Tempe Development Thread

[CB1]

Originally Posted by ciweiss

Update on Tempe depot

I was looking to see where this one was at as I didn't see any movement lately on the site. Looking at the new azre magazine there is an ad for Red Development that mentions a Spring 2022 construction start. Looking forward to see how that goes. Especially with the light rail going underneath.

Nice! Thanks for the info.

[CB1]

https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2022/01/2...-coyotes-react-to-report-of-move-to-asu/

[muertecaza]

Relatively minor fire in West 6th:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.abc15.c...-during-tempe-high-rise-fire%3f_amp=true

[ciweiss]

Originally Posted by muertecaza

Relatively minor fire in West 6th:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.abc15.c...-during-tempe-high-rise-fire%3f_amp=true

Wow. That is crazy. 250 firefighters. Thank goodness for sprinkler systems.

[muertecaza]

Although not directly named, I believe this article refers to Aura Apache, which it says will break ground within 60 days.

https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2022/01/31/dallas-developer-infill-tempe.html

For reference on the project:

https://www.tempe.gov/Home/ShowDocument?id=88577

[azsunsurfer]

Good news, 250 Rio will be presented at the next DRC meeting. It's not an official review but just an introduction presentation, hopefully we'll get some updated renderings than the original ones we've seen?

[skiesthelimit]

Smith x Rio apartment project is doing framing now (tried gabbing a pic at the stoplight):



They also laid out a parking lot and some other road/sidewalk infrastructure towards where the other mixed use/retail portion is going to be but I didn’t get a picture.

The Pier as seen from Dorsey Ln/ASU Fields parking. This thing is gonna look tall all alone for a while:



The apartment project on the new annexed land seems to have all cores built and is very visible from the 202.

ETA: came across this blog post when trying to find out the story count for Pier 202(24 stories both towers, right now the east tower is a little over halfway): https://blog.cityelectricsupply.com/breaking-ground-ces-chandler-tempes-billion-dollar-development/

Definitely recommend checking it out, there’s video of the construction site from maybe a month or two after they initially started going vertical. They also addressed the stall in development and it’s pretty safe to say there is definitely more than just the developer’s two cousins building this thing now haha.

[ASU Diablo]

How does the saying go? 10th time's the charm? Can anyone work their magic to find renderings?

Would be nice to see the Mill finally redeveloped.

https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2022/02/09/developers-identified-for-tempe-mill-reuse.html

Tempe City Council will vote Thursday to enter into negotiations with two Valley developers about the redevelopment and adaptive reuse plans for the Hayden Flour Mill.

Phoenix-based Venue Projects and Scottsdale-based Sunbelt Holdings were recommended by the city’s evaluation committee to be selected to negotiate terms for a development agreement. The city received one other submittal, from Phoenix-based DMB Associates, which the committee ranked lower than the proposal from Venue Projects and Sunbelt Holdings.

The plan proposed by Venue Projects and Sunbelt Holdings was not immediately available. City documents said “the proposed concept would provide for a great deal of community involvement to preserve the view corridors, the history and cultural significance of the site for generations to come.”

The city released the request for proposals last September for an adaptive reuse project that would include a lease and development of the five-acre site.

At that time, Maria Laughner, economic development program manager for the city, said the city had been talking about the site for a long time, and said there was renewed interest in doing something with the mill.

The mill, which is the namesake of Mill Avenue, closed in 1998. In 2003 the city bought the mill, and two different private companies have previously gotten development rights for it over the years, but those rights have expired.

The RFP called for developers to lease and develop the site into a “family-friendly” reuse that rehabilitates the mill to house office tenants, add plazas and events space, and opportunities for food and beverage uses.

Both developers selected have extensive backgrounds in the Valley.

Venue Projects is behind several of the city’s high-profile redevelopment and adaptive reuse projects. The firm partnered with Vintage Partners on the adaptive reuse of the Rise Hotel in uptown Phoenix, and is the developer and co-owner of the Newton, located near Third Avenue and Camelback Road, which was a former steakhouse and banquet facility that now is a mixed-use project that includes the Southern Rail restaurant, Changing Hands Bookstore and other tenants.

Sunbelt Holdings was a co-developer of Marina Heights in Tempe, the Valley’s largest office complex. The company is also developing Union Park at Norterra in north Phoenix and was also chosen to lead the 10-million-square-foot expansion of Wild Horse Pass on the Gila River Indian Community.

[muertecaza]

Mortenson ‘tops out’ Beam on Farmer in Tempe

https://azbigmedia.com/real-estate/mortenson-tops-out-beam-on-farmer-in-tempe/

Mortenson, in partnership with the City of Tempe, Urban Development Partners, PGIM Real Estate, among others celebrated the topping out of The Beam on Farmer today. The five-story, 184,000-square-foot office building, located in the heart of downtown Tempe, is the first in the state to feature exposed Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) construction as the primary structural system...

Completion of The Beam on Farmer is anticipated in July 2022.

[skiesthelimit]

Demo of the building off Warner x Priest:

[azsunsurfer]

Went down Apache this weekend. Squatter still on-site at the Eastline Village project. That project has been at a standstill for several weeks now after they had cleared most of the site. Maybe it's dead as a result of the squatter?

[Obadno]

I think I went once in like 1997

Tempe's historic Big Surf Waterpark may be closing for good, reports say

The Big Surf Waterpark in Tempe, which has been closed since before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, may not open again, according to multiple reports.

