring to all the new apartments in Roosevelt Row? Are the Link and The Stewart going to focus on students?

I don't think so. His question of "students or seniors" threw me. I tried to say not really too much of either, but his English wasn't so good, so I ended up oversimplifying by saying "more students than seniors."

[soled]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

I don't think so. His question of "students or seniors" threw me. I tried to say not really too much of either, but his English wasn't so good, so I ended up oversimplifying by saying "more students than seniors."

Ah, makes sense. Thanks.

[Obadno]

Another big name opening operations in the suburbs

https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news...ng-big-operations-center-2-500-jobs.html

Where the hell is the city trying to get this stuff to come to downtown. I know it’s operations but it’s not like downtown office prices are nearly a small high as other cities.

What do the planning and ecinomic development people do all day ??

[biggus diggus]

Operations centers are usually in the suburbs. Low wage entry level jobs don't make sense in high rise urban centers.

[ASU Diablo]

Originally Posted by biggus diggus

Operations centers are usually in the suburbs. Low wage entry level jobs don't make sense in high rise urban centers.

The agreement is contingent on Deloitte developing 100,000 square feet of space and delivering the jobs with average annual wages of $95,207 within 10 years. It also calls for more than $34 million in capital investment by Deloitte during that time frame.

[biggus diggus]

That's not really high wage jobs and within 10 years who knows where those jobs will end up. By that point many of them might be high wage jobs in an office building downtown.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by biggus diggus

That's not really high wage jobs and within 10 years who knows where those jobs will end up. By that point many of them might be high wage jobs in an office building downtown.

I think his point is that these aren't call center jobs per say

[azsunsurfer]

Im sorry but for the Region those are pretty good salaries....plus look at the reasons why they want to be in Gilbert...highly educated population. Also I don't see them moving to a high rise downtown, the agreement requires that they remain in the town for so many years to recoup those tax benefits on top of the hiring requirements. Great news for those of us who own property here in Gilbert!

[CrestedSaguaro]

Call centers and operation centers are two different entities. Call centers do just that...take/make calls for customer service. They are the first level of service between a company and customer. Call center reps currently average around $35,000 to $37,000 in AZ. In 10 years, they may be lucky to be $5,000 more than that. But not anywhere close to $95,000 this article is projecting.

An operations center does much more. They can be network operations, IT services, business operations or any other service that keeps the company going from any type of disruption. These appear to be higher paying jobs ($95,000 is a very good wage, even if it's 10 years from now) which will be far more than a call center rep's salary.

I see no reason this could not have been a good fit for Downtown and Phoenix needs to fight harder for these. Phoenix already has several state and private operation centers around Downtown. And yes, there are even lower wage call centers in and around Downtown or Midtown. Phoenix needs to court these jobs and put up more effort to nab them.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by RonnieFoos

Call centers and operation centers are two different entities. Call centers do just that...take/make calls for customer service. They are the first level of service between a company and customer. Call center reps currently average around $35,000 to $37,000 in AZ. In 10 years, they may be lucky to be $5,000 more than that. But not anywhere close to $95,000 this article is projecting.

An operations center does much more. They can be network operations, IT services, business operations or any other service that keeps the company going from any type of disruption. These appear to be higher paying jobs ($95,000 is a very good wage, even if it's 10 years from now) which will be far more than a call center rep's salary.

I see no reason this could not have been a good fit for Downtown and Phoenix needs to fight harder for these. Phoenix already has several state and private operation centers around Downtown. And yes, there are even lower wage call centers in and around Downtown or Midtown. Phoenix needs to court these jobs and put up more effort to nab them.

Yep tempe, Scottsdale the 101 corridor, even like Deer Valley and Gilbert have done much better at attracting business.

Why doesn't Avnet have space downtown? Why not Godady? these are prime AZ companies, Why doesn't Honnywell or Ratheyon have any engineers downtown? How did Tucson win caterpillar? How did Tempe Win State Farm? Mkesson to Scottsdale? Freedom Financial to Tempe? Carvana, a tech startup is in Tempe too.

All of these were major entities that could have and should have been downtown, the city needs to fight harder for this stuff.

[combusean]

When I lived there, Phoenix was too regional--GPEC was and probably still is pretty much the G and not the P.

Secondly, Central Phoenix is a shit place to live for families. The schools are garbage and the commute is loooong from places that do have decent schools. Gilbert's are some of the best anywhere.

And as long as Gilbert or any suburb has cheap shovel ready and spec sites like Rivulon with abundant parking, corporate campus users are going to go there--I bet you dollars to donuts they're gonna go to Rivulon. I think it's rare these days for a company to open a branch office of thousands of people in a downtown tower, that's usually reserved for homegrown companies that are invested in the area and building headquarters or there's cachet for being there. Phoenix has made strides but it still has a lot of problems that don't fully outweigh the benefits of locating there. State Farm was a fluke that also depended on a land subsidy.

Finally, I just see accountancy as a stuffy industry that would work well in a bland family friendly area that would call a place like Wildflower Cafe "quirky." I think along with Chase leaving Chase Tower we're seeing the old downtown holdouts of financial companies leaving for the suburbs. Tech and startups who keep coming downtown want to attract younger demographics and they don't mind the older stock of buildings with limited parking.