/\Tell Wallach so he can get to planning for when the economy turns around... condos + hotel + office = 542'.

The description sounds too low-end of a hotel to be a W. W is pretty much a full service brand. I highly doubt it would be a W hotel.

I have the proposed taller tower in mind. (The one that could potentially be 514 ft or so.)

btw - and yes I know what W Hotels are...more upscale :)

Here is the plan for the Luhrs block from this document with the City: http://recorder.maricopa.gov/recdocd...ec=20090117169

http://nitnelav.com/Luhrsplan.png

I cant believe the Luhrs Annex is being demolished too...they better not leave us with a damn parking lot.

I wonder what kind of time frame the 315 room hotel is on? ... or is there a time frame already set?

The time frame is laid out in the above agreement with the city.

Basically...its pretty freaking drawn out...as in years and years.
They have 6 months to from the Authorization Date (whenever that is) to enter into an RDA (whatever that is) with the City. Once that is done, they have 12 months to get a Hotel to commit to the project. Once thats done, they have 24 months to start construction and once thats done, they have 24 months to finish construction.

So...add up all the months...and you're looking at a maximum time frame of 5.5 years. Oh yea...they may ask for a 1 year extension to start construction...so make that a maximum of 6.5 years.

...and they'll probably get the demolition permit tomorrow.

Exactly. Man, imagine if 75% of that block, thats fully packed in today, maximum density, ends up a parking lot. I don't think Id be able to believe it's happening...that even today, after we look around and see so many empty lots, its still going on.

Isn't there any way or anyone at the city that can stand up against this happening? Or did our previous city leaders just purposely make the demo/parking lot/sit forever cycle so easy and so beneficial to land owners for some reason.

I wonder if it is the same in other cities?

Shit, I never really realized that the Luhr's annex was there (with a crappy bail bonds business), and didn't realize it was part of the demolition of the block... but that is a great little slice of building for tons of reasons. The discussion about Phoenix and our lack of history preservation is really appalling. Something like the Luhr's central or annex are a dime a dozen in other cities, but here they're a dying species. It would be like NY allowing the destruction of everything on the Empire State Building block and letting that sit for years as a parking lot (however, that wouldn't happen as there would be demand to instantly rebuild). The amount of great homes and buildings that have been demolished in Phoenix for either a)dirt lots, b) parking lots, or c) "newer" completely cheap useless buildings is so sad.

the only other city that i can think of is houston but at least they are devoloping them at a quicker rate

I dont get why they dont put it in the agreement terms that they cant demolish anything until they are set to start construction.

Instead of:

Sign agreement -> Demolish -> Get hotel brand onboard -> Get financing/permits -> Start construction

Why can't they require that the demolish part come after they get the financing/permits?

because the city of phoenix is stupid! I dont blame the developers nearly as much as the city itself... They dont care about history. AT ALL!

Aren't taxes cheaper on land rather than land with buildings on it? So, a land owner or developer buys land (with the intention of speculating or developing), demolishes the structures on it, pays less in taxes, goes through the city processes to get all the entitlements to the land, then sits and waits for either the highest buyer (of his land that has magically become more valuable), or to eventually develop way down the road. And the city "laws" or processes or whatever they are that have been put in place long before not only allow this to happen, but actually encourage it. In the mean time the city looks like shit and functions like shit with pock marks of empty lots everywhere.

Is what I wrote above correct? Is anyone very familiar with the process and the reasons behind why Phoenix is the way it is?

^I can't cite specifics, but you have to be correct. Property taxes are based on accessed valuation by the County, and a parking lot is certainly worth alot less than a building.

From a developer standpoint it totally makes sense. Get rid of all the losing leases now, demolish the building, pay less in taxes, and parking, especially in Phoenix, is a given money maker (even if it isn't a huge money maker).

I'm not sure under what mechanism the city can prevent such a scenario, EXCEPT in the case of any city subsidies going to the project. That would seem like a no-brainer.

BTW HX, an RDA = Redevelopment Agreement

Are there city subsidies going to this project? If so it would seem like somebody would be able to at least find out why any agreements are being worked out this way? Contact your councilman?

If there aren't any subsidies and this is a purely spec project, then private property rights would seem to trump all.

It's just the tower, the arcade and the building that are landmarked right? Everything else on the block is expendable?

The whole block is landmarked.

I had a long conversation with Barbra Stocklin about the Luhrs block under the insane pretense of subsidizing demolitions. They're getting somewhere on the order of $500,000 in subsidies for renovating the exterior of the two larger Luhrs buildings.

As I gathered, their hands were tied because of a prior 1994 development agreement that came with the block that allowed the demolition of the above assets. Tho I swear it sounded like they were trading the arcade for the postal annex, and now both are getting trampled.

The day that site sees a 514' tower is the day I eat my hat for dinner.

I'll bring the salt.

There is now a safety sidewalk tunnel on the NE corner of the Luhr's Building. Wonder why? I thought there was only window replacement going on above.