Phoenix Development News (3)

[Jjs5056]

And, on the subject of Roosevelt Row's growth, the City finally issued an RFP for the Fire House Site between Central and 1st Street, adjacent to Hance Park:
https://www.phoenix.gov/solicitations/335

Sounds like they're wanting to see a project that fits with the Hance Park vision/plan, contains a food/beverage component, activates the area, and preserves the existing fire house, which are all great things.

A brewery and beer garden would be pretty cool. Too bad no developer is likely to give up any of the existing parking lot, because it would be great if a more defined entrance into the Park was created along Central.

[Sepstein]

Originally Posted by PHXFlyer11

Funny how you criticized others in the Central Station thread saying "This tower will never get built you clearly must not follow news on here! we will be lucky to get a 5 story apt building in 10 years" then you ask a question that has already been answered in this very thread several times. You clearly do not follow the news on here.

If only there were a smilie that could talk out of both sides of its mouth...

All these have all broken ground.

Unfortunately i follow it to much! The Union and Portland have broken ground yes! My question was has any real construction even began i assume not since no picks have been posted! The Union has either broken ground or is starting so and so date for 3 years like ever project on here!

[KevininPhx]

Originally Posted by Sepstein

Unfortunately i follow it to much! The Union and Portland have broken ground yes! My question was has any real construction even began i assume not since no picks have been posted! The Union has either broken ground or is starting so and so date for 3 years like ever project on here!

I passed The Union the other day and was really impressed by all the activity going on.

Regarding Central Station, I would be seriously surprised if that doesn't go up. Most mayors want an exclamation point on their time in office. I doubt Stanton is any different. (Although misguided and sort of awful.)

[PHXFlyer11]

Originally Posted by Sepstein

Unfortunately i follow it to much! The Union and Portland have broken ground yes! My question was has any real construction even began i assume not since no picks have been posted! The Union has either broken ground or is starting so and so date for 3 years like ever project on here!

Note sure what you mean by real construction, but all are working on site footing/foundation/excavation. In other words, broke ground. If you're waiting for cranes they will follow on all of these once the initial work is done. These are all past the point of no return, as are the lofts that JJS loves off of 5th St (and McKinley?). (name escapes me at the moment). Those are REALLY moving fast!

[CrestedSaguaro]

Originally Posted by Sepstein

Unfortunately i follow it to much! The Union and Portland have broken ground yes! My question was has any real construction even began i assume not since no picks have been posted! The Union has either broken ground or is starting so and so date for 3 years like ever project on here!

Originally Posted by Sepstein

Unfortunately i follow it to much! The Union and Portland have broken ground yes! My question was has any real construction even began i assume not since no picks have been posted! The Union has either broken ground or is starting so and so date for 3 years like ever project on here!

I have posted pics of plenty of projects that have more than started construction including the ones you have mentioned. But if you're looking for daily update pics, maybe you could actually contribute and go to some sites, take pics and provide updates for us instead of suggesting we aren't providing enough updates?

Obviously, great momentum is occuring in and around Central Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe, where LOTS of developments are currently in progress or about to break ground. There's so much information being posted daily, it's hard for me to catch up if I go more than a day without checking the forums.

[Jjs5056]

Originally Posted by PHXFlyer11

Note sure what you mean by real construction, but all are working on site footing/foundation/excavation. In other words, broke ground. If you're waiting for cranes they will follow on all of these once the initial work is done. These are all past the point of no return, as are the lofts that JJS loves off of 5th St (and McKinley?). (name escapes me at the moment). Those are REALLY moving fast!

You rang? Haha, I can't pass up a chance to rave about my favorite project! It's on the corner of 4th Street/McKinley and is called Proxy 333. For anyone with a similar obsession for this project, here is a link to the webcam:
http://ueb.net/webcam9.html

Indeed, it is moving very fast, which is great because it's going to have a huge impact on that neighborhood. From Roosevelt - Fillmore along 4th Street, there will be a nearly continuous wall of residential on the west side, creating one of the densest, most urban neighborhoods downtown (The Met, St. Croix, and 215 McKinley are also nearby or adjacent). There's just the lot adjacent to Proxy on the corner of 4th/Pierce that will be empty. It's also extending commercial activity south of Roosevelt by connecting the currently random pockets of retail with live/work units on the ground level along 4th Street (6 spaces) and McKinley (4 spaces).

