Phoenix Development News (3)

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

Didn't someone report on here that they contacted the Children's Museum and were told that it's the responsibility of the City of Phoenix to take care of the fence? Or am I not remembering it correctly?

Yes, I was told the upgraded fence was a project undertaken by the City, which owns the land on which the museum is located. I've tried to follow up with a museum official via email but have not received a response.

[HooverDam]

Originally Posted by gymratmanaz

Originally, they wanted it to be kind of an island to itself, since there really wasn't anything around it at the time. They wanted it enclosed so people could be inside and not see the minimal surroundings.

It was still a moronic idea. Look at Faneuil Hall Marketplace, the Atlanta Underground, Baltimore Harborplace, Navy Pier and other Festival marketplaces, notice what the AZ Center is missing?

Its a historical building or series of buildings that the Festival marketplace was designed to rehab. What attracts people to a place like Faneuil Hall is the history, and then the stores keep them around. The Arizona Center fucks up this whole premise but having no history and being just any old mall.

If they wanted the Festival Marketplace concept to work in Downtown Phoenix they should've centered it on a place like Union Station and rehab that area along the lines of what St Louis did with their Union Station.

[Vicelord John]

http://www.azcentral.com/community/p...-light-up.html

[gymratmanaz]

Exciting news. Looking forward to renditions. Hope they come when it is unveiled today!!!

[phoenixheadphones]

deleted ----

[Vicelord John]

Problem is i can think of THREE storefronts on Jefferson between 1av and 7st. Luhr's, Colliers, and USAC/BOB parking garage. There will never be energy on Jefferson (the huge wall that it is) without restaurants and or bars being open on it. It's not a street that has anything going on and no leasable space to open anything.

[dtnphx]

Originally Posted by Vicelord John

Problem is i can think of THREE storefronts on Jefferson between 1av and 7st. Luhr's, Colliers, and USAC/BOB parking garage. There will never be energy on Jefferson (the huge wall that it is) without restaurants and or bars being open on it. It's not a street that has anything going on and no leasable space to open anything.

Negative Nancy.

[phoenixheadphones]

Here's the promo picture they sent out. Not very detailed, but gives a little overview.

[gymratmanaz]

Luhrs is coming!!!!!!!

[HooverDam]

Welp thats good news, hopefully it'll look nice and make Downtown feel a bit more 'big city'. It would tie in very well with the Jackson St/warehouse Entertainment district if that ever happens when the economy recovers.

[HX_Guy]

Originally Posted by Vicelord John

Problem is i can think of THREE storefronts on Jefferson between 1av and 7st. Luhr's, Colliers, and USAC/BOB parking garage. There will never be energy on Jefferson (the huge wall that it is) without restaurants and or bars being open on it. It's not a street that has anything going on and no leasable space to open anything.

I've always kind of thought the opposite...that if there is ever to be an area of downtown that can be a hub of restaurants/bars/clubs...the Jefferson/Washington area would be it. Yes, there aren't that many streetfronts there...but there could be because you have Block23 (east of the Cityscape tower) and the block south of that (the one west of USAC) that are currently parking lots and could certainly be developed with streetfronts.

I do think that 1st Ave to 7th St is a bit too ambitious because there is a lot of dead space east of 2nd St but between 1st Ave and 2nd St?
You have Luhr's which it's a whole city block. You have the Hard Rock Cafe there as well on Jefferson and like you said at USAC/BOB. I could certainly imagine an area that includes Jefferson and Washington from 1st Ave to 2nd St as well as Central, 1st St and 2nd St. Sure it's only 3 city blocks but it's 9 streets if you will and if those 9 streets are lined both sides then it could feel pretty bustling.

[HX_Guy]

Here is the Business Journal's version of the same story...

