Plaza Centro--a proposed eight-story, mixed-use development for the Greyhound bus depot site on the east end of downtown--is favored by nearby businesses, but could cancel the already-delayed 4th Ave. underpass replacement, which 4th Ave. merchants want:
The old Greyhound bus depot
Developer's plaza may kill 4th Ave. underpass
By Tim Ellis
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
2.02.2006
The stalled Fourth Avenue underpass project could be canceled entirely if the city agrees to a developer's proposed eight-story commercial and condo project where the Greyhound Bus Depot now sits at the east end of Downtown.
Jim Campbell's proposal also would require closing parts of East Congress Street and North Fourth and Toole avenues. Vehicles coming into Downtown from the east would remain on East Broadway, which would become a two-way street, until they reach Fifth or Herbert avenues, then jog up to Congress. "The key is to get (through) traffic out of Downtown," he said, echoing a theme city officials voiced when they reduced the number of lanes on Congress and Broadway in June.
City officials declined to comment on Campbell's proposal, which was sent to City Manager Mike Hein on Jan. 17, other than to say they've just begun to study it. Two major players in Downtown redevelopment — Doug Biggers, executive director of the Rialto Theatre renovation project, and Hotel Congress owner Richard Oseran — said they like the idea. The Rialto sits next to the depot and the hotel is just across the street.
Scrapping plans for a new Fourth Avenue underpass got a chilly reception, however, from the Fourth Avenue Merchants Association, which fears that will delay completion of the Barraza-Aviation Parkway. Campbell proposes to develop a total of 2.5 acres in and around the Greyhound terminal, at 2 S. Fourth Ave., into a pedestrian-friendly complex he calls Plaza Centro.
His plans call for street-level commercial development on a portion of the depot property, extending out into the area where Congress and Fourth Avenue now run. That would be topped with several floors of parking and an unspecified number of residential units.
The city gave Campbell the first right to develop the Greyhound property in November as part of a land-swap deal to preserve a portion of historic Fort Lowell.
"I'm intrigued by the idea, because I think it could contribute to creating a genuine sense of place on the east end at the gateway to Downtown," Biggers said.
Donovan Durband, executive director of the Tucson Downtown Alliance, says Campbell's proposal would accomplish a lot of goals that Downtown merchants and city officials have pursued. Those include reducing the amount of through traffic Downtown, increasing parking and converting streets to two-way traffic, he said. But, Durband said, "Whether it's feasible to eliminate the new Fourth Avenue underpass remains to be seen."
Fourth Avenue merchants, believe a new underpass is needed to replace the old structure, built in 1916, said John Sedwick, the association's executive director. Sedwick said that although members of the merchants association's board of directors have seen only the basic concept of Campbell's plan, "We are not in favor of anything that further delays construction of the underpass."
The underpass project has already been delayed several times, most recently in October when the only bid was $31 million — 50 percent above the city estimate. Campbell said his proposal doesn't absolutely require dropping the underpass project. But it would help his development and enable pedestrians to stroll from Plaza Centro to nearby attractions such as the Rialto Theatre, the Hotel Congress and the Historic Train Depot. He estimates the potential value of his project at between $25 million and $50 million.
"The (city's) plan hurts this part of town," Campbell said, because it creates pockets of land around the 0.8-acre bus station site that are separated by Congress and Toole. That makes sense to Oseran, whose Hotel Congress is at 311 E. Congress St. "I like the idea of having a better use for the land than just as a transit route, and fully developing it, instead of having a series of separated parcels," he said. His plan also would create additional parking, which Oseran said is badly needed in the area.
Campbell said the money the city would save on the underpass could be used for other parkway needs. That appeals to Biggers, despite his longtime support for the new underpass. "The price tag of the new underpass is huge," he said. Campbell said the old underpass would have to be modified to accommodate the streetcar the city has proposed to run from the UA area to Rio Nuevo Downtown, along with vehicles, pedestrians and bicycles. Campbell agreed that part of the proposal would require some difficult engineering — among other things, the tunnel would have to be made at least 4 feet deeper.
Jim Glock, director of the city's Transportation Department, said it's too early to comment on Campbell's plan. Department staffers have met with him once and will meet with him again on Monday, he said. Glock said Campbell told him he does not want his proposal to alter the city's schedule of moving forward on the Fourth Avenue project.
Greyhound's old station is scheduled to be demolished shortly after the company moves its operations into a temporary site at Congress and the westbound I-10 frontage road by the end of March. It will operate there until a new permanent station is built at North Sixth and North Toole avenues.