ASU/UofA Downtown Phoenix construction thread

[Classical in Phoenix]

Excavation happening at the new residential project.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by Classical in Phoenix

Excavation happening at the new residential project.

How did that start before Thunderbird???

[biggus diggus]

There's more of a bed shortage than there is a lecture space shortage.

[CrestedSaguaro]

This was fast! Why can't all the other announced developments move this quickly? Hopefully, another crane going up by the end of the year. The skyline is going to look busy in 2 months!

[Classical in Phoenix]

Looks like the equipment I saw last week at the residential site has been moved offsite. Maybe they were just removing asphalt. It did appear utility work was going on today.

[CrestedSaguaro]

Tower crane app completed for Thunderbird. Looks like crane will be going up 1/16 and be 193' tall. Kinda tall crane for a 5 floor building. The ASU Wexford crane is only about 210'.

https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external...21698295&row=1

[Obadno]

Its going to be total crane city on the north end of town for the next couple of years

[Classical in Phoenix]

http://imgur.com/gallery/uDpzWa3

Thunderbird

[Sunsfan87]

Pretty cool video with good views of some of the construction going on: https://www.instagram.com/tv/B7bml8g...d=bd7suteu2sm1

[azliam]

Originally Posted by Sunsfan87

Pretty cool video with good views of some of the construction going on: https://www.instagram.com/tv/B7bml8g...d=bd7suteu2sm1

Pretty awesome find!

[Jjs5056]

In the middle of the largest boom in downtown Phoenix's history, with properties that sat lifeless for decades being built upon, ASU is still building single-digit story projects on prime lots and/or doing the total opposite of the sustainable design rhetoric it preaches.

There is literally no reason for ASU to own as much land as it does with the demand there likely is to build in areas such as where Wexford and the new dorm are going. I could almost understand building 5-7 story buildings in the vicinity of the Law School during the post-recession years, but the largest assemblage of vacant land (outside Central Station obviously) overlooking Civic Space in the heart of what is likely the most realistic center-point of downtown in its entirety, is being developed with a massive block of Eastern European midrise dormitories?

I know nobody has missed my rants on ground-floor uses and the like, so I'll try to be shorter than I used to- you don't think downtown is at a place where these new residents and students and employees warrant the supply of some retail/restaurant space along the park? You think 1st Ave from Fillmore > Van Buren will be best if lined with 1 ASU dorm with little to no active use, 1 YMCA that was once a cool joint city-uni project but is now redundant as it is next to 1 ASU rec center, 1 vacant lot, and 1 government midrise -- none with ground floor uses? The rec center should have never been built, and that block could have had Polk run through it, and 3-4 privately developed mixed use towers lining the park built by 2020. Yuck.

And, if there was demand for the space at Wexford, space for Thunderbid, and space for student dorms all at the same time in an urban core, WHY are 3 separate blocks being developed with single-use projects instead of being consolidated into 1 multipurpose tower?

/the end.

[DesertRay]

Originally Posted by Jjs5056

In the middle of the largest boom in downtown Phoenix's history, with properties that sat lifeless for decades being built upon, ASU is still building single-digit story projects on prime lots and/or doing the total opposite of the sustainable design rhetoric it preaches.

There is literally no reason for ASU to own as much land as it does with the demand there likely is to build in areas such as where Wexford and the new dorm are going. I could almost understand building 5-7 story buildings in the vicinity of the Law School during the post-recession years, but the largest assemblage of vacant land (outside Central Station obviously) overlooking Civic Space in the heart of what is likely the most realistic center-point of downtown in its entirety, is being developed with a massive block of Eastern European midrise dormitories?

I know nobody has missed my rants on ground-floor uses and the like, so I'll try to be shorter than I used to- you don't think downtown is at a place where these new residents and students and employees warrant the supply of some retail/restaurant space along the park? You think 1st Ave from Fillmore > Van Buren will be best if lined with 1 ASU dorm with little to no active use, 1 YMCA that was once a cool joint city-uni project but is now redundant as it is next to 1 ASU rec center, 1 vacant lot, and 1 government midrise -- none with ground floor uses? The rec center should have never been built, and that block could have had Polk run through it, and 3-4 privately developed mixed use towers lining the park built by 2020. Yuck.

And, if there was demand for the space at Wexford, space for Thunderbid, and space for student dorms all at the same time in an urban core, WHY are 3 separate blocks being developed with single-use projects instead of being consolidated into 1 multipurpose tower?

/the end.

Future me misses when things were so awesome that we could rant about how unprecedented building downtown wasn't at ALL good enough. Good times.

