Glendale/West Valley Development Thread

[Vicelord John]

Originally Posted by glynnjamin

^Who is going to steal that stuff? I mean really...good luck selling it in this economy. The insurance I could claim is more than I would get on the open market right now. You think if I were to list what my car is, someone would steal it? I'm tired of making payments on it and would really like it to end up in Mexico, in a firepit, at the bottom of a chasm.

you never know who might steal what. I learned a long time ago that talking about what you own on a forum which is viewable to the public is truly a bad idea.

I knew a guy from vwvortex.com who posted his address for a party he was having. He then went on to describe what items he would have for the party (xbox, plasma, tools if anyone wanted to work on cars, and all sorts of toys) which needless to say were stolen before the party even happened.

he thought it was stupid to worry about it too. You just have to be really naive to put anything past anyone. Why do you think I changed my screen name?

[aguacate]

You folks hear about this?



It's Centrada, a new mixed-use development, approved by the Glendale City Council, to be built on the south side of Bethany Home Road between 91st and 95th avenues next to cbd 101.

Cool, huh?

[Vicelord John]

I love the made up words/modified spanish words that places are using for developments.

Estancia, Quintero, Centrada, Vistancia, etc.

they make me giggle, and that place isn't happening anytime soon. New construction will HALT.... watch it not move.

[jvbahn]

New construction will HALT.... watch it not move.

Thank you, Vicelord.

It's sad sometimes, but if there is no money for regular projects in major international cities, then speculative projects in Phoenix are just dreams, nothing more. I think it would be wise for Phoenix to start scaling down it's zoning in central places not for pie-in-the-sky skyscrapers that will never be built, but rather walkable dense buildings 3-10 stories that can fill in the block structures. Something like ASU downtown is doing, or Roosevelt Square. It's much more useful at building a pedestrian cityscape than waiting for some highrise building that won't be built for 10 years.

As for this Glendale thing, it has never made any sense to me why Glendale would undermine their own downtown revitalization to build their "urban center" near the stadiums. I'm glad that something out there has some density, but they have a great, established, walkable downtown waiting for more multifamily residential to be built. Tie that up to a lightrail line going down Glendale, not the I-10 or 101, and you've got urban synergy between the downtown areas. You could have its terminus at the stadium, and that increases the ridership levels between all the centers in the Valley(minus Scottsdale, but screw them).

[combusean]

Uhh ... you can't just downzone people's property that's been that way for 40 years...that was illegal before Prop 207 and so fundamentally wrong from a property rights perspective anyway.

glendale is better off building dense away from their historic downtown anyway. 3 stories is a stretch for some of the local NIMBY's downtown and they need to be careful with overzoning things when there isn't that much of a draw to begin with.

[Urban_logic]

Oh, this is Arizona! Lol I thought this was talking about the Glendale-West Valley area of Salt Lake. That's kinda weird.

[jvbahn]

Uhh ... you can't just downzone people's property that's been that way for 40 years...that was illegal before Prop 207 and so fundamentally wrong from a property rights perspective anyway.

Fair enough, then encouragethem to develop a viable project, rather than encouraging them to hold on to visions of 40-story towers that will never be built.

[HooverDam]

http://www.azcentral.com/community/g...et0310-ON.html

Glendale's Sugar Beet Factory 'in play'
13 comments by Rebekah L. Sanders - Mar. 10, 2009 08:42 AM
The Arizona Republic
Hope may be on the horizon for the 103-year-old Sugar Beet Factory in downtown Glendale.

Hope, that is, for the neighbors, entrepreneurs and city officials who have wanted for a long time to see the vacant, multistory brick shell given a makeover and a new purpose.

The city reportedly is in talks with a potential developer.

Though Glendale's economic development director, Brian Friedman, wouldn't offer specifics, he does say that "the Sugar Beet is in play."

"I can't say who the owner is, or who the party is," he said. But "we are working to try to do what we can."

Friedman acknowledged the historic factory, built in 1906 to process beets into raw sugar and later as a soft-drink processor, is seen as one key to the revitalization of downtown. Glendale launched a campaign to redevelop its downtown last year, known as the Centerline Project.

