Tucson Development Thread

[acatalanb]

Originally Posted by Anqrew

Which new shopping center?

Speaking of shopping center, I wished downtown would add the following:
- At least one major grocery store such as Trader Joe's or even a smaller Walmart grocery store right smack in the middle of downtown
- If a new or upgraded arena would be built, maybe, a large open plaza be integrated with the arena for major Tucson events. Right by the open plaza will be surrounding cafe's, restaurants (yes, even fast food) with chairs and tables outside. I'm hoping this Arena/Plaza would be architecturally pleasing to the eye instead of that old square design we have now.
- For some extravagance, a high rise biosphere park would be great with a restaurant and gym on top!
- Wouldn't it be great if Fox Theater would at least partner with those guys at Loft Cinema ?
- And if they do build that Convento Museum, maybe , it would be best if it's enclosed in a building along with the southwestern artifacts from the UA. I heard the UA have the largest collection of southwestern artifacts in the world and they need the extra space.

[Ritarancher]

Originally Posted by Anqrew

Which new shopping center?

The Tucson Market Place At the Bridges

[Ritarancher]

Originally Posted by acatalanb

Speaking of shopping center, I wished downtown would add the following:
- At least one major grocery store such as Trader Joe's or even a smaller Walmart grocery store right smack in the middle of downtown
- If a new or upgraded arena would be built, maybe, a large open plaza be integrated with the arena for major Tucson events. Right by the open plaza will be surrounding cafe's, restaurants (yes, even fast food) with chairs and tables outside. I'm hoping this Arena/Plaza would be architecturally pleasing to the eye instead of that old square design we have now.
- For some extravagance, a high rise biosphere park would be great with a restaurant and gym on top!
- Wouldn't it be great if Fox Theater would at least partner with those guys at Loft Cinema ?
- And if they do build that Convento Museum, maybe , it would be best if it's enclosed in a building along with the southwestern artifacts from the UA. I heard the UA have the largest collection of southwestern artifacts in the world and they need the extra space.

That is a pretty good vision. But maybe the grocery store is better on the outskirts to downtown.

[Anqrew]

Originally Posted by Ritarancher

That is a pretty good vision. But maybe the grocery store is better on the outskirts to downtown.

Yeah theres already the 17th St. Market

[Ritarancher]

I think that building the rainbow bridge would actually be better then the sheraton. I would bring LOTS more tourist to Tucson. It would give us more of a reason to build a skyscraper hotel. Imagine that a hotel that has a view of the greatest bridge on earth. I sure would want that hotel room.

[Ritarancher]

Originally Posted by Anqrew

Yeah theres already the 17th St. Market

Good point

[Ritarancher]

Originally Posted by Ritarancher

I think that building the rainbow bridge would actually be better then the sheraton. I would bring LOTS more tourist to Tucson. It would give us more of a reason to build a skyscraper hotel. Imagine that a hotel that has a view of the greatest bridge on earth. I sure would want that hotel room.

I meant to say it would look better not I.

[Ritarancher]

The bridge might even be an icon for movies. Its just that it got canceled many years ago. I want my bridge

[Anqrew]

Originally Posted by Ritarancher

The bridge might even be an icon for movies. Its just that it got canceled many years ago. I want my bridge

The Rainbow Bridge has been dead for several years now, i dont see it ever being proposed again.

[Ritarancher]

Originally Posted by Anqrew

The Rainbow Bridge has been dead for several years now, i dont see it ever being proposed again.

Well maybe we should bring it up back to the city council. TUCSON NEEDS to be remembered somehow!! Maybe the bridge should be on our next ballot next year. BRing back the bridge

[Ritarancher]

Originally Posted by Butta

Although small, I think these facade improvements have gone a long way to put a new (old) face on downtown. I like them.

Kaneui, have you ever been to San Jose, CA or familiar with its downtown?

Some similarities:

Proximity to the local University (San Jose State)
Adjacent to mostly dry river (Guadalupe river)
Proximity to rail road tracks (Big difference is San Jose's is a transportation hub for the area)
Relatively small compared to bigger cities' downtown near them (San Francisco/Oakland)
Urban sprawl surrounding city

Back in the mid-nineties San Jose's downtown was pretty blighted until the Arena and light rail was built, sound familiar? Now every time I go there it amazes me how far it has come.

I think people fail by trying to compare Tucson to Portland, I think San Jose is a better example.



