Tempe Development Thread

[Leo the Dog]

^^^New cardinals stadium? Jk

[combusean]

That grand project fecking sucks. It's unfortunate that they have a 50% lot coverage because it's just going to create a lot of privately owned dead space with a high overhead, but the treatment of Washington St with a slew of garages and dead office lobbies with practically zero entrances makes for one of the most antiurban things I've ever seen that's bounded by two light rail stations. Anyone arriving by light rail is an afterthought, treated to a hellhole maze of dodging cars in parking entrances and generic, unactivated office buildings.

I had hoped long ago that the light rail was supposed to exactly prevent these sorts of car-dependent messes and instead create pedestrian activated corridors, but that never seems to be the case with practically anything that has come along the line.

[cygnusloop99]

Originally Posted by combusean

That grand project fecking sucks. It's unfortunate that they have a 50% lot coverage because it's just going to create a lot of privately owned dead space with a high overhead, but the treatment of Washington St with a slew of garages and dead office lobbies with practically zero entrances makes for one of the most antiurban things I've ever seen that's bounded by two light rail stations. Anyone arriving by light rail is an afterthought, treated to a hellhole maze of dodging cars in parking entrances and generic, unactivated office buildings.

I had hoped long ago that the light rail was supposed to exactly prevent these sorts of car-dependent messes and instead create pedestrian activated corridors, but that never seems to be the case with practically anything that has come along the line.

Your comment is great and all in concept (the part about preventing car dependence because of light rail) but light rail or no light rail, all cities r.have required parking ratios based on development use. In most of the cities there is a percentage that you can remove for being near the light rail. But with a new development of that size, the city would still require a ton of parking and it's either a surface lot or garages. They don't have an option on this (unless you are ASU then you do whatever you want). While I agree there are better ways to orient the site and make it more pedestrian friendly, a development with no on site parking will ever happen.

[rocksteady]

Originally Posted by combusean

That grand project fecking sucks. It's unfortunate that they have a 50% lot coverage because it's just going to create a lot of privately owned dead space with a high overhead, but the treatment of Washington St with a slew of garages and dead office lobbies with practically zero entrances makes for one of the most antiurban things I've ever seen that's bounded by two light rail stations. Anyone arriving by light rail is an afterthought, treated to a hellhole maze of dodging cars in parking entrances and generic, unactivated office buildings.

I had hoped long ago that the light rail was supposed to exactly prevent these sorts of car-dependent messes and instead create pedestrian activated corridors, but that never seems to be the case with practically anything that has come along the line.

Like most projects in Phoenix metro, this one could be better....but I'm at the point where any development is better than no development. Get stuff built while I'm still young enough to enjoy it! haha That was a huge waste of space sitting empty so at least it will now be utilized.

[combusean]

Originally Posted by cygnusloop99

Your comment is great and all in concept (the part about preventing car dependence because of light rail) but light rail or no light rail, all cities r.have required parking ratios based on development use. In most of the cities there is a percentage that you can remove for being near the light rail. But with a new development of that size, the city would still require a ton of parking and it's either a surface lot or garages. They don't have an option on this (unless you are ASU then you do whatever you want). While I agree there are better ways to orient the site and make it more pedestrian friendly, a development with no on site parking will ever happen.

I wasn't saying their shouldn't be onsite parking, but the orientation of them is atrocious. That giant one along Priest Drive, all the ones literally plopped onto Washington St. If they submerged the garages, ramped up the residential, and built midrise buildings with ground floor retail along public streets this project would be vastly better and contribute far more to ridership and a better urban environment.

[Spitfiredude]

Can someone explain the construction at the 3rd street/Farmer Avenue alignment. Where the old warehouse was. I know its been talked about, and I've looked through the pages and haven't been able to really identify what it is. I'm confused on it. Any help would be appreciated.

They are putting form-work for the first floor on Hanover...

[TempeSilverFox]

Originally Posted by Spitfiredude

Can someone explain the construction at the 3rd street/Farmer Avenue alignment. Where the old warehouse was. I know its been talked about, and I've looked through the pages and haven't been able to really identify what it is. I'm confused on it. Any help would be appreciated.

They are putting form-work for the first floor on Hanover...

If it's the spot on Farmer that I think you're talking about, it is going to be the new home of Culinary Drop Out // The Yard!