The factory, which has been closed since 1985, is "a big deal," Friedman said.

"It's been vacant. It's on Centerline," he said.

A recent ASU Centerline study proposes creating a Sugar Beet District around the landmark, with a fountain and a neighboring three-story retail, residential and office building.

City Manager Ed Beasley recently gave news of the factory to City Council members discussing the Centerline project. He said he understood a new, local owner had bought the Sugar Beet property, at 51st and Glendale avenues, and was in talks with city staff about possible uses for the building.

Maricopa County Assessor records, however, do not show that the property has changed hands.

The city has sent letters in the past to the Tucson-based Ringer-Morgan family, which has owned the building, offering to collaborate on the factory's redevelopment.

The family declined the proposal at the time. Several family members recently did not respond to calls.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC
History of a Glendale landmark

• Glendale had high hopes for sugar beets. The vegetable enjoyed placement on the city seal until 1951.

• The 52,000-square-foot Sugar Beet Factory cost more than $1 million to build in 1906. But the operation never succeeded in refining beets for sugar, partly because the area could not yield a large enough crop to sustain operations. By 1916, operations had stopped.

• Builder and developer Philip Ringer bought the plant in 1935 by paying 22 years of back taxes. His Tucson-based heirs, known as the Ringer-Morgan Trust, still own the building, current records show.

• A soft-drink company used part of the factory from 1938 to 1981 to process grapefruit into concentrate for Squirt soda. When Squirt closed shop, the TreeSweet Products Co. leased the cold-storage portion of the factory until 1985.
Quick facts

• The 103-year-old factory has been empty since 1985. It has been on the National Register of Historic Places for 31 years.

• The Tucson-based Ringer-Morgan family, which has owned the property, forged a partnership with a Valley developer to seek tenants in 1997. Ten years later, that partnership dissolved.

• A 1984 assessment of the building showed the brick is in good shape, but a steel frame would have to be attached to the brick inside to provide structural soundness.

• A cost estimate in the city's general plan, completed in 2001 and outdated by rising construction costs, pegged renovation at nearly $22 million. The plan suggested it could take $13.4 million in private investment and $8.3 million in city subsidies to get a project moving.

[oliveurban]

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/s...l?surround=lfn

Developers get $1.2B from rural county for USA Basketball, Main Street Glendale
Mike Sunnucks
Phoenix Business Journal
Wednesday April 22, 2009

A Scottsdale development group is getting $1.2 billion in bond financing from La Paz County to develop the new USA Basketball headquarters as part of a mammoth project in Glendale.

HB Equities LLC inked a deal with the La Paz County Industrial Development Authority, which benefits to the tune of $12 million. HB is headed by partners Robert Banovac and Daniel Hendon, owner of Scottsdale-based Danny’s Car Wash chain. It will use $792 million of the total for the two projects.

Main Street Glendale plans call for 1,200 hotel rooms, 800,000 square feet of commercial space, including basketball training facilities, office, retail and a Nike-sponsored basketball museum. The USA Basketball headquarters will serve as a training base for the U.S. national men’s and women’s basketball teams.

Banovac and Hendon are partners in development firm Rightpath Ltd., which owns the land at Loop 101 and Maryland Avenue and had negotiated the headquarters move with USA Basketball and its chairman, Jerry Colangelo.

Banovac and Hendon said they are moving forward with Main Street Glendale without Rightpath’s other partner, Rick Burton. Banovac said Burton has opted to go in a different direction. Burton did not respond to requests for comment.

HB Equities is negotiating with Rightpath and Burton to acquire the land, which is adjacent to the new Camelback Ranch spring training baseball stadium, home to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox, Banovac said.

Construction could begin within 120 days, Hendon and Banovac said.

Glendale City Manager Ed Beasley welcomed the financing deal noting that businesses are having a difficult time finding credit. Main Street complements nearby Westgate City Center and the University of Phoenix Stadium, he said.

“We’re extremely pleased,” Beasley said. He said it is his understanding that HB Equities will take over the development from Rightpath, which also had been looking for bond financing.

