Tucson Development Thread

[southtucsonboy77]

Originally Posted by Thirsty

Coyotes likely to move AHL affiliate to Tucson next season

McCusker said. “We’ve always been interested in finding a pro team but we really don’t know the status of what the Coyotes want to do.”

The Phoenix Suns bought the NBA Developmental League team out of Bakersfield and are moving them to Prescott in their nice facility. That makes sense. No basketball team can compete with the UofA bball team.

Moving a "Triple A" type of hockey team to Tucson makes a lot of sense. I'm not a big hockey fan, but the AHL is definitely a good quality level league I'll plan on attending a few games.

[Thirsty]

Originally Posted by southtucsonboy77

The Phoenix Suns bought the NBA Developmental League team out of Bakersfield and are moving them to Prescott in their nice facility. That makes sense. No basketball team can compete with the UofA bball team.

Moving a "Triple A" type of hockey team to Tucson makes a lot of sense. I'm not a big hockey fan, but the AHL is definitely a good quality level league I'll plan on attending a few games.

Report on KOLD mentioned that a number of locker-room, medical and back office improvements would need to be made by this upcoming season's October start for this deal to be done.

Sounded like a long shot from the KOLD report.

[ComplotDesigner]

The HUB at Tucson II - 041616

[kmiller5]

http://m.tucsonnewsnow.com/tusconnew...ntent/82PcWzBV

Looks like Hockey might happen, after all.

[Ted Lyons]

Still not ideal, but I think this is an improvement.

[Ted Lyons]

Just came across this container park development on 4th as well.



https://www.facebook.com/BoxYardon4thave/timeline

Looks like we'll have two container parks in the near future, the other being a bigger venture at the Mercado.

[Ted Lyons]

And, wow, this is big!

http://tucson.com/business/tucson/ca...hare&id=201408

Caterpillar Inc. bringing regional HQ to downtown Tucson, 600 jobs

Caterpillar Inc. is coming to downtown Tucson, bringing hundreds of six-figure jobs to the region, Arizona’s governor and local officials are expected to announce later this morning.

Between 40 and 60 employees will relocate into the county-owned building at 97 E. Congress St., while a new facility is built for Caterpillar, also be in the downtown area.

For comparison, only about 500 employees work at the TEP building.

[kmiller5]

Originally Posted by Ted Lyons

And, wow, this is big!

http://tucson.com/business/tucson/ca...hare&id=201408



For comparison, only about 500 employees work at the TEP building.

Great news! Any idea where they will be building?

Love the container developments.

[Ted Lyons]

Originally Posted by kmiller5

Great news! Any idea where they will be building?

Love the container developments.

No news on the location in any of the articles I've read. I'm torn between hoping they work with the new owners of 1 South Church to ensure the second tower gets built there and hoping they build something totally separate. The parking lot across from the TEP building, which is currently slated for a city-owned garage some day, would be perfect.

EDIT - IIRC, the building proposed next to 1 South Church is projected to be full residential, so this would be separate but could expedite development there. The La Placita property would be another option.

[crzyabe]

Originally Posted by kmiller5

Great news! Any idea where they will be building?

According to this article: "After the company constructs a new office complex on a vacant Rio Nuevo lot south of Congress Street, on the West Side"

http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/...k-50m-project/

[southtucsonboy77]

Originally Posted by Ted Lyons

And, wow, this is big!

http://tucson.com/business/tucson/ca...hare&id=201408



For comparison, only about 500 employees work at the TEP building.

Great news!!!

[kaneui]

Originally Posted by Ted Lyons

And, wow, this is big!

http://tucson.com/business/tucson/ca...hare&id=201408



For comparison, only about 500 employees work at the TEP building.

This is certainly the employment shot in the arm that downtown needs to keep the momentum going on the proposed projects such as the Arena Site and Ronstadt Center redevelopment, in addition to adding lots more demand for housing downtown. (And it will probably be a windfall for The Gadsden Co. if the Caterpillar HQ is built on their land west of I-10.)

According to documents posted on Rio Nuevo's website, Caterpillar will initially have a four-year lease (plus two one-year extensions) on the 40k s.f. county building at 97 E. Congress, and may also be leasing 9k s.f. on the 11th floor of the BofA building. And Rio Nuevo's special board meeting tomorrow is solely to approve the development proposal as outlined in the Tucson Sentinel article.