Suns, Diamondbacks partner on entertainment district
Phoenix Business Journal - by John Lombardo, Sports Business Journal

The Phoenix Suns and the Arizona Diamondbacks are launching a rare joint venture that will develop a multimillion-dollar, technology-fueled digital outdoor marketing showpiece in downtown Phoenix.
The teams have created Legends Entertainment District, with both teams investing in an effort to build 55,000 square feet of outdoor digital and static billboard signage in the downtown Phoenix corridor beginning with a six-block area that connects the Diamondbacks’ Chase Field and the Suns’ US Airways Center. The plan is designed to develop new revenue for both teams, while using the digital marketplace to promote ticket sales and other team offerings and events
The joint venture will sell the outdoor advertising to sponsors with the hope of increasing the reach — and revenue — beyond the Suns’ and Diamondbacks’ respective facilities while pumping life into downtown Phoenix.
“It is unique for two teams in different leagues in the same market to be in business together,” said Diamondbacks President and CEO Derrick Hall.
The venture calls for the teams to share equally in the investment and revenue of the venture, which is expected to roll out its initial phase in time for Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game at Chase Field.
Initial plans call for both static and LED signs to be displayed along the Jefferson Street corridor, which runs past the facilities. Initially, two 50-foot-tall freestanding towers with screen and LED advertising will bookend Chase Field and the US Airways Center. Chase Field will also have a 30-by-70-foot LED board built on the ballpark’s facade.
Legends has signed a deal with YESCO in Phoenix to build and design the static signs, and the venture expects to select its LED technology company in the next few weeks.
Suns President and CEO Rick Welts said city officials historically had put limits on outdoor advertising, limiting branding opportunities for both teams outside of their respective arenas. But after nearly two years of negotiations between the city and teams, ordinances were changed, allowing the Suns and the Diamondbacks to move ahead.
“It had been a challenge to do anything, and it was a frustration for both of us of what we could do around our buildings,” Welts said. “To create large-form advertising is stepping out of [the city’s] comfort zone and it embraces value to our partners.”
Neither Welts nor Hall would disclose specific initial investment in the venture but said the project would require several million dollars from each franchise. No financial projections were shared, but teams expressed optimism about creating a vibrant new revenue stream.
The Suns and the Diamondbacks are hardly strangers, given that Jerry Colangelo owned both teams. But after Colangelo sold the Suns and his interest in the Diamondbacks in 2004, distance grew between the teams as they competed for business. Now they are back in business together in a big way.
“We have mutual respect for each other and we want to increase traffic downtown,” Hall said.
Former Phoenix Coyotes executive Judd Norris will be the general manager of Legends Entertainment. He reports to a top official from each team and will work with about 20 sales executives from both the Suns and Diamondbacks to market the new signage district to new and existing partners.
“The restrictions from the city are very few, and we are talking about motion, light and sound,” Norris said. “Then we will move into different activations such as street festivals.”
The venture expects to announce some of its sponsors in the next few weeks.


Read more: Suns, Diamondbacks partner on entertainment district | Phoenix Business Journal

[dtnphx]

Originally Posted by gymratmanaz

Luhrs is coming!!!!!!!

What do you know, O excited one?

[bwonger06]

Passed by Chase Field on the way to school and noticed they are digging up the area right in front on the entrances (the big courtyard just to the West of the stadium). Anyone have any ideas?

And I wonder if they can do anything to the Jefferson parking structure. Although it makes zero sense given the current vacancy rates downtown, but it would be cool to see them refit the bottom level and line it with retail facing south right on Jefferson.

[gymratmanaz]

Chase and D-Backs are putting in shade canopies and solar panels. This is a nice addition for many reasons!!!!

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by bwonger06

Passed by Chase Field on the way to school and noticed they are digging up the area right in front on the entrances (the big courtyard just to the West of the stadium). Anyone have any ideas?

And I wonder if they can do anything to the Jefferson parking structure. Although it makes zero sense given the current vacancy rates downtown, but it would be cool to see them refit the bottom level and line it with retail facing south right on Jefferson.

