Tucson Development Thread

[Ted Lyons]

Originally Posted by bleunick

I had always heard that the theater and hotel were part of the same project. On Kaneui's Metro Tucson Development Projects page (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...&postcount=788) it shows that the proposed hotel will include the theater and retail.

Cool. I hope the plan is still mixed-use in nature.

[Thirsty]

Great news on the hotel. Hope they didn't scale back.

With the density of the overlay, and the (trolly adjacent) hotel expansion, we should get more business in the University district. And anything getting things moving toward downtown HOPEFULLY will be good for downtown and drive the market for a new hotel or two.

The snowball might finally start rolling.

[kaneui]

Although the streetcars being built in Portland will be delayed by six months or so, the track construction continues on schedule, with the focus on the final mile on the west end:



Curbs and tracks going in on Linda Ave., which bisects the new Mission District west of I-10 (L); tracks being laid on Granada Ave. near the TCC (R).
(photos: Downtown Tucsonan)

[Ted Lyons]

I still feel like those initial delay estimates are ridiculously overblown by the one guy who went up to Portland. This could be wishful thinking, but the Inside Tucson Business year-end review cited November as the opening date for the light rail. That's only a month late and it's been well-known for awhile that October was the target date so ITB either made November up on their own or they got that from someone recently.

[Thirsty]

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crim...a4bcf887a.html

A fire at the historic Steinfeld Warehouse downtown Sunday morning caused an estimated $20,000 in damage.

A motorist called 911 and reported the fire at 11:32 a.m. after seeing smoke coming from the doors of the building at 101 W. Sixth St. in the Warehouse District, said Capt. Jeff Langejans, a Tucson Fire Department spokesman.

The locked, vacant building was built in 1907, and firefighters had to force access inside the building in several locations, Langejans said.

Firefighters entered the 33,000-square-foot building, constructed with bricks and heavy timber, at the lower level. It is a two-story structure.

Once inside the building, firefighters found a fire in the wood flooring on the northeast corner of the second level, Langejans said.

The blaze had been held in check by a sprinkler system, Langejans said.

It took 49 firefighters 10 minutes to bring the fire under control.

There were no injuries, and damage was limited to the flooring, Langejans said.

Fire investigators said the fire was human-caused, and determined that someone had been inside the building before the firefighters arrived, Langejans said.

Is there anyone involved in downtown development who isn't a suspect?

[ppdd]

Deleted - double post.

[ppdd]

Fire on New Years Eve on the Wig-O-Rams block. Contrary to what's in the article below, I'm hearing that Wig-O-Rama mostly suffered smoke damage, and the old Grill and Voodoo Jacks were the most damaged.

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/fire...9bb2963f4.html

Downtown Tucson’s Wig-O-Rama and the former home of The Grill were heavily damaged in a two-alarm fire early this morning, officials said.

Several 911 calls were made about 3:30 a.m. reporting smoke from the building in the 100 block of East Congress Street, Tucson Fire Capt. Barrett Baker said in a news release.

Flames and smoke were shooting from the historic building when the first fire units arrived about three minutes later.

The crew determined the rooftop was too dangerous for firefighters and crews enter the building from the south side to fight the blaze. No one was inside.

Firefighters were pulled from inside the building after about 14 minutes when it was determined that the attic fire and the many renovations to the building made it unsafe.

Once the majority of the fire was extinguished from outside the building above crews went back inside.

Several air conditioning units fell through the roof.

None of the more than 40 firefighters who helped extinguish the blaze was injured.

The cause of the blaze is being investigated, Baker said.

[Ted Lyons]

Originally Posted by ppdd

Fire on New Years Eve on the Wig-O-Rams block. Contrary to what's in the article below, I'm hearing that Wig-O-Rama mostly suffered smoke damage, and the old Grill and Voodoo Jacks were the most damaged.

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/fire...9bb2963f4.html

Sad news for the Voodoo Jacks people. These downtown fires are becoming as common as shootings at Ten's.

[Ted Lyons]

Hmm. I'm wondering when Voodoo Jacks deleted their Facebook page.

[Patrick S]

Ceremony Monday to set courthouse's final beam

Pima County will hold a ceremony at 10 a.m. Monday as the final beam for its new court building is installed.