The Phoenix New Times first reported that all the assets were being sold in an online liquidation auction that ended Feb. 16, meaning that the 20-acre property, which opened in 1969 with what was possibly the nation’s first wave pool, may be closed for good.

After its initial closure, the waterpark’s ownership, Inland Oceans LLC, received a $222,497 Paycheck Protection Program loan in the program’s first round. The company reported all the money would go toward payroll and that it had 260 jobs.

The property located at 1500 N. McClintock Drive near Loop 202 had become a Valley icon over its decades in existence, before shutting its doors for the first time during the height of the pandemic in Arizona, according to a report by the Arizona Republic.

Big Surf’s General Manager Bob Pena told the Republic in July 2021 that Inland Ocean decided to remain closed that year and at the time was looking at different options.

According to the Republic, the park opened on Oct. 24, 1969 using a wave generator created in Phoenix by Philip Dexter. The wave pool’s original components were still in use before the park’s closure, the report said.

The park was designated as a historic mechanical engineering landmark in 2013 by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and John Huskins was credited with designing the system behind the wave maker, the Republic reported.

More water attractions coming
Several other waterparks around the Valley — including Glendale’s Six Flags Hurricane Harbor and Golfland Sunsplash in Mesa — have reopened since the pandemic’s start, according to the New Times.

In fact, Hurricane Harbor announced on Thursday that it was hiring 500 seasonal positions as it prepared to open on March 12.

Six Flags said it will be hosting a hiring event at Hurricane Harbor on March 14 from 10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. where applicants can fill out applications and get on-the-spot interviews. Those unable to attend the hiring event can apply online here.

Two other major water attractions are in the works around the Valley.

Construction is underway for the massive Crystal Lagoons Island Resort, a planned mixed-use entertainment project that will be anchored by an 11-acre lagoon in Glendale that will also be home to the first-ever Mattel Adventure Park. And developer and Gilbert resident Cole Cannon began construction in 2021 on his lagoon and entertainment project called Cannon Beach in Mesa, which will feature a 1.8-acre surfing lagoon complete with a sand beach and splash pad.

[PHX06]

Big Surf definitely was starting to lag behind the rest, although none of our water parks here are really top tier. Growing up in Florida, I was used to having world class water parks all over the state and it always struck me as odd that with how hot Arizona is, it doesn't have at least one great one.

[FighteroftheNightman]

Big surf is already under contract with an industrial developer. They should be undertaking Oceanside and the Southern vacant parcel as the owner exits his Arizona position.

[ASUSunDevil]

Originally Posted by FighteroftheNightman

Big surf is already under contract with an industrial developer. They should be undertaking Oceanside and the Southern vacant parcel as the owner exits his Arizona position.

Surprised that site wouldn't get at least some really nice residential - industrial seems a bit underwhelming in that location.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by PHX06

Big Surf definitely was starting to lag behind the rest, although none of our water parks here are really top tier. Growing up in Florida, I was used to having world class water parks all over the state and it always struck me as odd that with how hot Arizona is, it doesn't have at least one great one.

Honestly with so many personal pools, resort style apartment pools and just open resort and hotel pools around town the need for a waterpark is pretty low.

Sunsplash is huge and Wet n' wild on the west side is big

[stutteringpunk]

Originally Posted by Obadno

Honestly with so many personal pools, resort style apartment pools and just open resort and hotel pools around town the need for a waterpark is pretty low.

Sunsplash is huge and Wet n' wild on the west side is big

Hard disagree. There's only so many things you can do outside during the summer and Sunsplash is usually jam-packed anytime you drive by on the 60. I think people have no problem visiting waterparks, even if they have pools, they just need reasons to keep coming. Big Surf was essentially the same on the day it closed as it was 20 years ago.

What the valley really needs is good waterparks or alternatives you can go to year round like Great Wolf Lodge's indoor facility.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by stutteringpunk

Hard disagree. There's only so many things you can do outside during the summer and Sunsplash is usually jam-packed anytime you drive by on the 60. I think people have no problem visiting waterparks, even if they have pools, they just need reasons to keep coming. Big Surf was essentially the same on the day it closed as it was 20 years ago.

What the valley really needs is good waterparks or alternatives you can go to year round like Great Wolf Lodge's indoor facility.

There’s a massive new one going on at around Glendale and the 101 on the west side as well, Crystal Lagoon

https://www.glendaleaz.com/news/what_s_new/crystal_lagoons_island_resort

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by stutteringpunk

Hard disagree. There's only so many things you can do outside during the summer and Sunsplash is usually jam-packed anytime you drive by on the 60. I think people have no problem visiting waterparks, even if they have pools, they just need reasons to keep coming. Big Surf was essentially the same on the day it closed as it was 20 years ago.

What the valley really needs is good waterparks or alternatives you can go to year round like Great Wolf Lodge's indoor facility.

Water parks are gross in my opinion but I know the plebs seem to enjoy them.

[ASUPope]

Does anyone know what the plans are for the former strip mall at the NW corner of Price & Baseline. A fence went up sometime in January around the entire property and demo is basically done of the entire area.

I looked back to posts starting in Mid January and saw no mention of the demo or any project on that space (know its not a cool area like Apache or downtown. I'm fearful it will just be apartments.