[CrestedSaguaro]

Originally Posted by Jjs5056

In the middle of the largest boom in downtown Phoenix's history, with properties that sat lifeless for decades being built upon, ASU is still building single-digit story projects on prime lots and/or doing the total opposite of the sustainable design rhetoric it preaches.

There is literally no reason for ASU to own as much land as it does with the demand there likely is to build in areas such as where Wexford and the new dorm are going. I could almost understand building 5-7 story buildings in the vicinity of the Law School during the post-recession years, but the largest assemblage of vacant land (outside Central Station obviously) overlooking Civic Space in the heart of what is likely the most realistic center-point of downtown in its entirety, is being developed with a massive block of Eastern European midrise dormitories?

I know nobody has missed my rants on ground-floor uses and the like, so I'll try to be shorter than I used to- you don't think downtown is at a place where these new residents and students and employees warrant the supply of some retail/restaurant space along the park? You think 1st Ave from Fillmore > Van Buren will be best if lined with 1 ASU dorm with little to no active use, 1 YMCA that was once a cool joint city-uni project but is now redundant as it is next to 1 ASU rec center, 1 vacant lot, and 1 government midrise -- none with ground floor uses? The rec center should have never been built, and that block could have had Polk run through it, and 3-4 privately developed mixed use towers lining the park built by 2020. Yuck.

And, if there was demand for the space at Wexford, space for Thunderbid, and space for student dorms all at the same time in an urban core, WHY are 3 separate blocks being developed with single-use projects instead of being consolidated into 1 multipurpose tower?

/the end.

I completely agree with you about the over-sized footprint of ASU and the lack of consolidating multiple single-use buildings into 1 larger multi-use building(s). Wexford or more specifically Thunderbird, could have easily been a 20 floor building with residential integrated nixing the need for the residential building on Fillmore/1st Ave. However, it's a little too late as ASU has already spread beyond the boundaries it should have and already built single use low-rise buildings in most of the prime spots. So I'm not as upset with the residential tower going there as much as I should be. I do agree it is pretty bland looking and I do think ASU needs to put a cap on available land use to allow for more private development to come in.

[biggus diggus]

ASU has played an integral role in the renaissance downtown Phoenix has experienced. One could make a strong argument that they are the driving force. A couple of single story buildings is a small concession considering all that is happening in the city.

[exit2lef]

As I've said before, many critics of ASU are operating with an idealized, counterfactual impression of how urban universities operate. Most universities, even those in the heart of cities, are composed mostly of single use buildings. With the exception of a few dorms, most academic buildings are not more than 10 stories high. This is true in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and so on. Why are we expecting something different in Phoenix?

[biggus diggus]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

Why are we expecting something different in Phoenix?

Because people who think with emotions don't think things through.

[CrestedSaguaro]

Originally Posted by biggus diggus

Because people who think with emotions don't think things through.

Not sure what emotions have anything to do with not thinking things through?

Either way, I don't know enough about university development to really care really. Just thinking outside the box. Why does low-rise buildings have to be the norm because they do this at universities in other cities? Where is it a written rule that you can't have multi-use university buildings integrated with residential? What is the benefit of not doing this? Enlighten me

[Obadno]

My only complaint with ASU is that they have reserved essentially the entire northeast corner of downtown for their Biomendical campus and will take many years to develop it because ASU might as well be city on its own, they operate on their own timetable and dont care if they sit on a vacant lot for years and years as they are under no pressure to speed up their development process.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by RonnieFoos

Where is it a written rule that you can't have multi-use university buildings integrated with residential? What is the benefit of not doing this? Enlighten me

If the university building incorporates any type of lab or research facility, that makes a residential component highly unlikely due to hazardous chemicals and radioactive materials kept on site. Also, if there is animal research involved, many residents may feel uncomfortable or worried about the prospect of protests.

In terms of mixing classrooms and residential, I think it's more about building access issues. Classrooms are generally open to all, while dormitories would typically be open only to their own residents. Controlling who gets to what floor, while not impossible, might be more of a challenge than many universities want to handle.

When I was in college at an urban university in a small New England city, I did live two years in a dorm that had ground floor retail. That was helpful because I could just walk downstairs for dry cleaning and to book tickets with a travel agent.*

*I'm definitely showing my age with the travel agent remark. I doubt many current college students would know what one is or why they were once needed.

[biggus diggus]

Originally Posted by RonnieFoos

Not sure what emotions have anything to do with not thinking things through?

Because the "I'm mad they aren't building high rises" train of thought completely ignores logic or sound reasoning.