Tempe Development Thread

[muertecaza]

Small write up of the 100 Mill developer.

https://www.bisnow.com/phoenix/news/...nix-lead-55556

Not much new, although it does say that the developer is opening an office in Tempe. Office will apparently be in the Studios 5C building on College/5th.

http://www.douglaswilson.com/latest-...west-presence/

[Jjs5056]

Originally Posted by PHXFlyer11

Hopefully the 13-story project doesn't get scaled back to community opposition. Although, if they are arguing against "luxury condos" then I don't see an issue and the DRC should easily pass this proposal since these are apartments!

If the city would stop calling this the Farmer Arts District, which it isn't since that project is dead and the developer is no longer involved, these people might actually STFU. I almost don't blame them for being pissed that there aren't any affordable artist studios being built given the way its being marketed.

You guys can yell at me all you want, but I'm sorry - both projects look like they will be disappointing, especially the office/garage one. The taller project fronts University and is a gateway to both the "Farmer Arts District," and the UPRR trail toward the lake. 1,100 square feet of retail is absolutely pathetic since there's no way that it will address both University *and* Farmer as it should, and can barely fit a Dunkin Donuts. This was originally planned for retail and a library branch, a neighborhood amenity that would have brought foot traffic and a much needed amenity to downtown. Yes, I am happy about the height, density, and fact that it isn't student housing. But, I don't think that means criticism is unwarranted.

The office project contains no retail space. I'll repeat that 5th Street is the only connection between the west and east edges of downtown. With the city's own vision of extending downtown beyond Mill, an E-W corridor is an obvious necessity. Projects like this and Hanover do nothing to help make that vision a reality. The city also approved The Yard and has sent all 1st Street projects back for them to include a commercial component. *I* understand not every street needs retail, but once retail clusters are established or encouraged, it only makes sense to try to connect them.

If you have a vision for your city, then have the guts to use your influence as much as possible in order to fulfill it. Mill's retail is nearly 100% occupied. If that is going to be downtown Tempe - one major street - the investments made into creating a walkable, transit-friendly district were all for nothing, as there is no way for the current inventory to offer all these new - and future - residents their retail needs.

[Jjs5056]

Originally Posted by muertecaza

Small write up of the 100 Mill developer.

https://www.bisnow.com/phoenix/news/...nix-lead-55556

Not much new, although it does say that the developer is opening an office in Tempe. Office will apparently be in the Studios 5C building on College/5th.

http://www.douglaswilson.com/latest-...west-presence/

This project keeps getting pushed back and no concrete date has ever been mentioned for ground-breaking. I thought that having Kimpton on board would have sealed the deal, but I guess not. I really, really would like to see this built. I don't have a single criticism of its design apart from wishing that the office portion was a little taller.

If this and Hayden Flour Mill happened, downtown Tempe would change for the better. High-quality, high-class, modern, and mature projects that build on the city's investment in the lake instead of building projects to simply support ASU.

[muertecaza]

Originally Posted by Jjs5056

This project keeps getting pushed back and no concrete date has ever been mentioned for ground-breaking. I thought that having Kimpton on board would have sealed the deal, but I guess not. I really, really would like to see this built. I don't have a single criticism of its design apart from wishing that the office portion was a little taller.

If this and Hayden Flour Mill happened, downtown Tempe would change for the better. High-quality, high-class, modern, and mature projects that build on the city's investment in the lake instead of building projects to simply support ASU.

Yeah, the stuff that has come out has gone from "hopefully by the end of 2015," to "hopefully January 2016" to "early in 2016." I'm still hopeful but a bit nervous. I'm only going on conjecture, but it seems like they may not be getting enough interest yet in leasing the office building. We'll see.

[muertecaza]

Latest renderings of Sun Devil Stadium:

http://www.thesundevils.com/PhotoAlb...B_OEM_ID=30300

[asugrad]

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...tcar/80076318/

[muertecaza]

Originally Posted by Jjs5056

This project keeps getting pushed back and no concrete date has ever been mentioned for ground-breaking. I thought that having Kimpton on board would have sealed the deal, but I guess not. I really, really would like to see this built. I don't have a single criticism of its design apart from wishing that the office portion was a little taller.

If this and Hayden Flour Mill happened, downtown Tempe would change for the better. High-quality, high-class, modern, and mature projects that build on the city's investment in the lake instead of building projects to simply support ASU.