The Board of Supervisors and dozens of construction workers will sign the steel beam before it is lifted and placed on top of the building's skeleton.

The new seven-story building at North Stone and East Toole avenues is part of downtown Tucson's changing skyline. The project has helped more than 500 construction workers get back to work or keep working in a difficult economy.

"Symbolically, a steel beam represents strength, so it is only fitting that we take a moment to acknowledge the way this project has served to strengthen our community," board Chairman Ramón Valadez said in a press release.

Construction will be complete late this year, then a parking garage will be built in 2014 for a 2015 opening.

The total budget for the project is $105 million.

It was originally conceived as a joint courts complex for the city and the county, but the city backed out and the county went ahead with the project to take advantage of favorable construction prices and to stimulate the local economy.

[kaneui]

Another local restaurant/brew pub, Thunder Canyon Brewery, opens its newest location next week as downtown's largest restaurant in a century-old warehouse:



(photos: Downtown Tucsonan)


Thunder Canyon Brewery Embraces Downtown
By Teya Vitu
Downtown Tucsonan
January 2, 2013

You may think of Thunder Canyon Brewery as a long-time Foothills Mall, Northwest Side, distinctly suburban restaurant/brew pub. You’d, of course, be right. Thunder Canyon has drawn legions of regulars to its Marana brews and delicious food for 15 years now. At the same time, you’d be dead wrong, too. The real Thunder Canyon Brewery is what’s opening Jan. 8 at 220 E. Broadway, a couple doors east of 5th Avenue. It will be Downtown’s largest restaurant, a humongous nearly 8,000 square feet. The Thunder Canyon kitchen will be open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and to midnight on Friday and Saturday. The bar will serve from 11 a.m. to about 2 a.m.

The Downtown version of Thunder Canyon is the first time owner Steve Tracy and general manager Jason Schneider have had a chance to really put their stamp on the brew pub. The stylized canyon scene in Marana came with the original owners, John and Roxane Nielsen, who these days own the Prescott Brewing Company. Tracy was a partner with them from the outset in 1997 and bought them out in 2004. Also in 1997, Schneider started at Thunder Canyon as a server and has been there ever since, except for a couple brief absences. “We both felt like fish out of the water up there,” Schneider said about their Foothills Mall operation. “We’re excited to be in this kind of environment.”


For full article: http://www.downtowntucson.org/2013/0...aces-downtown/

[Ted Lyons]

I'm assuming the low number of tables in such a large footprint is due to their belief that the brewery will take up much of the room in the space when it opens. I do wonder if it's the best idea in the meantime to not fully utilize the space with more tables.

I'm definitely excited for 40 more taps downtown and a return to non-Sysco foods for TCB.

[omarainza]

i went urban hiking with my friend the other night and snapped some pics. sadly the camera died before i got to any of the real interest points like the pit behind chase, the court house, and the cadence constuction which looks very cool standing at the intersection of 4th and broadway. heres a skyline pic though

http://www.flickr.com/photos/5313647...n/photostream/

[Patrick S]

I found an interesting document on-line. It's the Street Arterial Plan for Tucson from 1951. There were 2 things of note I found interesting.

1) Ever wonder why Tucson still has this idea that it's not a big city, or why the city has horrible traffic (partially because the citizens wouldn't let the city build expressways because they kept the small-town delusion) and it seems to haphazardly designed in some places? Check out the graph at the top of page 14. The graph uses the population increase from 1940-1948 to predict the population of the county, metro area (urban & suburban), city (urban) and suburban populations all the way out to 1970 (a whole 20 years, at least we now go out to 40 years into the future to plan for upgrades). The predicted population for Pima County in 1970 was 227,000; for the metro area it was 213,000; for the suburban area it was 140,000; and for the city it was 73,000. By 1970, the city of Tucson already had 262,933 people - the city did annex a lot of land into the city between 1950 and 1960 - but this is more than the projected population for the whole county by that time. Pima County would have a population of 351,667 by 1970. In fact, the county would break the 1970 population estimates by 1960 (265,660). If you look at the graphs you see that the growth rates for the county, metro area and suburban areas all are lower than between 1940-1950, while the urban growth rates are higher. While the growth rates for the county did slow between 1950-1960 (88.1%) from the rates in 1940-1950 (93.9%), the county, as I mentioned above, did have over the population in 1960 that was predicted for it in 1970. The county had a population of 141,216 in 1950, which looks like about what the graph has for the county's population (the text shows that the population for the county in 1948 was 135,000), so that wasn't too far off.