I think downtown Tucson has potential to be something like San Jose's rejuvenated downtown. How about Jim Click buying the bankrupt Coyotes and moving them to Tucson? Just a pipe dream I guess.

that would be nice

[Anqrew]

Originally Posted by Ritarancher

Well maybe we should bring it up back to the city council. TUCSON NEEDS to be remembered somehow!! Maybe the bridge should be on our next ballot next year. BRing back the bridge

as lovely as the bridge design was, its just not realistic at the time. maybe in 15 years.

[Ritarancher]

Originally Posted by Anqrew

as lovely as the bridge design was, its just not realistic at the time. maybe in 15 years.

It will never happen. nothing ever will. sadly we live in the city of Tucson. Nothing ever gets done here. remember the century tower a few years ago that got a NO. the sheraton? that got a NO. rainbow bridge? that got a NO!
the unisourse energy tower twin? NOPE (that was in the 1980s i think) .we live in tucson nothing ever gets done here.

[Ritarancher]

Rio Nuevo was a good idea when it was made but it turned out to be a waste. All it does is pay for people to "talk about" skyscrapers but nothing else. when you tax the city you tax it all or none.

[acatalanb]

Originally Posted by Anqrew

Yeah theres already the 17th St. Market

Yeah, 17th St. is a great store. It's just quite a walk from central downtown. If we're gonna build more housing downtown, we might as well have a grocer within walking distance. It's more appealing for future residents.

[acatalanb]

Originally Posted by Ritarancher

It will never happen. nothing ever will. sadly we live in the city of Tucson. Nothing ever gets done here. remember the century tower a few years ago that got a NO. the sheraton? that got a NO. rainbow bridge? that got a NO!
the unisourse energy tower twin? NOPE (that was in the 1980s i think) .we live in tucson nothing ever gets done here.

Got that right! I think there was even a proposal to build a brand new city hall skyscraper way back in the 90's in front of the downtown library. And thereafter, on the same location, a condo high rise was even proposed. As usual, it was front page news with all the drawings.

[acatalanb]

I believe the famous Rio Nuevo audit will come out today, Friday. I'd be interested where the money got wasted. Anyway, I still have high hopes with this project. Downtown east seems to be moving forward.

[acatalanb]

Originally Posted by Ritarancher

Well maybe we should bring it up back to the city council. TUCSON NEEDS to be remembered somehow!! Maybe the bridge should be on our next ballot next year. BRing back the bridge

I like the Rainbow Bridge. Hope they bring it back on the table. I could see myself driving from I-10 West approaching this bridge. It would be an attraction indeed.
And yes, it is better than the Hotel considering low occupancy rates in Tucson's existing hotels.

[somethingfast]

Originally Posted by acatalanb

Got that right! I think there was even a proposal to build a brand new city hall skyscraper way back in the 90's in front of the downtown library. And thereafter, on the same location, a condo high rise was even proposed. As usual, it was front page news with all the drawings.

i remember the unisource (originally united bank) twin they planned back in the mid-80's...it never happened because there's little demand for Class A space in downtown bottom-line.

there was actually a magazine in the 80's (AZ Business or something??) that ran a spread back in 1986 that showed all the projects planned for downtown tucson. unbelievable. lots 20 and 30 story buildings. fantasy land. same thing for phoenix...they had this awesome two-page spread in color that showed all these projects including what would be the world's tallest building (113 stories) in mid-town. i'd KILL to get a copy of that magazine just for nostalgia purposes.

point is, arizona is a real estate boom and bust state...big plans when things are going well...evaporate into the air when the market collapses...cuz they are mostly speculative plans not based on market demand. that's changing in phoenix but tucson still has no real need for more space sadly.

[acatalanb]

Originally Posted by somethingfast

i remember the unisource (originally united bank) twin they planned back in the mid-80's...it never happened because there's little demand for Class A space in downtown bottom-line.

there was actually a magazine in the 80's (AZ Business or something??) that ran a spread back in 1986 that showed all the projects planned for downtown tucson. unbelievable. lots 20 and 30 story buildings. fantasy land. same thing for phoenix...they had this awesome two-page spread in color that showed all these projects including what would be the world's tallest building (113 stories) in mid-town. i'd KILL to get a copy of that magazine just for nostalgia purposes.

point is, arizona is a real estate boom and bust state...big plans when things are going well...evaporate into the air when the market collapses...cuz they are mostly speculative plans not based on market demand. that's changing in phoenix but tucson still has no real need for more space sadly.

I lived in Phoenix in the mid-80's. There was also proposal to build the tallest building in the world (Phx) back then. In fact, there was even a proposal to build a light rail system in Phoenix in the 80's. Those were the days when all those crosstown freeways were planned and actually built in Phoenix. Man, I wished Tucson would build at least one crosstown freeway...it's getting too crowded during rush hour.