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Posted Nov 25, 2006, 8:46 AM
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Join Date: May 2006
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ASU/UofA Downtown Phoenix construction thread
I want to post this again since the other Phoenix thread got kicked to the Archive forum and it's very recent news...
Downtown dorm pact nearly set
Ginger D. Richardson
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 24, 2006 12:00 AM
After nearly six months of haggling and negotiating, Arizona State University appears to have worked out a deal to build a $100 million-plus student housing project in downtown Phoenix.
The complex would contain roughly 1,300 beds and be constructed in two phases between now and 2009. It would be 12 to 15 stories high and located on the northern end of the downtown campus, just north of Taylor Street between First and Second streets.
The property, which would support students at the university's newest campus, would be paid for entirely by a private developer. That company would, in turn, charge students rent.
"We are cautiously optimistic that we are going to get this in place," said Rich Stanley, senior vice president and university planner.
Permanent student housing is critical to the success of the new campus and will be sorely needed when the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism opens in downtown Phoenix in August 2008. The media-based college boasts an enrollment of nearly 1,800 students, many of whom are underclassmen likely to live in ASU-provided housing.
But the development is also considered key to helping Phoenix reach its overall revitalization goals. Not only would it function as students' primary home, the city believes it would encourage spinoff development in the form of restaurants, shops and other retail uses.
"More people living downtown will create the support for new businesses," Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon said. "It's a cycle that will repeat and continue."
Specifics of the agreement with Alabama-based Capstone Management have not yet been made public, but the university plans to seek project approval from the Arizona Board of Regents at the end of this month. The Phoenix City Council is expected to vote on the deal in December or January.
Housing and groceries
Plans call for the housing complex to be built on a combination of city-owned and privately held land north of what once was the Ramada Inn Downtown.
The hotel is being used by the university as a temporary dorm and is known as Residential Commons.
The new housing building would have as many as 750 beds in its first phase, to be open by August 2008.
The university expects it to be used mostly by freshmen in its initial years. The second phase, which could open a year later, would bring an additional 550 beds to the downtown area and most likely would be used by sophomores and upper classmen, Stanley said.
The property would feature a quad-style setup, in which two to four students in adjoining rooms share a single bathroom. It would also have wireless Internet access, academic support programs, meeting and gathering spaces and on-site food service.
In addition, ASU is hoping to locate a grocery store, or perhaps a fast-food restaurant, on the ground floor.
"The students will tell you that they want a grocery store downtown, and that there isn't a place to get some food to take back to the room and eat," said Kevin Cook, vice provost and dean for student affairs. "That has been the Number 1 thing we hear about."
Right now, many students are walking to a Circle K several blocks away to stock up on basic supplies, Cook said.
Timothy Johns, a freshman nursing major who lived in Residential Commons on the downtown campus since August, has some other requests, too.
"I'd like to see it have a stove and a refrigerator. A little kitchen facility on the floor where you can do a bit of basic cooking," he said. "Also, private bathrooms. I think, nowadays, the students I talk to really enjoy having their own bathroom."
Developer to charge rents
Capstone Managementcould not be reached for comment this week.
But according to the company's Web site, the firm has an extensive history of managing student housing complexes at universities across the country, including the University of Maryland, University of Alabama and University of Missouri.
Stanley and other ASU officials say their agreement with Capstone would allow the company to function essentially as a landlord for an apartment complex.
The firm, as the dormitory's owner and manager, would set the rents and collect the money directly from students.
But the university is still working with the company to determine what those charges would be. Stanley said ASU wants the "opening rent to be reasonably in line with those in the rest of our system."
According to ASU's Web site, students living in on-campus housing in Tempe and Phoenix are paying $5,300 to $9,800 this academic year, depending on where they live and what meal plan they are on.
The plan to locate the property in downtown Phoenix has been somewhat controversial because the development is forcing the closing and relocation of a couple of longtime downtown businesses, including Mary Ann Avila's Downtown Laundry and Dry Cleaning store.
Avila, who has run her shop at the corner of First and Taylor streets for 11 years, received an eviction notice from her landlord last month.
But Tuesday, Phoenix Deputy City Manager David Cavazos said she would receive about $200,000 in relocation assistance.
The city will also work with her to find a new place for her business, Cavazos said.
This area is going to fill in quickly and nicely. Two massive parking lots and a block of mostly dirt lots gone. If Central Park East ever gets off the ground, directly north of Chase Tower, it would really finish things off nicely. C'mon hotel developers, that is a pretty prime spot for another hotel! 
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Good point. I actually sort of like it, but whether or not you like it, it certainly looks better than the prison... err... dorms that have been built recently on the Tempe campus.
Hybrid Mode