Quote:
Originally Posted by combusean
I think that with whatever happens with the Pappas lot next to Alta Fillmore is going to pretty much solidify that as the western core, and there's better development opportunities there like the NAC owned recovery building on 2nd Avenue on the other side of Circle K, O'Neill Printing, the one Phoenix College building with its acres of parking, that big parking lot on 3rd Ave, and maybe that huge Circle K will sell out with a ground floor lease in something like the Londen Center. So I think McKinley is fine being low-key.
Wells Fargo owns the gargage on 2nd Avenue. That garage wouldn't annoy me so much as the fact that it's totally private to WF employees. I wish CoP would buy it so things on that side of town can better develop.
The only city-owned land around 2nd and 3rd Avenue and McKinley is literally what's vacant, the dirt to the south of the apartment complex and the church-owned building, then the city owns the vacant lot directly north of the church building. I have no idea how they could remotely cram 100 units there.
The reason there's no site plan for it is because it's probably not public yet, altho you could just as easily call and ask.
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I guess that was kind of my point - south of Fillmore is essentially a blank slate compared to the fairly dense part of Roosevelt to the north. It'll be a while until that stretch of Fillmore gets built out. Also, all development in the area will have to be multifamily and hopefully, pretty dense and tall multifamily closer to VB; to the north, single-family homes dominate. Obviously, people will make do - I just thought it would be nice for McKinley to have had a selection of services for that corner of downtown.
Speaking of Fillmore, do you happen to know when and how Rio Salado CC built its branch on Fillmore/7th Ave? I never noticed it until this summer and I couldn't believe something so completely anti-urban was built fairly recently. MCCCD's presence downtown really pisses me off; these limited satellite branches are better than nothing I suppose, but a full downtown campus would be such a better anchor for revitalizing WVB. Instead of a suburban Rio CC, and taking up space in warehouses that could have been used by local businesses for GCC, they could have built out the land they owned that's now part of the Fillmore RFP, or purchased VB frontage, and helped connect Grand Ave to downtown, provide job services for residents, affordable housing/dorms, a library, etc. 3-4 mixed use buildings could have attracted retail and maybe improvements to make that stretch of VB walkable?
Yes, I know the land that was RFP'd that MetroWest won on McKinley, but I had heard that their proposal included 1) purchase and/or ownership of the existing apartments, and 2) a community garden in Roosevelt Park. That led me to believe a plan did exist, and that the project will extend north on the west side.
Random questions regarding parking structures:
1a) Why does WF own that parking garage on 2nd Ave? Overflow from their tower? If so, that's annoying as that tower site is one of the worst parts of downtown- they couldn't have built a large enough garage on what was essentially a full city block? Could they move all parking to the 2nd Ave garage, demo the one on Adams and build something acceptable for 2015? At the very least, there should be a nice, classy restaurant with a patio opening to the Orpheum.
1b) If not for the tower, why do they own it and is there any chance you see of them potentially selling it? The thing is mammoth, and if sold to the City, maybe we could stop hearing the "no parking" BS. Aside from the sheer size, my issue with it is how it adds to a huge dead zone that divides E and W VB. If affordable or market rate units were added to the garage, maybe the Firestone Building could be adapted into a restaurant/retail site, and industrial type lofts built on the way to the stuff happening on 4th Ave?
2) The City owns that stupid blue-ish building on 1st Ave/VB, right? Once Valley Metro moves to Central Station, will it be pretty much empty? I wish the RFP were issued to include that site; I'd much rather a 32-story mixed use tower there not blocking views, etc.
3) US Bank Tower owners also own the garage on VB/1st Ave; another wtf? That tower takes up the entire length of 1st Ave and doesn't have adequate parking? I don't get it. Do you know how much it is utilized and whether they lease space out? It's insane that there are so many private structures with such vacancies. Would it ever be in their interest to redevelop that corner? Obviously, it would have to max out at about 5 stories because of 44M, but it could have a tall, slender tower on its north side... with the County refusing to lease the Security Building and the empty space in this garage, this stretch really sucks.
4) Did the Chase garage open long with the tower or was it added later? As if the tower didn't waste enough space, ugh. Again, idk if you even have a clue, but do property owners ever sell/lease-back/renovate garages? That is such a poorly used lot; I wish the City, if possible, would spend time on figuring out how to mitigate urban killers like these garages instead of selling off every inch of property they can.
I'd love to see a new, iconic Symphony Hall here with maybe an art museum (MIM branch? ha), retail, and offices. Its current building is hideous and swallowed up by the CC. Extend the CC where the Hall stands now with a "pin"-like observation tower at the terminus of Adams, and go to town with the south CC site.