PHOENIX | Project Rundown

[Halovet]

The first thing you notice about PHX is the Skyline or lack there of. This Would be awesome for A city of 250,000 but for a World Class City and Top 5 US, no way. What's exciting, is that the party's just starting. They can look at what other cities have done, discard that which does not work, and expand on that which has been successful. PHX is going to be onf FANTASTIC Place to be, and I for one can't wait. NOW BRING ON THOSE TOWERS. :scraper:

[AZheat]

Don B.
Thanks for organizing your information so well on Phoenix projects. I hope many of these proposals will actually be built. I lived in Seattle for many years, then Denver for a few and I've lived here in the Phoenix area for just three years. For as large as Phoenix has become its skyline is certainly not impressive.
I have a question for you or anyone else. What exactly is the FAA building height restriction for downtown Phoenix. I've noticed that planes coming into Sky Harbor Airport pass very low over downtown.
Thanks,
Bob R.

[Don B.]

^ Wow, welcome to the forum!

I didn't notice your post before now.

I've been told that generally, the FAA height limit for downtown Phoenix is 500 feet. However, it is logical to assume that the limit goes down as you move east of Central Avenue, closer to the runways at Sky Harbor. Conversely, to the west of Central, the FAA would likely have less of a problem with a 500-700 foot tower, depending on where it is situated.

In addition, I've been told that the FAA cap only extends north as far as Roosevelt Street. I'm not sure if this is true or not.

In addition to the FAA restrictions, the City of Phoenix also has strict height limits. Generally, the entire city is around 56 feet tall, although high-rise zoning exists around much of the downtown and midtown cores along Central Avenue. I think, in Phoenix, anything over 250 feet requires extensive neighborhood meetings and a variance granted by the city. Some areas around the Biltmore have special 140-foot zoning in place.

In other news:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...threadid=84166

38-story, 480-foot tower proposed for downtown Phoenix



--don

[Patrick]

Some nice projects here.

[oliveurban]

+ Trump International Hotel and Residences Phoenix. Finally approved by the city council after being completely redesigned, and shortened:

Website: Trump Int'l Phoenix

The original design:


The new and approved design:










*I like the original design much better.

[colemonkee]

Bah! The original design was much better.

[Don B.]

^ Totally agreed, but we are so used to lowest common denominator stuff here - I'll take it. Better than the alternative, a nearly vacant two story POS building.

--don

[urban_encounter]

Don,


Please forgive me if it has already been stated, but what part of Phoenix is the Trump Hotel proposed for?

[Don B.]

deleted

--don

[Don B.]

deleted

--don

[Jasonhouse]

Nice pic... reminds me of the Westshore area in Tampa... Wall to wall office campuses and parking.



btw, does anyone remember who the 'W' brand belongs to? It's Marriott, isn't it?

[Don B.]

^ Thanks.

W Hotels Worldwide is part of the Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. hotel management chain. Starwood owns Sheraton as well. Based on this site, I think Marriott is a completely separate company:

http://marriott.com/corporateinfo/gl...WT_Ref=mi_left

--don

[Stephenapolis]

Originally Posted by Don B.

In other news, a 39-story, 450-foot hotel+residential tower has been announced today by the owners of the Phoenix Suns. The hotel will be a W Hotel, and is slated to open by 2008 next to America West Arena in downtown Phoenix.

Rendering:



--don

That is a nice design.

[mthq]

forgive me for I haven't been around here for a while -- but wasn't the Trump project cancelled?

[Don B.]

^ Nope. There was concern the city council may not approve the project, but obviously that didn't happen.

--don

[mthq]

ah okay good to hear

[Don B.]

Twin-475 foot towers announced (possibly):

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...threadid=87946

To give you an idea what all of this would do to our downtown skyline:





--don

[colemonkee]

Wow, that would be great if you guys got all of that.

[kaneui]

I was told in another forum that the city of Phoenix has made an agreement with the FAA to limit high-rises in the CBD (as defined by Copper Square?) to 500 feet....has anyone else heard that?

[Don B.]

^ This isn't new news. Phoenix has always had a 500 foot cap over downtown because of the FAA.

Downtown Phoenix sits at an altitude of about 1,090 feet above MSL (mean sea level). The FAA has the lower emergency flight path restriction for flights coming to or from the west, where downtown sits, at 1,600 MSL. Hence, the so-called cap. I know this because on my recent helicopter trip over downtown Phoenix, the pilot was warned to stay below 1,600 MSL as he flew under the flight paths at Sky Harbor.

Understand that the planes are actually much higher than this when they pass over downtown, but this emergency issue is so pilots have a chance to recover, especially if they lose an engine on takeoff.

Phoenix could approve zoning for a taller tower, but the fear is that the FAA would then limit the weight of planes on takeoff, especially during the hot summer months, and that could adversely affect the airlines and the airport, which is considered Phoenix's golden goose.

Note that further north along Central, theoretically the FAA wouldn't care how tall a building was, so Phoenix still could get a 600 to 700 footer someday, assuming the lunimbys didn't kill it.

--don