Quote:
Originally Posted by phxSUNSfan
You can't really make that semi-industrial area urban...especially given the height limitations and airport equipment literally right on the grounds. Buildings have to be short and insulated from the jet noise. It is also right next to SR 143 and not near the lake at all. The lake ends, what, a half mile east (at least) of this area?
I agree about future development around the lake. We need retail facing Rio Salado as well as interesting waterfront facing design.
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Oh, I think you're being a little conservative with your imagination here.
I didn't mean to imply the property was lake-front, just as I didn't mean to imply it was downtown. But, being within a half mile of both, and so close to Sky Harbor, Papago Park, DBG, The Zoo, Tovrea, LRT, etc. makes me think this land deserved a bit more thought and is worth more than a paint-by-numbers, canned assortment of lowrise spec commercial/industrial buildings lost in a lake of asphalt. I mention proximity to the core because Tempe is landlocked- this land is by far the largest uninterrupted acreage within that radius.
All planning in Tempe should be done with care and thought given to this issue of being landlocked, as it requires a much different perspective than the typical attitude hear in Phoenix. It requires making sure that each inch is put to the best use, and this is especially true near downtown. I certainly don't expect high rises in this location, but have you seen the site plan (honest question, not meant to be sassing you at all!)? Tempe talks about spreading density and TOD to areas as away from the core as Broadway. Yet, here is a site near all of those amenities I listed above, AND on a street that could and should have streetcar running down it in the future, and it literally has not one positive feature from a sustainability or urban planning perspective.
Do you truly think that a parking lot of that size is the best use for that land, knowing there is a finite amount of it left in the city of this size and in such a prime spot? Or that a series of sprawled out, 2-story buildings is ideal in a landlocked city with the ideals and goals that Tempe has bragged about having? From a purely aesthetic point of view, do you think no better design could be developed for what is, as Arqitect pointed out, a gateway to our metro?
In my opinion, the answer is certainly a no to all of the above, and I thought Tempe had higher standards in this regard. I doubt these buildings even have views of the lake. There is nothing about it that makes me believe the team designed this according to its environment. Otherwise, midrise buildings would have been incorporated that had views of the lake and downtown Tempe, as well as downtown Phoenix. Given its proximity to amenities, transit and downtown, there would have been at least a future phase residential component (I get it- Phoenicians want their 8' walls blocking any noise or connection to the outside world and community; so, make it affordable housing if needed... But, it shouldn't be a foreign concept to at least make it a viable option for people to live and work in the same zip code). Knowing that a future streetcar line is possible, street-facing retail would have been included, as well as underground parking, or at the least parking garages wrapped by these residential and commercial uses. Do I expect retail frontage the busy intersection? No. But, smaller interior access roads could have been developed.
Again, I'm not an architect, designer, urban planner, or city official. However, the fact that professionals with those backgrounds all had a hand in creating this project and approving it is very sad, as I just can't honestly believe that this was the best this project could be. There was no reason it couldn't have incorporated
any of the following: midrise heights, residential component, underground or garage parking, interior roads with street parking and structures with frontage, orientation toward the lake or downtowns, modern/desert-inspired design, "gateway" consideration (public plazas or other amenities given its visibility to incoming visitors)....
I realize accomplishing all of these would be unrealistic. But, as I mentioned, my main point is that I don't think it is unreasonable to say this land could be put to better use than plopping a canned low rise and generic office complex.
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