Colangelo said the financing appears to have the USA Basketball move on track. “This announcement is very positive,” said Colangelo, who put together last year’s gold medal winning men’s basketball Olympics team. No timetable has been set for the move, but it could occur by the end of 2010, he said.

The HB Equities/La Paz County financing also allocates:

$125 million for debt restructuring and a 12-store expansion of Danny’s Car Wash from its current 17 locations.

$140 million for renovation of Marriott Mountain Shadows Resort and Golf Club in Scottsdale. HB is in the process of acquiring the resort, Hendon said.

$153 million to HB Equities for commercial airport and hanger developments at Glendale Municipal, Yuma International and Goodyear airports

$110 million to reimburse investors caught up in Rightpath’s involvement with Mortgages Ltd. Mortgages Ltd. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after the suicide of its CEO Scott Coles last year. Rightpath sued Mortgages claiming the latter failed to follow through with loan deals.

USA Basketball, the national body that oversees and picks teams for the Olympics and World Championships, entered a deal with Rightpath and the city of Glendale in November to move its base from Colorado Springs, Colo.

Financing for the basketball-centered development needed to be in place by May for the move to go through. “We would have lost the USA Basketball agreement,” Banovac said.

The Mens USA Basketball facility will include training centers to host practices for the Olympics and World Championship teams. The U.S. mens’ team at the Beijing Olympics last year included top players LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.

Main Street also will have restaurants and an 18-hole golf course. The site is on the west side of the Loop 101 Freeway across from University of Phoenix Stadium and Westgate City Center.

Hollywood, Calif.-based architecture and design firm Dodd Mitchell will oversee the Mountain Shadows renovations as well as Main Street Glendale design.

Beasley said the developers had other financing options, including Glendale Industrial Development Authority, but the La Paz deal is the most efficient.

IDAs allow Arizona cities and counties to offer bond financing for projects throughout the state. Banovac said La Paz County will get $12 million over 10 years from the deal and the Main Street financing is at no cost to taxpayers.

La Paz County is located in southwestern Arizona along the Colorado River. It has a population of 20,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The desert county sits north of Yuma and across the Colorado River from California’s Imperial Valley.

An attorney representing the La Paz County IDA did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

[HX_Guy]

Wow that seems pretty huge for that area.

[Leo the Dog]

Starwood dropped the Wigwam. Bad news for Litchfield Park and the employees of the resort.

[phoenixwillrise]

What's some feedback from the ground in Phoenix on this new space. I am over in San Diego so haven't be able to stop by.
1. Is it being used by anyone? students?
2. Is it being patrolled by law enforrcement for vandalism and homeless urinating?
3. Was it worth the 30 million bones?

[glynnjamin]

^There is a Civic Plaza in Glendale/West Valley? I wasn't aware. It is probably a drop house by now if there is.

[HX_Guy]

Sounds like he's talking about the Civic Park.

[glynnjamin]

Wow...HX must be a mind reader.

[SunDevil]

I went out to Westgate last night to meet a few friends at the Big Bang type bar they have there. This isn't about the bar, though it's the same stuff you'll find at every place like that (the $5 32 oz beers were a nice touch though).

I was pleasantly surprised at how many people were there, there was some sense that nightlife was happening all around me. I had a good time and bar hopping was no problem, getting a ride home also was no problem as there were taxis all over the place.

I'll probably head out there again pretty soon, check more it out. I'm going to still wait and see how things pan out in the next few years, but Westage may be another destination in the valley like Old Town or Mill. I'm not going to say it will rival those areas but it is/will be nice for those of us that live west of Central Ave.

[NIXPHX77]

i agree with SunDevil above. i, too, was out there last night, but for the Fleetwood Mac concert at the arena. i was pleasantly surprised with the look and feel of the place; better than i thought it would be. it was quite crowded, and some places had lines to get in to them.
i guess it is a good option for west-siders, and an alternative for others to check out. but i'll take DT or Central Phx first anytime.

also, i don't mind the cardinals stadium being out there, though something more centrally located (but not central Phx) would be better imo. But, i sure
wish either the hockey arena was built in dt Phx or that AWA would have been built originally to handle both the nba and nhl properly. (or that
USAC could be expanded/retrofitted to keep the Coyotes there or get them back.)

