Hopefully a really good development will arise here, great spot for something nice, we'll see... *fingers crossed* and if this and El Mirador ever come to reality it will be a nice pocket of new development, in an area without much happening.
Lot 175 across from El Charro could see development
By Teya Vitu
The infamous Lot 175 parking lot, a 25-year saga of stalled progress, should become available to developers once the Tucson Industrial Development Authority comes up with a vision for the 1.94-acre site.
The IDA board and staff are in the early research phase for the 300-space Lot 175 at Court Avenue and Franklin Street, across from El Charro Café, IDA President Marilyn Robinson said.
“We have no interest of keeping it a parking lot,” Robinson said. “This needs to be a major downtown development. We’re most concerned that the right development happens, not just any development.”
Robinson said the IDA board will come up with a Request for Proposals that spells out the type of project sought for the site. They will look back at the various ideas bandied about in the past decade or two to see if any of those ideas have merit.
The IDA also wants to make sure a development there is compatible with the neighboring El Presidio Neighborhood.
“We’re not just interested in selling property,” Robinson said. “We want to make sure the development happening there is right for Downtown and that particular area.”
This commitment breaks a quarter-century deep-freeze for development on Lot 175, which was jointly bought in 1985 by the IDA and Downtown Development Corp. expressly to sell it for Downtown development projects. But the DDC, as managing partner, had full control of the property and was content to stick with a parking lot.
The IDA gained sole ownership of Lot 175 and the 59-space Torreon Replacement Lot at Stone Avenue and Council Street in a Nov. 24, 2008, settlement of a long-festering feud with the DDC about revenue shared with the IDA from both parking lots.
Also, since 2007, the IDA’s board has turned over, except for Robinson, who has been a board member since 1996, and Chris Carroll, whose tenure stretches back to IDA’s inception in 1979. The fresh faces on the nine-member board have brought a redirected IDA focus upon Downtown.
“We have a group that has a lot of enthusiasm for the potential of the IDA,” Robinson said. “The board we have now includes people who have an interest and involvement in housing, business, business development and economic development. That wasn’t necessarily true before.
“There is more of a interest to do things. Board members say ‘I want to be on a board to do things.’”
The IDA in 2009 bought the Art’s BBQ property, 450 N. Main Ave., from the Arizona Department of Transportation, the first time the IDA has bought property on its own in its history.
The IDA in 2009 also bid on the Zee’s Warehouse, 1 E. Toole Ave., and offered financial backing for the Warehouse Arts Management Organization to bid on the warehouse with Solar Culture Gallery, 31 E. Toole Ave. Both ended up failed bids.
“I think it would be wonderful if we could provide new life for Downtown,” said Robinson, who grew up in Tucson and worked at Steinfeld’s department store Downtown. “I remember Downtown was a happening place. I believe it can be that again in a new way, a happening way. I think IDA has a role to play to make things happen that need to happen.”
The IDA wants affordable housing to anchor both Art’s BBQ and Lot 175, though mixed-use elements such as retail and offices will likely be written into both requests for proposals.
City Councilmember Regina Romero encouraged the IDA to buy the 6,930-square-foot Art’s BBQ property because the city owns the 22,264-square-foot right of way between the building and Sixth Street, stretching from Main Avenue to Granada.
The El Presidio Neighborhood has wanted to bring housing to its Sixth Street northern boundary for years, Romero said, and the IDA specializes in financing affordable housing projects.
Downtown Links roadway construction opens the door to transform a bleak stretch of Sixth Street and St. Mary’s Road into a “beautiful entryway into Downtown,” Romero said.
“We are seeking to define that area to become part of the neighborhood,” Romero said. “The idea of the IDA purchasing the Art’s BBQ building is to liven up the area to bring people in and make it part of the neighborhood.”
Robinson does not expect a request proposal to go out for three to five years on the combined Art’s BBQ/city right-of-way project because flood plain issues must be resolved and Downtown Links construction in the area must be completed first.
In the mean time, the IDA would like to lease the 2,200-square-foot former Art’s BBQ building. Leasing information is available at Chapman Lindsey Commercial Real Estate Services at 747-4000.
The Industrial Development Authority’s name is a misnomer. It was essentially founded as the financing partner for the Downtown Development Corp. but evolved its primary focus to developing affordable housing citywide and providing financing for first-time homeownership.
IDA issued $108 million in affordable housing bonds from 1996 to 2008. And IDA issued $161 million in mortgage revenue bonds from 1996 through July 2010 to fund loans for 1,343 first-time homeowners.
IDA revenue comes primarily for fees on bonds. The Authority has also taken in $214,000 in parking revenue from Lot 175 since December 2008 and $252,000 from the Stone/Council lot,
The IDA is a nonprofit political subdivision of the state of Arizona with members appointed by the City Council. The all-volunteer IDA contracts with the Business Development Finance Corp. to provide staff services.
“We want to improve the standard of living in Tucson through affordable housing, business and economic development and community/neighborhood/Downtown development,” Robinson said.
Downtown development has always been an IDA pillar, though for long not a strong area of focus. The IDA pledges to “assist projects designed to enhance, revitalize and rehabilitate the cultural, social, economic, historical and physical resources of Downtown.”
“The fact that we own property right now makes it a bigger part,” Robinson said. It makes it a higher priority.”
http://www.downtowntucson.org/news/?p=3025
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Also the new MLK building and one north fifth restoration. many new businesses along congress. along with HUB, which is opening next month and is a restaurant and ice cream parlor. & new Buffalo Exchange on congress is opening in March (should cause other retail stores to locate downtown). Lots of other new restaurants in the past year like Janos Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails, A Steak in the Neighborhood, On a Roll Sushi, and many more. A couple new nightclubs, Zen Rock and Sapphire. and that's all that comes to my mind right now. 
The HUB looks promising... meats and ice cream. I hope the ice cream is just as good or better than Cold Stone Creamery. And hopefully it serves large tasty succulent $10-$15 steaks smothered with butter. Damn! I'm hungry!
people. 
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