I dug up the minutes of a status update 100 Mill gave to the Historical Preservation Commission that has some information about current status (http://www.tempe.gov/home/showdocument?id=39082). Seems like regulatory pre-construction hurdles are still pending, including:

• Getting an approved demolition plan; this apparently has been submitted to the city and developer is in the process of working with city staff for approval;
  
• Finishing detailed Historic American Building Survey (HABS) documentation; this apparently is "mostly complete";
  
• Getting an approved protection plan for the historic portion of Hayden House; an archaeological monitoring plan is apparently pending approval from the AZ State Museum, and a protection plan is apparently pending city approval

I guess we should expect that the process would be arduous to work around the Hayden House. I expect that sort of thing would be doubly difficult for any proposed renovation of the Mill.

[MegaBass]

Over Easy, a chain of local breakfast eateries perhaps best-known from an appearance on the Food Network’s ‘‘Diners Drive Ins & Dives,’’ has closed its location at The Yard at Farmer Arts District near downtown Tempe. That Over Easy had opened just last June. (Mouth by Southwest)

[Jjs5056]

So, it looks like Stadium District will end up being TMP, only supersized to pull office and residential investment out of downtown, too. The NWC corner of Rural/University will be Phase I of development and Catellus is finalizing contracts with an anchor tenant for one of three office buildings planned, and has significant interest in developing the multifamily component, as well. The office space contains 30,000 sq feet of retail, and the residential has 50,000.

Rural evolving into a more urban corridor is not a bad thing. But, why is the City investing in a streetcar line if major employers are being lured to this project, which is off the transit grid? More high-wage jobs in downtown is what will drive condos, shops, and services; instead, 500 jobs will be housed on Rural/University. And, 80,000 square feet of retail which mostly faces inward ASU roads, will certainly not help downtown.

It looks as though the District will be filled with really beautiful and well-designed buildings, going so far as to include underground parking in the residential project. If the execution is close to the vision shared in this PPT, the District will essentially be everything downtown should be. When ASU has empty parcels like Block 12 and Uni/Mill, and has consistently failed in developing urban-appropriate building in both Tempe and Phoenix, I have to say it pisses me off that they're pouring all their resources in an area that is already developed and finally utilizing good design.

http://documents.tempe.gov/sirepub/c...6011629136.PDF

The streetcar should be canceled and replaced with high capacity transit on Rural. Not only will that connect South Tempe residents to ASU, the lake, etc., it would serve this entire District, be walkable from Marina Heights, and would connect to LRT at 8th/Rural for direct access to the area covered by streetcar.

[muertecaza]

Originally Posted by Jjs5056

So, it looks like Stadium District will end up being TMP, only supersized to pull office and residential investment out of downtown, too. The NWC corner of Rural/University will be Phase I of development and Catellus is finalizing contracts with an anchor tenant for one of three office buildings planned, and has significant interest in developing the multifamily component, as well. The office space contains 30,000 sq feet of retail, and the residential has 50,000.

Rural evolving into a more urban corridor is not a bad thing. But, why is the City investing in a streetcar line if major employers are being lured to this project, which is off the transit grid? More high-wage jobs in downtown is what will drive condos, shops, and services; instead, 500 jobs will be housed on Rural/University. And, 80,000 square feet of retail which mostly faces inward ASU roads, will certainly not help downtown.

It looks as though the District will be filled with really beautiful and well-designed buildings, going so far as to include underground parking in the residential project. If the execution is close to the vision shared in this PPT, the District will essentially be everything downtown should be. When ASU has empty parcels like Block 12 and Uni/Mill, and has consistently failed in developing urban-appropriate building in both Tempe and Phoenix, I have to say it pisses me off that they're pouring all their resources in an area that is already developed and finally utilizing good design.

http://documents.tempe.gov/sirepub/c...6011629136.PDF

The streetcar should be canceled and replaced with high capacity transit on Rural. Not only will that connect South Tempe residents to ASU, the lake, etc., it would serve this entire District, be walkable from Marina Heights, and would connect to LRT at 8th/Rural for direct access to the area covered by streetcar.

Your link wasn't working for me--not sure if it's me or you, but here it is reposted just in case:

http://documents.tempe.gov/sirepub/c...6030029241.PDF

It all sounds pretty good to me. And it's hard to say that the Phase I is off the transit grid when it's across the street from a light rail stop.

As far as transit to the stadium district goes, I'm still holding out hope that if the first phase of the street car actually gets built, and South Bank actually gets built, and the stadium district actually gets built, that eventually it will make sense to extend the street car down Rio Salado, which would service quite a bit of the proposed area.