[HooverDam]

West Valley casino update:

http://www.azcentral.com/community/g...asino0714.html

Glendale officials fears casino would strain city services
9 comments by Carrie Watters - Jul. 14, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Glendale leaders felt blindsided when a tribe in January rolled out renderings for a casino near the city's sports and entertainment district.

The Tohono O'odham Nation has no reservation near Glendale, although it hopes to change that with the help of a federal settlement to replace tribal lands damaged decades ago.

The tribe, which already operates three casinos in southern Arizona, wants to build a 600-room resort and a casino. As it seeks federal approval to take the Valley property into the reservation system, it is promoting the casino idea as a boon for the tribe and a win for the West Valley economy, providing thousands of construction and hospitality-related jobs.

Glendale leaders question that boon. They say the venue would strain city services from water and sewer to roadways and public safety.

And some residents worry about crime from a casino that would be less than a mile from an 800-home neighborhood and around the corner from a high school.

While few suspected that gambling would grow on a county island within Glendale's borders, the experiences of cities with nearby casinos show the two can coexist with negotiation between tribal and city leaders.

That conversation hasn't happened yet in Glendale.

Living near a casino
In Tucson, Maria Saucedo raised nine children in a home that is less than a quarter-mile from the Tohono O'odham casino on Nogales Highway.

The 40-year resident said that she's seen no increase in crime or vandalism to her home with its tidy yard and rose-covered archways.

"It's just there," she said of the casino.

Scott Sirois, CEO of the Tohono O'odham Gaming Enterprise, said the tribe understands that customers must feel safe as a matter of good business. Cameras are used in the casino and in parking lots, and security staff are trained to deal with situations before they escalate, he said.

That's not to say casinos don't generate crime. Of last year's 867 police calls to the Tohono O'odham's three casinos, 38 percent involved offenses that are classified on the FBI's crime index. Intoxication was the most common.

The rest could be less serious crimes or simply calls for assistance.

In Riverside County, Calif., where most reservations and casinos are patrolled by the county Sheriff's Department, Lt. Ray Wood compared crimes at casinos to those at any venue that attracts a lot of people, such as sporting events and music concerts.

Riverside deputies reported an average of 280 calls from 2005 to 2007 at Spotlight 29 Casino. The venue in Coachella is the most comparable in size to the casino proposed in Glendale.

Westgate City Center, the outdoor mall in Glendale's sports and entertainment district, generated 539 police calls in 2008.

Public-safety services
Glendale's public-safety concerns go beyond crime to the cost of providing police officers and firefighters, particularly as tribes do not pay taxes to municipal coffers.

On that front, Glendale could incur an expense that Scottsdale and other Valley cities with nearby casinos do not.

Scottsdale, Chandler and Tucson police rarely deal with the tribe-owned casinos near their cities because the tribes have their own public-safety departments.

But the Tohono O'odham's main reservation is more than two hours south of Glendale, making it impractical for tribal police and firefighters there to act as first responders.

Should Glendale provide public-safety services, the city estimates the cost at $2.8 million a year for fire protection, plus $14.6 million to build a fire station.

It estimates police services would run about $950,000 a year. That assumes the resort/casino would generate 8,500 public-safety calls a year.

Glendale's estimate appears overly high. It is nine times higher than the number of calls for service reported by the Tohono O'odham police in 2008 at all three of the tribe's casinos combined.

Tohono O'odham Chairman Ned Norris Jr. has said options for securing public safety in Glendale are negotiable.

The tribe's state-certified police officers could build and work from a substation at the Glendale site, or the nation could reach agreements for services with a local jurisdiction.

Such an agreement exists in Palm Springs, Calif., which is a checkerboard of city and tribal land and has a tribal casino in its downtown.

Palm Springs public-safety agencies in 2008 responded to 899 calls to the resort and casino owned and operated by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. The city spent about $1.1 million to provide that service in the 2007-08 budget year.

The Agua Caliente, through various negotiated funding streams, provided Palm Springs $1.9 million that year.