4th Street is going to be great. Skyline Lofts' retail is starting to fill in and the block between Roosevelt and Garfield already has Bliss and The Allery, and supposedly there are already plans for the transplanted 314 Roosevelt home. That actually only leaves 3 vacancies: the small building next to The Allery, and the 2 spaces along the Roosevelt Point garage.

How cool is this view? http://ueb.net/projects/G16/G16.html ; if only the new owners of The Arizona Center would get a clue and add apartments on 4th St/Fillmore as part of a larger redevelopment plan, along with an actual entrance into the Center on the north side. The south side of Fillmore is so... Phoenix. This huge market of potential consumers and pedestrians is separated from the center of downtown by: huge Biomedical Campus garage, huge Arizona Center garage, Arizona Center parking lot, massive blank walls of the AMC fortress.

[Jjs5056]

In fact, the entire area south of Roosevelt and north of Fillmore (4th St - 1st St) is really proving that downtown is the real deal. There are very few spaces remaining, so I really hope to see some infill projects on the unfortunate amount of dirt lots that are so prominent in this area. Cobra Arcade Bar, Sugar Antique Shop, and an architecture firm are opening soon along McKinley in the building across from Moira Sushi: if anyone snaps a pic of that, I'd love to see how it's turning out.

Songbird's owner actually just wrote a blog about the activity happening around them. The owner is awesome and a great person to have downtown; he definitely cares about growing a community beyond just his own business. I spoke to him and recommended that he form an informal business association with all of the other establishments and he said he's definitely going to. I know it's unreasonable to expect every business owner to care about creating an active urban environment, but it's really annoying that the Pool family is holding onto buildings that could be great spaces. 1) The historic home/former Roosevelt Tavern on 3rd Street next to Songbird, which they said was going to be reopen as a new concept but is currently being used as storage space. 2) The former Big Breakfast space, which was supposed to open up as a "to-go" version of the restaurant, but it, too, is just being used as storage. 3) The Coronado Hotel which could be a really cool boutique hotel within Roosevelt Row, or a hostel, or apartments for artists... and is instead a total dump.

And, for something relevant, I had mentioned that there was a site plan review scheduled (but canceled) for 4th Ave/McKinley, and apparently that will be a 50-unit condo building.

[biggus diggus]

Originally Posted by Jjs5056

And, for something relevant, I had mentioned that there was a site plan review scheduled (but canceled) for 4th Ave/McKinley, and apparently that will be a 50-unit condo building.

Tell me more, my office is on that corner and I haven't seen any sign of apartment construction.

[LocoPhoenician]

Originally Posted by Jjs5056

Exactly. I think the Roosevelt Row area will continue to grow and attract residential development, and with that will come more boutiques, book stores, vintage shops, etc. But, if there were ever going to be a true shopping district downtown with brands like Target, Marshalls, HomeGoods, etc. it would have been between Jefferson and Washington, from 3rd St - 1st Ave. With a larger residential component, those lots had the space for the floorplates needed to accommodate such stores. And, if built correctly, it would've been right in the center of government, sports/entertainment, office, and historic buildings. But, Colliers and CityScape pretty much sealed the deal on that chance.

In addition to the lack of space, it will take years for downtown to achieve the residential density needed to support those kind of stores since it's surrounded by neighborhoods that will struggle to revitalize. Midtown already has several residential towers along Central and is convenient for almost every central Phoenix neighborhood to access, including several historic and wealthy ones.

I would love to see an extension of cityscape on the parking lot between Colliers Center and Cityscape connecting the 2. This would help bring new merchants to the mostly empty Colliers Center, and could really make it a better entertainment district/sport district. They could add 2 more towers on the empty lot like the Palomar, and actually get a hotel built on the lot on Jefferson and 3 st that was suppose to be a hotel but never started. I world be a good place for a City Target or a badly needed grocery store like a mini Fry's.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by Jjs5056

Songbird's owner actually just wrote a blog about the activity happening around them. The owner is awesome and a great person to have downtown; he definitely cares about growing a community beyond just his own business. I spoke to him and recommended that he form an informal business association with all of the other establishments and he said he's definitely going to. I know it's unreasonable to expect every business owner to care about creating an active urban environment, but it's really annoying that the Pool family is holding onto buildings that could be great spaces. 1) The historic home/former Roosevelt Tavern on 3rd Street next to Songbird, which they said was going to be reopen as a new concept but is currently being used as storage space. 2) The former Big Breakfast space, which was supposed to open up as a "to-go" version of the restaurant, but it, too, is just being used as storage. 3) The Coronado Hotel which could be a really cool boutique hotel within Roosevelt Row, or a hostel, or apartments for artists... and is instead a total dump.

