Freeport-McMoRan Center (One Central Park East) - Phoenix, AZ

[combusean]

Originally Posted by Leo the Dog

And here in lies the problem with DT Phoenix. As long as we keep aiding the use of automobiles, how do we ever expect DT to become an urban metropolis. If our DT makes it easy for cars, why would anyone walk or ride public transit anywhere? Why walk 5 blocks for lunch, when one could drive to a restaurant with free parking?

I don't really know of a downtown that doesn't work this way. New development, especially office towers, is going to come with a boatload of parking anywhere.

[Vicelord John]

uhm, wrong.

They each have an underground parking garage. 1 is accessible from van buren and 2 is accessible from 5th street.

[HX_Guy]

[CraftTeutonic]

Do they really need more parking spaces? i thought that they had at least five floors for parking already?

[HooverDam]

Originally Posted by CraftTeutonic

Do they really need more parking spaces? i thought that they had at least five floors for parking already?

Theyve got to do something with the rest of that lot, itll probably be just for visitor parking and such. In an ideal world I wish theyd turn it into a mini park like area, but sadly thats probably too much to hope for.

[Leo the Dog]

Did they really just plant mesquites on the western side? Those have got to be the worst trees for this setting.

[gymratmanaz]

I forget the varietry, but these will be fine trees. They canopy well. The aren't Chillean mesquites. I have one of them in my yard. It is huge and casts a ton of shade. Palo Brea I think?????

[TAZ4ate0]

All the trees I can see in the first picture are Palo Brea (with the drooping branches) and Palo Verde, hence the green tint to the trunks and limbs. The trees in the last picture are what appear to be Argentine mesquites (Colorado variety?), which will grow to roughly 30x30ft. So yeah, they will provide a nice canopy and lots of shade. Mesquite trees however, would not be my top choice for urban landscaping. If I were in charge, I would have planted Chinese Elms. The Elms are nice and leafy, provide lots of shade, and also are tolerant to the desert.

edit: I almost forgot, the Chinese Pistache grows well here too. It also is leafy and the leaves change color in the fall.

[gymratmanaz]

I would agree on the Chinese Elms, though they do grow slowly. The Palo Breas will grow quickly and give a fast canopy. I would prefer elms or Sissou (Spelling).

[Leo the Dog]

Palo Breas are nice desert trees, but mesquites IMO are ugly, fall over bc of their root systems and placement of drips, messy (drop tiny leaves year round that are impossible to clean up quickly), and are ratty during the cool months. In other words...they suck.

Sissoo trees give a nice lush appearance that are low water use, I like how 1st/2nd St. looks around ASU.

[gymratmanaz]

and Sissoo trees canopy really well!

[NIXPHX77]

chinese elms do grow pretty quickly. chinese pistache do not grow as quickly in my experience. sissoo grow very quickly, as do the palos. mesquites too.
i like them all. i'd also vote for ash, jacaranda, ficus for the densest shade, and pines. a variety is always nice.

[phoenixwillrise]

I don't get why they didn't create a bigger setback on Van Buren for some better landscaping and how about a water element on Van Buren and Central. Drought or not Phoenix needs to devise ways to use recycled water, gray water for fountains, or whatever, as just seeing water moving makes you feel cooler.

[Leo the Dog]

Ficus would have been great on this location. It would've provided dense shade against the setting western sun.

On a side note, the SEC of Central/Polk looks terrible. No streetscape. Nice view of the backside of a garage/loading dock, surface parking, poorly landscaped islands etc...Refer to HX's 1st picture above.

[PHX NATIVE 929]

Don't be surprised to see Freeport-McMoRan (Phelps Dodge) move into the top several floors of this building from their current building downtown.

[JKPhx]

The worst part about those plantings is that they are Argentinean mesquites which mean they have sharp thorns...I dont understand why you would plant trees with thorns so close to pedestrian traffic...take the palo verde trees outside convention center for example...Even once they mature, falling limbs can pose a problem especially during monsoon season.

Your best bet would be deciduous trees such as elms or ashes...such as those in Civic Space...Plus if they did do that the plant palette would flow between the two spaces as they are across the street from each other.

[Urban Rising]

The problem with the Freeport move to One Central Park East (which is the current rumor, and they would take just about the entire building) is the overall vacancy rate of downtown will remain unchanged. As long as that is the case it is still a tough sell for any new construction.

[gymratmanaz]

While it would rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, it still would be an improvement with respect of filling a new building, keeping it from being empty. It would be such a shame since the building is so great looking!!!!!

[Vicelord John]

gymrat, are you a roger clyne fan?

[gymratmanaz]

Here's where I show some ignorance...who is Roger Cline? Guess that answers if i am a fan, since I don't know who you mean.