Tucson Development Thread

[Patrick S]

Originally Posted by Ted Lyons

I went to a neighborhood meeting about the Welcome Broadway (formerly Broadway Volvo) site last night. Some massings were shown but there are no formalized renderings yet. It looks like we're looking at a max height of 75 feet/6 floors. A hotel, residential, and mercado-like retail were present in each of the proposed massing options so those seem like definites for inclusion in the eventual development.

The development still has to go through the PAD/rezoning process so it's still a ways out from breaking ground. There will be one more public meeting in July with plans to present to the Zoning Examiner in October followed by City Council in November.

It seemed to me that most residents in attendance were supportive of the project with the exception of the owners of Betts Printing, which is the only other structure on the block. Their primary concerns were the vacation of McKey Street (the alley that runs through the block) as well as the fact that they evidently just learned about the entire PAD process (which has been going on for a few years now). They also didn't seem to have a great relationship with the owner of Welcome Diner.

There was an article about it today on KOLD's website: http://www.kold.com/2019/04/17/welco...idtown-tucson/

[Eapiwo]

Pima County's population growth experienced the largest numerical change since 2008 when the county grew by 13,000 residents. New estimates for the county's population as of July 2018 put the population at 1,039,073 which is up nearly 16,300 from the previous year's 1,022,729. Strong population growth has been desperately needed since the average annual population growth in the county has been about 5,800 from 2010 to 2017 which translates to 0.5% growth over each year which isn't enough to keep the city competitive with other regions (although we were still doing better than our mid-sized southwestern peers of Albuquerque and El Paso). Prior to the recession, the county was growing by about 19-20,000 residents per year so we're still nowhere near what we used to be. Hopefully this isn't just a statistical anomaly but rather an upward trend for the city. It's also worth mentioning that Arizona experienced the largest population growth since 2009 this past year as well.

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fa...a,US/PST045218

A lot of interesting information regarding population is available from google and uses estimates from the Census.

https://www.google.com/publicdata/ex...l=en&ind=false

[Ted Lyons]

Moxy/Element project cancelled.

https://www.insidetucsonbusiness.com...5f500103c.html

Boo.

[Azstar]

https://www.insidetucsonbusiness.com...5f500103c.html

$88 million dollar Rialto hotel project is dead. It doesn't give specific reasons, but my guess is that a combination of lack of financial viability, difficulty in funding ambitious projects in such a tentative risky environment as downtown Tucson, and the "keep Tucson shitty" contingent who is vociferous about opposing all development and progress contributed to its demise.

On another note, it sounds like that big 350 employee downtown Southern New Hampshire University project is just another call center. Hope I'm wrong.

[crzyabe]

Originally Posted by Ted Lyons

Moxy/Element project cancelled.

https://www.insidetucsonbusiness.com...5f500103c.html

Boo.

Poor Moxy, cant seem to find a place downtown. Ronstadt, then next to MLK, then this project. I wonder if they will end up back at the Ronstadt project that never seems to move.

[somethingfast]

Originally Posted by Azstar

[url] "keep Tucson shitty"

As a native but long-since-gone Tucson native, that could be a bumper sticker that would sell to all the hipsters/blue-hairs down there lol

[InTheBurbs]

According to tucson.com the Rialto hotel project was cancelled because the feasability studies showed that the size and shape of the lot wouldn't support the development.

They are now going to look at mixed use development at the Corbett block on Sixth Avenue and Seventh Street, including possibly office, retail, residential and hotel.

[Azstar]

“It's very different than buying a piece of land and developing something on the periphery of a community, because you're dealing with usually very small sites and a lot of neighbors and viewpoints,” Stiteler said. “To get everything you want in a building that's gonna last for a long time and make an impact for the surrounding area, it's not easy."

Jim Nintzel, Inside Tucson Business Apr 19, 2019

[bthom3000]

Originally Posted by Azstar

https://www.insidetucsonbusiness.com...5f500103c.html

$88 million dollar Rialto hotel project is dead. It doesn't give specific reasons, but my guess is that a combination of lack of financial viability, difficulty in funding ambitious projects in such a tentative risky environment as downtown Tucson, and the "keep Tucson shitty" contingent who is vociferous about opposing all development and progress contributed to its demise.

