Quote:
Originally Posted by alexico
when I lived at West 6, it seemed to do ok and now with my development going up it will do better too. CVS is the biggest challenge of that place if you ask me.
it seemed very mom and pop, they had the exact same store in NJ? 
downtown tempe needs the following
1. Fresh and Easy or Spouts
2. fitness - yes they have Madison improvement club but a gym such as something similar to independent gym in old town. not a fancy big box but a decent place.
3. the warehouse area will soon take off if you ask me. development seems to heading that route |
Yep, the exact same and with two "spinoffs" - 1 for liquor (since in NJ, you can't sell liquor in grocery/convenience stores) and 1 that was more of a cafe.
I agree that Fresh n Easy (at its peak) would probably make the most sense for the downtown Tempe community. I don't know pricing of Sprouts, so that may work as well. Whole Foods seems like a holdout from the last boom cycle that was aimed at converting Tempe into some upscale Scottsdale-like locale. It won't ever be that; but, it can be what a typical downtown is - an eclectic place that has options for everyone, but with a skew toward students/young professionals, who need a more reasonable grocery solution. However, I don't think downtown has the number of permanent residents it needs yet for ANY grocery store to consider locating there. Hanover remains to be seen, but W6 houses far too many students... downtown still needs dense, market rate residential that attracts young professionals rather than students. That's one of the many reasons USA Place was a great project for the city, and why it'll be extremely disappointing if less than 250~ units are built at Ash/University as prime lots become fewer and fewer.
I'd also love to see a gym downtown. When the movie theater was going to be demo'd, I thought that would be a great location, but now I think the M7 lot would be ideal. It could be on the 2nd floor with ground level retail below and condos/apartments above, with a Phase II tower behind it - either more residential, or a hotel if the currently planned ones fail. Alternatively, since gyms seem to do okay on upper levels, maybe the 2nd floor of the Brickyard could work?
Lastly, yes, it seems like Farmer is doing well with Farmer Lofts II, The Residences on Farmer, and the entire Yard development. I'd like to see more more diversity in the housing offered in the next project and would still really love it if a library branch opened at the corner of Ash/Farmer. That'd be yet another puzzle piece in creating an all-in-one downtown. Also, even though they aren't anything special, I'd rather see the homes on Farmer converted into retail uses vs. being demo'd. Since Tempe lacks true warehouses and older buildings to turn into creative uses, those might be the only chance at seeing some more alternative-style retail that couldn't survive on Mill. I mean, these wouldn't work for all these uses, but how cool would it be for a bowling alley, dinner theatre, filmbar, etc. to pop up along Farmer? Those kind of entertainment uses are what will define Tempe as being all-inclusive instead of just a strip of college bars. The development of Farmer+Ash, and College-Myrtle-Forest is really important for its long-term.
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