[PHXFlyer11]

Originally Posted by muertecaza

Your link wasn't working for me--not sure if it's me or you, but here it is reposted just in case:

http://documents.tempe.gov/sirepub/c...6030029241.PDF

It all sounds pretty good to me. And it's hard to say that the Phase I is off the transit grid when it's across the street from a light rail stop.

As far as transit to the stadium district goes, I'm still holding out hope that if the first phase of the street car actually gets built, and South Bank actually gets built, and the stadium district actually gets built, that eventually it will make sense to extend the street car down Rio Salado, which would service quite a bit of the proposed area.

So they say 450,000-500,000 sqft in 3 buildings. For reference, HFLIII is 250,000 sqft. So I am thinking we see 3 6-8 story buildings with much bigger floor plates and lower elevations.

[Jjs5056]

Yes, this initial phase is certainly walkable to LRT, but the uses planned further north aren't necessarily. It sounds like LRT will eventually come through from Scottsdale Rd, and the future streetcar plans are tentatively to expand to both the east and west, so long-term there will be some form of network.

Of course, my bigger issue is the decentralization of all of these intense uses so far from downtown. If the retail were limited to a small amount of service types to address employee and resident basic needs, downtown would at least still have a place as an activity center. But, if projects are including 80,000+ square feet of retail, the District could end up a larger retail zone than Mill Ave.

It's too bad ASU didn't create more of an urban environment with its University Dr renovations. If the District and Downtown were connected by TOD on University, it would create a large CBD essentially, rather than a Downtown PHX vs. Midtown situation. I also think streetcar on University would have been great had those changes been made. For example, when they renovated North Campus and removed the surface parking lots, they could have used the space for retail/office uses.

[combusean]

Guys--remember, if the URL has sirepub/cache in it, it's not going to last long.

Please post the link of the page you found the PDF, not the actual link of the PDF.

[Jjs5056]

Tempe's CIP budget/plan is available; highlights include:

1. Upgrading bus design for increased capacity; increasing bus pullouts; replacing/installing more amenities at stops
2. 8th Street streetscape will finally begin.
3. Rio Salado's landscape will be improved.
4. Gateway signs in the public ROW will be added to the city's neighborhoods.
5. Ash/1st Street/Rio Salado will be reconstructed; I can't imagine anything other than acquiring the northern office in Towne Square and having 1st in direct alignment with Rio Salado.
6. Updates to modernize City Hall, though I wish they'd go even further.
7. Consolidation of downtown admin space, which could mean a new central building eventually.
8. Relocation study for the Priest Yards facility; unfortunately, the land has already been awarded to Liberty to extend its lowrise industrial development if the Yards are moved. I pref the 2008 vision which turned the area into an arts and youth sports hub.
9. The City is contributing to the Farmer project on 5th/Farmer by upgrading the interiors to incentivize tenants for the office space.

http://documents.tempe.gov/sirepub/m...doctype=AGENDA

[Jjs5056]

Another closure; Over Easy at The Yard has closed and will be replaced by... more private dining space for Culinary Dropout.

[TempeSilverFox]

Originally Posted by Jjs5056

Another closure; Over Easy at The Yard has closed and will be replaced by... more private dining space for Culinary Dropout.

Can't say I'm surprised. Over Easy lacked the excitement and "It Factor" of NCounter and Snooze and was easily overlooked in that location.
More recently, it also had to deal with the opening of Corner Bakery just south of Rio Salado / Mill.
It's great that Culinary Dropout is doing so well!
Has anyone checked out the Lodge/ Sasquatch Kitchen? (First and Farmer)

[asugrad]

http://www.federaldesigngroup.com/pr...aster_planning

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by asugrad

http://www.federaldesigngroup.com/pr...aster_planning

What the hell is this? Is it the 1970's?

[ASUSunDevil]

Originally Posted by TempeSilverFox

Can't say I'm surprised. Over Easy lacked the excitement and "It Factor" of NCounter and Snooze and was easily overlooked in that location.
More recently, it also had to deal with the opening of Corner Bakery just south of Rio Salado / Mill.
It's great that Culinary Dropout is doing so well!
Has anyone checked out the Lodge/ Sasquatch Kitchen? (First and Farmer)

The Lodge is great. The food is solid and it's a cool atmosphere.

Over Easy's closure was not due to location; the food was consistently underwhelming.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by ASUSunDevil

The Lodge is great. The food is solid and it's a cool atmosphere.

Over Easy's closure was not due to location; the food was consistently underwhelming.

Also, Aaron May seems to open and close restaurants regularly. If you like something he does, enjoy it while it lasts; if you don't, it'll be gone soon enough.