Phoenix | Derby | 240' | 21 Floors

[gymratmanaz]

Here is a thread about The Derby.

[biggus diggus]

[Obadno]

Rendering

[gymratmanaz]

I like both pictures!!!

[muertecaza]

Almost goes without saying since dirt appears to be moving here but Derby got a building permit last week with what I assume is final floor/unit counts:

DESCRIPTION OF WORK: 21-STORY RESIDENTIAL TOWER WITH GROUND LEVEL COMMERCIAL AND 5 LEVELS OF STRUCTURED PARKING. 21ST
LEVEL HAS AN AMENITY AND FITNESS ROOM.
222 UNITS WITH (14) TYPE "A" UNITS AND (208) TYPE "B" UNITS.
TYPE 'A' UNITS 812-1412, 816-1416.

[exit2lef]

The excavator was hard at work this morning. This looks like it's really happening, despite the threats of litigation.

[ASU Diablo]

WTF! Well the lawsuit is coming through.... This damn Angel's Trumpet Ale Owner is pissing me off. First the Roosevelt BID opposition now this?

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/n...g-phoenix.html

The Goldwater Institute and a downtown Phoenix restaurant are suing the city of Phoenix over a tax subsidy for a soon-to-be-built 19-story apartment tower near Roosevelt Row.

The Libertarian-leaning Goldwater Institute filed suit against the city on behalf of Angel's Trumpet owners over a government property lease excise tax — GPLET — deal that allows a developer to build a 19-story apartment high-rise on a vacant lot adjacent to Angel's Trumpet in downtown Phoenix. A GPLET allows developers to avoid paying property taxes and has been a common practice among Valley cities.

The Goldwater Institute is suing the city of Phoenix on behalf of the owners of Angel's Trumpet Ale House over a tax subsidy for a developer of a 19-story apartment tower slated to be built directly in front of the restaurant in downtown Phoenix.

The project in question is a proposed $36 million, micro-housing, 19-story apartment tower called The Derby Roosevelt Row. Last March, the Phoenix City Council approved the GPLET deal with the project's developer Amstar/McKinley LLC. Units in the tower will range between 400 and 500 square feet.

The GPLET deal is projected to save the developers $8 million over 25 years.

“The Constitution mandates that all property taxes be equal among similar properties and prohibits the government from handing out gifts or special privileges to certain businesses,” said Jim Manley, a senior attorney at the Goldwater Institute representing the owners of Angel’s Trumpet. “If Arizona cities think property tax rates are too high, they should lower tax rates for everyone, not use GPLET to let the politically connected few avoid paying any property taxes at all while everyone else shoulders the burden.”

Ground work began late last month on the apartment project, which is slated for a vacant lot at the northwest corner of McKinley and Second streets. Angel's Trumpet sits just north of the lot, which has been fenced off. Construction crews have begun clearing the lot in recent days.

Goldwater is challenging the Derby Roosevelt GPLET subsidy under four provisions in the Arizona Constitution: the Gift, Uniformity, Conveyance, and Special Law Clauses, as well as statutory limits on GPLET and competitive-bidding requirements that Goldwater claims the city did not follow.

Goldwater has won previous lawsuits enforcing the gift, uniformity, and special laws clauses, according to the group, but this will be the first time anyone has challenged a subsidy under the Conveyance Clause.

A bill in the Arizona Legislature, HB 2213, would put limits in place for future GPLET deals. The bill passed the Arizona House of Representatives last month and is in the Senate.

NAIOP-AZ worked with the sponsor of the original bill to make some changes before it passed the House.

"We are gratified that the GPLET reform bill, HB 2213, recently passed the State House by a bipartisan vote and unanimously passed the Senate Finance Committee this morning 7-0," NAIOP-AZ said in a statement. "The reforms contained in HB 2213 related to GPLET, which we strongly support, will go a long way in both improving the program for taxpayers and protecting the users of the program in demonstrating a clear public benefit related to any moving forward litigation. Even the Goldwater Institute testified and is on record in support today of this bill."

Proponents of GPLETs contend they are one of the only economic development tools available to Arizona cities.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by airomero83

WTF! Well the lawsuit is coming through.... This damn Angel's Trumpet Ale Owner is pissing me off. First the Roosevelt BID opposition now this?

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/n...g-phoenix.html

Who called it. Jesus Christ these guys are annoying. Do they want all the development to go to Midtown and downtown instead of Roosevelt?

[biggus diggus]

Originally Posted by airomero83

WTF! Well the lawsuit is coming through.... This damn Angel's Trumpet Ale Owner is pissing me off. First the Roosevelt BID opposition now this?

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/n...g-phoenix.html

I told you.

[fawd]

Wow - what a shame. Can someone post the text to article? It's behind a paywall.

Never liked Angels Trumpet anyway.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by fawd

Wow - what a shame. Can someone post the text to article? It's behind a paywall.

Never liked Angels Trumpet anyway.

The Goldwater Institute and a downtown Phoenix restaurant are suing the city of Phoenix over a tax subsidy for a soon-to-be-built 19-story apartment tower near Roosevelt Row.

The Libertarian-leaning Goldwater Institute filed suit against the city on behalf of Angel's Trumpet owners over a government property lease excise tax — GPLET — deal that allows a developer to build a 19-story apartment high-rise on a vacant lot adjacent to Angel's Trumpet in downtown Phoenix. A GPLET allows developers to avoid paying property taxes and has been a common practice among Valley cities.