Yet he's also stated that he doesn't support new apartment and condominium construction in the area because that is supposedly "commercialism."

http://www.kpho.com/story/28066602/r...#ixzz3RMuDBoGP

The good news is that despite all the muddled thinking and contradictory statements from numerous advocates, multi-housing construction is going forward. None of the projects are tall enough to meet any widely accepted definition of a "high rise," but they're tall enough to add much needed density to support worthwhile businesses like Songbird.

[nickw252]

Originally Posted by Jjs5056

You rang? Haha, I can't pass up a chance to rave about my favorite project! It's on the corner of 4th Street/McKinley and is called Proxy 333. For anyone with a similar obsession for this project, here is a link to the webcam:
http://ueb.net/webcam9.html

I love the live webcam. Now the two empty lots on the west side of 4th need to get developed. That could become a really dense residential area in the near future.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by Sepstein

I know the both had there ground breaking ceremony! Has either one started a any construction at all? what about the new Luhrs Hotel?

Union and Portland on Park are just dirt moving.

Luhrs hotel is a big whole and I couldn't see anything more.

The two mid-sized apartments on Washington and Jefferson are almost done

Proxy 333 is starting to rise.

I wasn't able to swing up to the large low rise development on McDowell and Central...how's that doing?

Also:

http://azbex.com/rentals-filling-in-the-valleys-core/

Almost 1,000 condos are underway in central Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe and Glendale. But more than 12,000 apartments are already under construction within the central Valley — basically defined as inside the Loop 202 and 101 freeways.

And at least another 13,000 apartments are planned for the metro Phoenix core, according to the latest construction report from ABI Multifamily

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/n...-for-park.html

Maybe Phoenix could make it afterall

[PHXFlyer11]

Originally Posted by Obadno

I wasn't able to swing up to the large low rise development on McDowell and Central...how's that doing?

Nothing going on. No dirt moving, no equipment. Still the vacant lot it's always been.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by PHXFlyer11

Nothing going on. No dirt moving, no equipment. Still the vacant lot it's always been.

IM always of the opinion that something (especially more population) is better than nothing.

But if this is dead maybe we can get something better.

[PHXFlyer11]

Originally Posted by Obadno

IM always of the opinion that something (especially more population) is better than nothing.

But if this is dead maybe we can get something better.

I agree with you. It wasn't terrible, I'd take it, but maybe something better will come now that things are heating up in downtown and midtown.

I believe it was a Lennar community though. They are legit, so if they actually completed the purchase of the land it will likely happen (or they'll bank it until they are ready to pull the trigger).

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by PHXFlyer11

I agree with you. It wasn't terrible, I'd take it, but maybe something better will come now that things are heating up in downtown and midtown.

I believe it was a Lennar community though. They are legit, so if they actually completed the purchase of the land it will likely happen (or they'll bank it until they are ready to pull the trigger).

Lennar owns the land, but I don't know if final plans for the site were ever submitted. They hadn't been when this was written late last year:

http://downtowndevil.com/2014/11/04/...nnar-mcdowell/

[biggus diggus]

I noticed a machine on the lot cleaning the dirt, so apparently there is some sort of in-ground hazard being removed. I don't know if this means it's clean out for development, or if it's just something that has to be done.

[PHX31]

I just went by Portland (tons of work), union (some digging of an already excavated site), and I also notice the circle K at 7th st and Roosevelt had equipment on site with some digging.

[PHXFlyer11]

Originally Posted by biggus diggus

I noticed a machine on the lot cleaning the dirt, so apparently there is some sort of in-ground hazard being removed. I don't know if this means it's clean out for development, or if it's just something that has to be done.

Are you sure it wasn't the machine that's hidden behind all the political posters in this photo? http://downtowndevil.com/2014/11/04/...nnar-mcdowell/

I ask, because there is some piece of permanent equipment on the site. It has nothing to do with the project as it was there long before and has as little fence around it. Maybe there was something new though. I'm going to check on my way home from work today.

[HooverDam]

I've heard from people within the city that they think the Lennar project is dead, or at the very least dying. It doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

There was once a gas station there, so there will have to be some remediation done at some point.