[Jjs5056]

Sean,

I completely agree with you that The Grand is a horrible use of that land. They've used the sheer volume of square footage and a flashy canalscape feature at the center to take away from the fact that they're proposing a suburban office plaza at the center of a major gateway for the entire metro area, with 2 light rail stations adjacent, the 44th St Sky Train one stop away, easy access to Papago Park and its many amenities: Phoenix Muni, Zoo, Botanical Garden, Golf, hiking, etc. and is central to both downtown Tempe and Scottsdale.

A project at this site should be an A+ urban, well-designed bridge of 3 cities, of technology and nature, and be conscious of the rich resources that surround it. Some of the many problems include:
1) The 1-story retail at the corner of Priest/Washington turns its back to the street and light rail station; instead, the entrances front a surface parking lot within the development.
2) The highest density phases are at the end of the project, including residential; in other words, this prominent site will likely sit 75% empty with a suburban retail plaza, 1 or 2 offices, and several parking lots and garages.
3) The residential, if built, is located furthest away from both the light rail and the retail plaza. Mixed use TOD is successful because it makes walking/transit convenient, and the retail uses are usually most successful when service-based for tenant needs. Why would any resident ride their elevator to the lobby and walk the entire length of the project and use the light rail, when their car will be sitting nice and cool in a covered garage?
4) The canalscape is great , but when will be see this kind of integration as a standard component of Phoenix projects, rather for developers to distract us with?

"Better than nothing" can only work for certain sites and only for so long, before you run out of city and have nothing but disconnected megaprojects in prime locations. I think Tempe has overall settled for quite a few mediocre projects over the last few years on sites that can support more height/density/usage. This, though, would be the biggest piece of land to be exploited.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by Jjs5056

Sean,

I completely agree with you that The Grand is a horrible use of that land. They've used the sheer volume of square footage and a flashy canalscape feature at the center to take away from the fact that they're proposing a suburban office plaza at the center of a major gateway for the entire metro area, with 2 light rail stations adjacent, the 44th St Sky Train one stop away, easy access to Papago Park and its many amenities: Phoenix Muni, Zoo, Botanical Garden, Golf, hiking, etc. and is central to both downtown Tempe and Scottsdale.

Every piece of land does not need to be an urban metropolis. Priest and Washington is medium density office parks. It isn't a gateway to the city.

You will never get a trendy Urban project on that parcel.

[combusean]

It is a gateway to the city because it's about as far west into Tempe as you can possibly be. Secondly, it's bounded by two light rail stations, that $2 billion and counting thing we're building. Every project along the line needs to maximize our investment in the thing. And their programming sucks, from the splurge of office, lack of retail, the garages and setbacks on Washington St and Priest, the poor design, the fact that it's 100% oriented to vehicles...You could plop this project in Gilbert along the freeway and nobody would know the difference, and that's a planning disaster, especially for something that should be solidly TOD'd.

[ASUSunDevil]

http://azbex.com/sun-devil-stadiums-225m-renovation-to-focus-on-sustainability-technology/

[MegaBass]

Originally Posted by ASUSunDevil

http://azbex.com/sun-devil-stadiums-225m-renovation-to-focus-on-sustainability-technology/

So no north upperdeck demolition yet?

[MegaBass]

ASU Art Museum to open new space on Mill Avenue

Construction is under way at the new ASU Art Museum Ceramics Center & Brickyard Gallery, which will open its inaugural exhibition, “Pablo Helguera: Chrestomathy,” an installation by artist Pablo Helguera, on April 11.
The space, on the ground floor of the Brickyard at Mill, will be the new home of the Ceramics Research Center, which closed its Tempe Center location, at Tenth Street and Mill Avenue, in February.
The center, which houses and displays the ASU Art Museum’s extensive ceramic collection of close to 4,000 objects, has been an international destination for the hands-on study and enjoyment of ceramics since opening in 2002.
For information, call (480) 965-2787 or visit ASUartmuseum.asu.edu.

[Jjs5056]

Originally Posted by Obadno

Every piece of land does not need to be an urban metropolis. Priest and Washington is medium density office parks. It isn't a gateway to the city.

You will never get a trendy Urban project on that parcel.

Urban and trendy are not synonymous, and it's unfortunate if that's indicative if your line of thinking.