If everything gets approved, this deal is definitely a game-changer for downtown that will be felt for years to come.

[Ted Lyons]

Originally Posted by kaneui

This is certainly the employment shot in the arm that downtown needs to keep the momentum going on the proposed projects such as the Arena Site and Ronstadt Center redevelopment, in addition to adding lots more demand for housing downtown. (And it will probably be a windfall for The Gadsden Co. if the Caterpillar HQ is built on their land west of I-10.)

According to documents posted on Rio Nuevo's website, Caterpillar will initially have a four-year lease (plus two one-year extensions) on the 40k s.f. county building at 97 E. Congress, and may also be leasing 9k s.f. on the 11th floor of the BofA building. And Rio Nuevo's special board meeting tomorrow is solely to approve the development proposal as outlined in the Tucson Sentinel article.

If everything gets approved, this deal is definitely a game-changer for downtown that will be felt for years to come.

Agreed on all counts. Gadsden and Nor-Gen have to be thrilled about this.

[Ted Lyons]

More info from the Sentinel.

http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/...k-50m-project/

Caterpillar moving 600 jobs, regional HQ to Tucson; Rio Nuevo to back $50M project

Taxpayers will back the $50 million project. The Rio Nuevo redevelopment district board plans to make an upfront payment of $2 million to defray the company's moving costs, and will finance, design and construct the headquarters and an attached parking garage. Caterpillar would then lease back the building. The Rio Nuevo Board is set to approve the deal at a Wednesday afternoon meeting.

Caterpillar will lease space in a county-owned building Downtown while a new structure is built on Rio Nuevo land just west of Interstate 10, officials said Tuesday.

EDIT - Again, for comparison's sake, the TEP/Unisource building cost about $60 million.

[farmerk]

OMG! There's no turning back now. Big private company moving in downtown.
I wouldn't be surprise if more (private companies) would follow!
Now, we'll start seeing taller buildings downtown.
Our dreams will finally come through!!

[InTheBurbs]

Good news all around and a huge boost for downtown. But don't get your hopes up for a new tower.

According to KVOA, the new building on the west side will be about 200K sf, 3 stories tall, with underground parking.

Still, it may trigger other new development downtown. And the ripple effect on retail, support services, housing, hotels, and maybe even flights and other corporate relocations, could be significant.

[Patrick S]

Originally Posted by InTheBurbs

Good news all around and a huge boost for downtown. But don't get your hopes up for a new tower.

According to KVOA, the new building on the west side will be about 200K sf, 3 stories tall, with underground parking.

Still, it may trigger other new development downtown. And the ripple effect on retail, support services, housing, hotels, and maybe even flights and other corporate relocations, could be significant.

I agree that a taller building would be great, but 3 stories of a corporate headquarters is still better than an empty lot. Also agree that this should be a boon for downtown Tucson and the city as a whole. We're talking about 600 jobs paying around $90,000 each is the kind of jobs Tucson has been hoping to attract for a long time.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by Patrick S

I agree that a taller building would be great, but 3 stories of a corporate headquarters is still better than an empty lot. Also agree that this should be a boon for downtown Tucson and the city as a whole. We're talking about 600 jobs paying around $90,000 each is the kind of jobs Tucson has been hoping to attract for a long time.

2-3 stories with a good urban design is better than a generic office tower any day.

[southtucsonboy77]

Originally Posted by InTheBurbs

Good news all around and a huge boost for downtown. But don't get your hopes up for a new tower.

According to KVOA, the new building on the west side will be about 200K sf, 3 stories tall, with underground parking.

Still, it may trigger other new development downtown. And the ripple effect on retail, support services, housing, hotels, and maybe even flights and other corporate relocations, could be significant.

I figured 3-6 stories for that area of downtown...I guess we'll know the details once the design is complete. Definitely the jobs and infill are more important than the height at this point.

[Thirsty]

More big relocation news... sort of. One of my favorite Tucson traditions, the outdoor movies at La Placita will be moving to the old county courthouse. That will be a beautiful setting.

Originally Posted by southtucsonboy77

I figured 3-6 stories for that area of downtown...I guess we'll know the details once the design is complete. Definitely the jobs and infill are more important than the height at this point.

They want to more in by 2020. From what I've read, it sound like fewer than 100 jobs will more here before they move into the new building. You may not see the full effect of this exiting news for a few more summers.