This was a few days ago:

Chase Field to get solar shade from APS

by Ryan Randazzo - Feb. 10, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Arizona Diamondback fans will get a lesson in solar electricity on their way to games this summer under a $1 million solar shade Arizona Public Service Co. is building at the west entrance to Chase Field.

The structure will shade about 17,000 square feet of the plaza and include exhibits on renewable power and energy efficiency, according to APS.

The structure with red-and-beige panels matching the Diamondbacks' team colors interspersed with black solar panels will shade most of the area between the stadium and the building that houses Sliders American Grill to the west, architectural renderings show.

APS, a major sponsor of the Diamondbacks, will be able to generate 75 kilowatts of electricity from the structure in direct sunlight. The electricity will be sent directly to the power grid, not specifically to the stadium.

APS will test electric-car charging stations and battery storage with the project.

"Behind the scenes, this will be a working laboratory," APS President Don Robinson said. "We will study what's possible with urban solar arrays and how we can power electric vehicles directly from the sun."

The system should generate about the same amount of electricity each year that eight houses would use in a year, said Barbara Lockwood, APS Smart-Grid development director.

Construction begins today and is expected to be finished by May.

APS will pay for the project, although the Diamondbacks likely will add more shade structures to the plaza at their own expense next season, President and CEO Derrick Hall said.

He said the team was considering a shade structure and proposed the idea of a solar structure to APS, and the utility was receptive.

"One big concern was with the All-Star Game coming (in July), it will be hot, and it can take longer to get in the gates," he said. "It also is a nice greening initiative for us and the county."

Some of the structure's power will be stored in a large battery, which APS plans to use to allow people to recharge electric cars at four or five charging stations along the street.

The project will help APS inform customers about its energy-conservation programs such as rebates for appliances and energy-efficient homes, Lockwood said.

"One thing we are trying to achieve is to begin to integrate various opportunities for customers," she said. "The project will be focused on a host of energy-related activities."

The test project reflects similar support for solar energy from the nearby US Airways Center where the Phoenix Suns and Mercury basketball teams play their games but is much smaller than the 194-kilowatt solar array planned on the parking structure at that arena.

HKS Inc. is the architect for the Chase Field project. Renewable Energy Contractors, a division of Ironco, is the general contractor

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/p...#ixzz1DyqaIbdm

[HooverDam]

^^ I like that solar shade pavilion idea, I just wish they'd start put panels on the stadium itself. Obviously you couldn't put them on all of the roof because of the way it opens but some on the middle/top sections of the roof would be nice, additionally there's large roof sections on the South and West sides of the stadium that could house panels similar to those on the Convention Center.

Originally Posted by bwonger06

And I wonder if they can do anything to the Jefferson parking structure. Although it makes zero sense given the current vacancy rates downtown, but it would be cool to see them refit the bottom level and line it with retail facing south right on Jefferson.

Huh? Do you mean the Garage Mahal? Because the parking garage between Chase and USAC does have retail along the bottom, there's Karims Cobbler Shop & Deli and whatever that sports bar is if its still open.

[bwonger06]

Originally Posted by HooverDam

Huh? Do you mean the Garage Mahal? Because the parking garage between Chase and USAC does have retail along the bottom, there's Karims Cobbler Shop & Deli and whatever that sports bar is if its still open.

Yea I meant garage Mahal. I know the city spent a fortune building that garage so it is not coming down anytime soon. Adding stores to the bottom could help energize that area.

[gymratmanaz]

There are so many other areas to fill with stores than a parking garage. Fill the spaces between 1st ave and 5th street first. That is where the people are right now.

[HooverDam]

Originally Posted by gymratmanaz

There are so many other areas to fill with stores than a parking garage. Fill the spaces between 1st ave and 5th street first. That is where the people are right now.

Parking garage ground floors are a great space for retail, we shouldn't allow any new ones to be built in urban areas w/ out retail or other permeable uses.