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Posted Aug 21, 2010, 8:37 AM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Country Club Park, Greater Coronado, Midtown, Phoenix, Az
Posts: 4,610
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Quote:
Phoenix developer Reid Butler moves forward with vision
Neighbors' opposition to proposal for Central, Camelback holds sway
8 comments by Sadie Jo Smokey - Aug. 20, 2010 11:31 AM
The Arizona Republic
Reid Butler has a vision to transform his property on the southwestern corner of Central Avenue and Camelback Road into a pedestrian-friendly hub connected to the light-rail line.
He's just waiting for the economy to brighten and for neighbors to accept his proposed development, as yet unnamed.
He saw a four-star hotel and parking garage, condos, eateries, art galleries and boutiques. But to do it he had to convince city leaders and nearby neighbors to let him demolish historic homes.
Photos of the Mariposa Street properties
City leaders in July rejected his idea, voting instead to sell six properties - four homes and two vacant lots - on Mariposa Street to buyers committed to restoring them. The city purchased the properties in 2004 while acquiring land for light rail.
Despite the setback, his vision for this corner hasn't dimmed, he says. It just got tougher to create.
"When the cycle turns back up in Arizona by 2013-14, the very best locations will be at the front end of the recovery," Butler said.
Butler admits that his development idea for seven blocks south of Camelback Road may not be the best one. But no one else has proposed another and the city is content with a parking lot.
"The arguing is over," Butler said. "We can't do all the things we hoped to do. . . . We're going to move forward."
A familiar face at City Hall, Butler, 53, is an urban-infill developer and informed resident. He's involved in numerous neighborhood and business organizations. And he has a stake in properties across the city, including two acres at Central Avenue and Camelback Road adjacent to the Uptown light-rail station.
Central and Camelback is a gateway to the heart of historic Phoenix - an area rich with businesses, schools, arts institutions and residential districts blighted by boarded-up buildings and vacant lots.
In 2008, Butler proposed 400-foot-tall towers on the corner. Neighbors objected. The market faltered, and Butler withdrew his proposal. The site, like others in the city, is a home chiefly for campaign signs.
Some neighbors who disagreed with Butler's vision point to his idle projects and past development proposals.
Kim Kasper first met Butler in 1999 when she and neighbors opposed another of his apartment projects. Kasper moved to the Roosevelt Historic District and again ran into Butler in 2002 when he restored eight historic apartment buildings.
"He's got wonderful powers of persuasion," Kasper said. "He's great at performing. He studies neighborhoods. He studies situations. He knows the right people to approach to rally their support."
Playing with history
Last fall, Butler asked the city to delay selling properties it acquired prior to building the Uptown light-rail station and proposed the city sell its properties to developers. Butler argued against expanding the existing parking lots on Camelback Road. He offered to share a multistory parking structure with the city so it could offer 300 park-and-ride spots in the shade.
And the city said no. It had a federal agreement to sell the properties in the Pierson Place Historic District for single-family homes and faced a deadline to sell the properties.
In the spring, after buyers submitted their offers on the properties, Butler spoke with the city about removing the historic zoning on the Mariposa Street homes. Without the zoning, the homes south of the city's park-and-ride lot could be demolished to make way for multifamily housing or commercial development.
Mayor Phil Gordon, who lives in the Pierson Place Historic District,several blocks south of the Mariposa Street properties and Uptown station, alerted neighborhood leaders. Residents who attended the meeting said Gordon didn't mention Butler's name specifically but told them a grass-roots effort was needed to defeat a "developer's" proposal.
Neighbors balk
The neighbors feared not just the height of Butler's 400-foot hotel and condo proposal but that removing the zoning would jeopardize the entire historic district's status. Some claimed changing district boundaries, which the city has done in the past, would nullify a method used since 1986 to preserve more than 5,000 homes in 35 districts. Residents from across the city attended meetings and signed petitions opposing Butler's proposals to delay the sale of the homes and remove historic zoning.
Butler knows historic preservation. For 10 years, he volunteered on the city's Historic Preservation Commission. Historian Donna Reiner, who also served on the commission, said commission members voted to create the Pierson Place district to preserve the neighborhood, which includes seven adobe homes. She joined the ranks of those opposed to Butler's vision.
As opposition grew, e-mails circulated, vilifying an unnamed developer.
"What disappoints me is you couldn't talk about a larger project and how it enhances and contributes to a larger neighborhood," Butler said. "It doesn't bother me if we have different ideas. What bothers me are fliers that go out with lies."
At community meetings, some residents asked Butler why he doesn't develop existing commercial lots along the light-rail corridor and leave historic residential properties alone.
"You can't force people to live where they don't want to live," Butler said. "At Central and Camelback, people want to live there."
If all goes as planned next year, that's where Butler and his wife will live. Butler's wife, Shawna Leach, is in the process of buying two of the city's adobe homes on Mariposa Street. The couple will reside in one home. Leach, an artist, will work in the other.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/p...#ixzz0xE8ePtw1
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I like Reid Butler and I hope these empty lots get developed, but I just don't get why on Earth he thinks 400' makes sense there. The M&I Bank building across the street is 164' and Landmark on Central is 176', clearly 200' would be a much more acceptable ceiling in that area.
Further even if there were already taller buildings in that area, why should be zoning for more? Phoenix is already vastly over zone height wise and we need to try to keep 350'+ towers in Downtown, they just don't fit in Uptown. Even when the market does recover I just don't see the demand for building what would be the 3rd tallest building in Phoenix that far North.
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