Infrastructure
Beyond public-safety costs, Glendale worries about infrastructure costs, including roadways, which are expected to carry 1.2 million annual visitors to the casino, and water and sewer services.

Most tribes in the Valley provide their own water and sanitation, but that is not always the case.

The Tohono O'odham Nation's Desert Diamond Casino-Hotel near Tucson paid $904,851 in 2007 to connect to Pima County sanitation services. It continues to pay for usage. "They're treated simply as a customer," Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said.

As for roads, Huckelberry said the county negotiates with the tribe as needed. The tribe paid to widen a road at one of its casinos there and installed bus curbs at the other.

But transportation problems can arise.

Tribes do not have to complete traffic studies, which are standard operating procedure for projects moving through municipal planning.

In Chandler, the Transportation Department requested but never received a traffic study for the Gila River Indian Community's Lone Butte Casino, which opened last year off Loop 202.

"It would have given us some comfort," Chandler Traffic Engineer Mike Mah said.

As it turned out, casino traffic on nearby Kyrene Road was minimal, Mah said.

Scottsdale and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community wrestled with who should pay to widen Pima Road, half in the city and half on tribal land, before jointly commissioning a study to determine who would benefit the most. The results, due in the coming months, is expected to offer a reasonable approach to fund the roadwork.

In Glendale, the Tohono O'odham envisioned the casino entrance about a quarter-mile off Loop 101 on Northern Avenue. The tribal chairman shifted gears when Glendale leaders said this would interfere with future road plans. The tribe's compromise would place the entrance off Glendale and 95th avenues.

Further conversation to determine if this is a workable solution has gone nowhere as Glendale seeks to stop the entire project.

Discussions of funding roadwork would require that the two sides talk with one another, Norris said.

I just cant' get my mind around why Glendale is so against this. Just work out a deal where the Tribe pays some/all of that infrastructure costs and let them build the damn thing. What insane world are people living in where they think having a casino in their area is going to lead to mobsters roaming their streets raping their kids or something?

Glendale could promote Westgate, the Casino, UofP, Jobing.com, Camelback Ranch, the US Basketball facility and Zanjero as a nice large sports and entertainment area. The casino would of course bring construction jobs which are needed right now, and people visiting would certainly also go to nearby restaurants and keep that money in Glendale instead of the E. Valley.

Ah well, no use in trying to understand NIMBYs and a city with leadership that wants Light Rail to forgo their core I guess.

[glynnjamin]

I think they are hoping the injuns offer them tax dollars.

The city should propose just putting a toll booth by the entrance & charge people who go in. That would scare them into sharing the money.

[HooverDam]

http://www.azcentral.com/community/s...rd0804-ON.html

Heard Museum West in Surprise to close at end of year
6 comments by Lily Leung - Aug. 4, 2009 11:26 AM
The Arizona Republic
The long-struggling West Valley branch of the Heard Museum will close its door by the year's end, Museum Director Frank Goodyear Jr. said Tuesday.

Goodyear said a sharp decrease in museum-shop sales and low visitation, products of the recession, forced the museum's trustees to make what he called a "difficult decision."

Like the Heard's main branch in downtown Phoenix, the Surprise museum featured Native American art.

Heard Museum West, 16126 N. Civic Center Plaza, is one of two major art museums in the West Valley. The other is the West Valley Art Museum, which also is facing financial woes.

"It is disappointing to see Heard Museum West, our community museum in Surprise, close," Goodyear said in a press statement. "The decision has been made only after a careful review of the museum's current situation in Surprise and after discussions with Mayor Lyn Truitt and his team."

He noted that the Heard's Phoenix and north Scottsdale locations are "performing well."

However, their West Valley sibling is expected to lose about $80,000 during the current fiscal year.

Since its inception in June 2006, Heard Museum West has received $3.74 million from Surprise toward building costs.

The city continued its support of the cultural-arts newcomer, giving $71,150 to help the museum balance its fiscal 2008 budget.

Sad news. The West Valley is already rather deprived of cultural institutions, sad that theyll be losing this one. It would be nice if they could find a way to at least keep it open during Cactus League season when a lot of people are just down the street from it at Surprise Stadium.