On another note, it sounds like that big 350 employee downtown Southern New Hampshire University project is just another call center. Hope I'm wrong.

Downtown Tucson will never have anything taller than 12 stories bc this city is incapable of moving forward. I'm not sure Stitler has the balls to go forward with anything that's remotely forward thinking. That end of downtown is massively popular and would be the perfect place for a larger scale hotel project. Especially one that features a venue such as the rialto. due to the success of the AC next door, this hotel would definitely make $$$ so whats the problem? we need developers who will tell the keep Tucson shitty crowd to shut the F*** up. If they don't like it then go pound sand you crybaby hippies!!!

[crzyabe]

Rio Nuevo Agenda for tomorrow's meeting is up. Two interesting items:

1. Congress Street Activation Project - I have no idea what this is
2. Another potential downtown employer

Agenda - Tuesday, April 23, 2019

[Ted Lyons]

Originally Posted by crzyabe

Rio Nuevo Agenda for tomorrow's meeting is up. Two interesting items:

1. Congress Street Activation Project - I have no idea what this is
2. Another potential downtown employer

Agenda - Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Good to hear about another potential employer. I'm thinking the Congress Street activation is related to the purchase of the Congress Street Clubs by the Flores family.

[Ted Lyons]

New renderings are out for Hub 4 and Aspire 2. Nothing too much new in the Aspire 2 renderings, but these are the updates for Hub 4.

[crzyabe]

Major employer eyes move into downtown Tucson

So an additional employer with 300 jobs is looking at Downtown and possibly even 75 E Broadway.

also:

"In other action, the Rio Nuevo board reported that while it lamented the cancellation of the hotel development adjacent to the Rialto Theatre site, other downtown hotel projects are moving forward.

A Doubletree hotel is expected to break ground in May at the Tucson Convention Center and the Hilton Hotel at Cathedral Square, on South Stone Avenue between Ochoa and Corral streets, across the street from St. Augustine Cathedral, is expected to break ground by year’s end."

[Ted Lyons]

Originally Posted by crzyabe

Major employer eyes move into downtown Tucson

So an additional employer with 300 jobs is looking at Downtown and possibly even 75 E Broadway.

also:

"In other action, the Rio Nuevo board reported that while it lamented the cancellation of the hotel development adjacent to the Rialto Theatre site, other downtown hotel projects are moving forward.

A Doubletree hotel is expected to break ground in May at the Tucson Convention Center and the Hilton Hotel at Cathedral Square, on South Stone Avenue between Ochoa and Corral streets, across the street from St. Augustine Cathedral, is expected to break ground by year’s end."

Gotta figure we'd see more speculative development if this company does end up at 75 E. Broadway.

[kmiller5]

Has there been any confirmation that Rio Nuevo is bringing two different employers Downtown? The Southern New Hampshire University deal seems almost identical to the second one being talked about and I'm kind of skeptical they are different companies.

[Ted Lyons]

Originally Posted by kmiller5

Has there been any confirmation that Rio Nuevo is bringing two different employers Downtown? The Southern New Hampshire University deal seems almost identical to the second one being talked about and I'm kind of skeptical they are different companies.

It’s definitely possible but SNHU has publicly announced their move so I don’t know why RN would be keeping their name private still.

[InTheBurbs]

Originally Posted by Ted Lyons

It’s definitely possible but SNHU has publicly announced their move so I don’t know why RN would be keeping their name private still.

...and SNHU is private, not-for-profit, and the new company discussed is publicly traded. So it sounds like a new opportunity.

[InTheBurbs]

Latest rendering of the Hampton Inn/Home 2 planned for South Stone.


Image: Fayth Hospitality

[Azstar]

Originally Posted by InTheBurbs

Latest rendering of the Hampton Inn/Home 2 planned for South Stone.


Image: Fayth Hospitality

Wow. It looks like a hospital. But, it's better than an empty lot.

[kaneui]

I've decided to continue updating my Google map of metro Tucson development projects (much less work than maintaining the project list). Also, I've added a category for recently completed projects--shaded in dark blue. Just click on the link in my signature below to view the map.