As Sean mentioned, it is a gateway as it is the light rail's SW entry into Tempe, is the first stop after the 44th airport terminal, and is the first large piece of land visible at the termination of town lake. It's also a gateway to the nearby surroundings: Papago Park, LRT, Zoo, DBG, Mill, Phoenix Muni, Tovrea, etc.

I'm not saying the lot needs 44 Monroe or Summit style condos. What it needs is mixed use TOD fronting both streets to encourage ridership of the office and residents, and to service residents and riders. It should seek to reduce parking as much as possible, and choose underground, wrapped or podium as needed. It should offer a Park and Ride option. It should be more specific about its phased approach to make sure the intersection TOD isn't last, etc.

[Jjs5056]

Originally Posted by TempeSilverFox

I went for a bike ride this morning and took a few pictures of Argo at Town Lake. I REALLY like the design of this project. You can start to see the sail features that they said would be lit up at night. I think it's gonna be quite a dramatic addition to the lake shore skyline. I live close by and I'm hoping that the coffee shop they said would be part of it is a good one!

Thank you for this update, by the way. This project has gone largely ignored with all the mega projects being announced, but I was surprised at hoe visible it was from the 202 and 143. I also noticed driving by how close it is to Rio Salado - I think they've got a great vision for what that area of Tempe should be, and it'll be nice to at least have one quality project built to the street with live/work, food trucks and a coffee shop.

Just as everything with the lake, the TCA just seems so inaccessible. I'm sure the grading has to do with draining, but they should've made a much better pedestrian connection - putting patios for either/both of the gallery and bar. Or, they could have much more public art lit and leading the way. The city also had planned for the entire west part of the bank to be dedicated to artist studios, galleries, apartments, and outdoor open areas like courts, etc. But, now the corner was sold off to Liberty ; not surprising they sold out on this vision, too, given what's happening between Mill and Rural.

For whatever land IS left, I do hope that art spaces are created. That massive parking lot should've been underground to begin with. In dream land, it'd be nice to see that sold off and 3-4 level mixed use loft buildings developed on top - preferably built in a way that the galleries could be all glass and lit at night to allow view and access from the north and south.

In the meantime, I hope the smaller project on the North bank pans out; maybe seeing a real life example of how lake development should've been approached will wake Tempe up for whatever land is left. Let the corporations get their views, signage on the top, and grand entrance off Rio, and let the public who voted to support this thing enjoy retail, restaurant and open park space on the bank.

[Phxguy]

http://www.globest.com/news/12_828/phoen...artment-Campus-Breaks-Ground-344428.html

Another Tempe apartment project taking off and luckily it's a good design, mixed use, and not student housing. Glad to see another dirt lot bite the dust!

[TempeSilverFox]

Originally Posted by Phxguy

http://www.globest.com/news/12_828/phoen...artment-Campus-Breaks-Ground-344428.html

Another Tempe apartment project taking off and luckily it's a good design, mixed use, and not student housing. Glad to see another dirt lot bite the dust!

It does look like it will be pretty awesome! Although from what I read, it sounds like it IS student housing, albeit high-end student housing. Regardless, it is a project that is embracing its location on the light rail line and including ground floor retail - so that rocks! The street scape improvements mentioned should class the area up even further too!

[RichTempe]

Originally Posted by nickw252

http://www.brewaz.com/content/index_stor...ue_num=32&issue_date=August%2016,%202013

I think this is the project you're talking about. They announced it back in August of last year I believe. The plans have been updated somewhat since then though.

[PHXFlyer11]

Originally Posted by RichTempe

I think this is the project you're talking about. They announced it back in August of last year I believe. The plans have been updated somewhat since then though.

Good to see this project moving forward. It is definitely one of the best on the drawing board.

Any progress yet on USAplace?

I have looked at the agendas for the next two DRC meetings and still no plans have been submitted for Ash/University apartment tower w/grocery store that was announced a month or so ago. Hopefully we see something soon. And hopefully it is 18+ stories.

[DevilsRider]

So Argo has been renamed. It is now...SkyWater Apartments. That's an...interesting? name...

Anyway, they've got a facebook page that has construction photo goodness:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/SkyWater-Apartments/619995891389731

And a vague website that will hopefully have more stuff soon

http://skywaterapartments.com/