The project in question is a proposed $36 million, micro-housing, 19-story apartment tower called The Derby Roosevelt Row. Last March, the Phoenix City Council approved the GPLET deal with the project's developer Amstar/McKinley LLC. Units in the tower will range between 400 and 500 square feet.

The GPLET deal is projected to save the developers $8 million over 25 years.

“The Constitution mandates that all property taxes be equal among similar properties and prohibits the government from handing out gifts or special privileges to certain businesses,” said Jim Manley, a senior attorney at the Goldwater Institute representing the owners of Angel’s Trumpet. “If Arizona cities think property tax rates are too high, they should lower tax rates for everyone, not use GPLET to let the politically connected few avoid paying any property taxes at all while everyone else shoulders the burden.”

Ground work began late last month on the apartment project, which is slated for a vacant lot at the northwest corner of McKinley and Second streets. Angel's Trumpet sits just north of the lot, which has been fenced off. Construction crews have begun clearing the lot in recent days.

Goldwater is challenging the Derby Roosevelt GPLET subsidy under four provisions in the Arizona Constitution: the Gift, Uniformity, Conveyance, and Special Law Clauses, as well as statutory limits on GPLET and competitive-bidding requirements that Goldwater claims the city did not follow.

Goldwater has won previous lawsuits enforcing the gift, uniformity, and special laws clauses, according to the group, but this will be the first time anyone has challenged a subsidy under the Conveyance Clause.


A bill in the Arizona Legislature, HB 2213, would put limits in place for future GPLET deals. The bill passed the Arizona House of Representatives last month and is in the Senate.

NAIOP-AZ worked with the sponsor of the original bill to make some changes before it passed the House.

"We are gratified that the GPLET reform bill, HB 2213, recently passed the State House by a bipartisan vote and unanimously passed the Senate Finance Committee this morning 7-0," NAIOP-AZ said in a statement. "The reforms contained in HB 2213 related to GPLET, which we strongly support, will go a long way in both improving the program for taxpayers and protecting the users of the program in demonstrating a clear public benefit related to any moving forward litigation. Even the Goldwater Institute testified and is on record in support today of this bill."

Proponents of GPLETs contend they are one of the only economic development tools available to Arizona cities.

Hopefully development will continue despite the lawsuit.

[ASUSunDevil]

Originally Posted by fawd

Wow - what a shame. Can someone post the text to article? It's behind a paywall.

Never liked Angels Trumpet anyway.

Whether they win their idiotic lawsuit or not, you'll never see me at Angel's Trumpet House again.

Do these idiots not realize the demographic of tenants that will be living next door? MILLENNIALS THAT WILL BUY THEIR CRAFT BEER NONSTOP.

[exit2lef]

Angels Trumpet's against-the-grain stance goes back even farther than last year's BID controversy. The owner has previously criticized the expansion of parking meter hours in the area. This lawsuit sounds like a marriage of convenience between the Goldwater Institute, which has an ideological objection to anything that resembles a subsidy, and the owner of Angels Trumpet, who is apparently trying to preserve the development potential of his own property. I do think an eventual closure or relocation of Angels Trumpet is likely, but only if the owner can sell the current property for a good price (or a reach a good settlement in the lawsuit).

[TJPHXskyscraperfan]

Let's all get picket signs and stand out in front of Angel Trumpet this Friday night and ruin there business for the night! How else would have cityscape got built? These big projects need tax breaks. Cityscape is the best thing to happen to downtown since the stadiums were built. This Angel Trumpet guy doesn't care about downtown or Roosevelt one bit.

[fawd]

Originally Posted by TJPHXskyscraperfan

Let's all get picket signs and stand out in front of Angel Trumpet this Friday night and ruin there business for the night! How else would have cityscape got built? These big projects need tax breaks. Cityscape is the best thing to happen to downtown since the stadiums were built. This Angel Trumpet guy doesn't care about downtown or Roosevelt one bit.

Give em' a one star on Facebook and tell them why!

[ASU Diablo]

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...ents/98917132/

With the new development, Englehorn said he's worried construction of the 19-story building next door will disrupt his restaurant to the point it won't survive.

"I'm very concerned about our business," he said.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by airomero83

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...ents/98917132/

That seems so silly. The positive impact of adding 200 residents next door should easily outweigh any construction impact. I suspect the real issue is that if the Derby is built right up against the property line, the owner of that building might sue down the road to prevent any high-rise construction on the Angels Trumpet site that would block views. In other words, it's pre-emptive. Sue now to avoid being sued later. That's purely speculation on my part, though. For the Goldwater Institute, it's more about looking for any case it can use to eliminate, or at least curtail, GPLETs.

[biggus diggus]

exit2lef hit the nail on the head, I'm also of the opinion Matt is simply protecting his interest. It also will get tight with two years of construction affecting his business and ability to make use of his patio but if he can make it through that, the benefit will be overall good for him.

They are going full gas on the construction site today, already digging for the foundation.

[ASUSunDevil]

Originally Posted by biggus diggus

They are going full gas on the construction site today, already digging for the foundation.

Perfect.

[CrestedSaguaro]

Originally Posted by ASUSunDevil

Perfect.

Good. I think this will be a frivolous lawsuit and Superior Court will not rule in favor of Goldwater.

As for me, I have never been to Angel's and now I never will. Any business owner that can't see the economic impact of adding residents right next door is a very dumb businessman! When these developments are completed, there will not be a better location where he could make money! If he prefers Westgate, let him go and bring in a real owner that will care care about the communuity.

It's a crying shame 1 man is trying to ruin all of this development for his own selfish interests. Besides, what could the chances be that Derby could purchase Angel's lot down the road for a potential 2nd development?