2) Check out the 4th to last page (labeled on the bottom left as Plate 35). Two interesting things here. First, we see a 3-lane arterial road (similar to Broadway or Speedway) that is designed for 4,000 vehicles per hour. The really interesting thing was that these roads were originally designed to have parking on the street. Could you imagine that? It would be dangerous and really slow down traffic. This street is designed for the urban core, compare it to the previous 2 pages were the streets are more suburban and rural.

[Patrick S]

Businesses popping up downtown
SEVERAL NEW SHOPS OPENED LAST YEAR; MORE COMING IN '13

Angela Pittenger Arizona Daily Star


Several new businesses opened downtown in 2012 despite construction and economic woes, and more are on the way.

One of the most eclectic shops, A Perfect Pantry, 21 E. Congress St., opened in March.

The shop is described by owner Amy Pike as a "21st-century general store."

She carries a mix of kitchen items, tools, gardening supplies, stationery, ladies' accessories, antiques and more.

Pike said she got the idea when she couldn't find a strainer and there wasn't a neighborhood store to get such things.

"Every neighborhood should have a housewares shop," she said.

Pike's target market is the people who live and work downtown, and she called the response so far "mind-blowing."

"I felt that downtown was a diamond in the rough, and I wanted to be a part of it," Pike said. "I have all the things you need to enjoy your life."

Pike plans to have a grand opening when the streetcar construction is over.

Revolutio, 43 S. Sixth Ave., carries a revolving collection of art by local artisans, jewelry, clothing, home goods and packaged coffee.

Heather Lindquist, the store owner, said she chose the name Revolutio because it is the Latin spelling for "revolution."

"It has a lot of meaning to me. It could mean a turn of events or uprising, which encompasses everything my life was going through at the time," Lindquist said.

Lindquist plans to carry her own line of clothing, called Tonatiuh, which is Aztec for "fun." She will even carry men's shirts, which she will be creating.

Revolutio got started in February with an opening for friends and family members.

Business consultants recommended having a second grand opening for the public as construction started to clear up, Lindquist said.

Following their advice, Lindquist is hosting a grand opening from 4 to 7 p.m. on Jan. 19.
"I need to announce more that I'm open," Lindquist said.

There are more new businesses scheduled to open downtown this year.

Michael Keith, CEO of Downtown Tucson Partnership, said this is just the beginning.

"We're going to see an explosion of retail, restaurants, and at least three different boutique hotel concepts are being considered. … We can see the entire downtown and streetcar line expanding for years to come."

New Downtown Businesses
• Elegant Thought, 15 E. Toole Ave., a Web-based consulting firm, opened in July.
• Crossfit Kids, 119 E. Toole Ave., opened Aug. 10.
• Atelier de LaFleur, 410 N. Toole Ave., a European-style flower shop, opened in September.
• Caliber Funding, 56 W. Congress St., opened Sept. 24.
• CandyStrike, 197 E. Toole Ave., an art, clothing and accessories shop, opened in October.
• ForsSHOP, 245 E. Congress Street, No. 135, a mini-gift shop, opened in October.
• Lulu's Shake Shoppe, 270 E. Congress St., opened Oct. 10.
• The JunXion Bar, 63 E. Congress St., opened Nov. 13.
• Urban Fresh, a vegetarian restaurant with healthy-eating workshops, 73 E. Pennington St., opened Dec. 6.

What's Next
Thunder Canyon Brewery is scheduled to open Tuesday. Five restaurants are moving in:
• Saint House opens in August.
• Penco will open during the first quarter. No official date set.
• Diablo Burger, Proper and Good Oak Bar all plan to open sometime between now and summer.
• A business incubator will open in the space above the Rialto Theatre, so businesses can rent space and have a downtown address.
• Elsewhere, 20,000 square feet of retail space below three student housing buildings on either side of Fourth Avenue is available. Forty percent of that space is currently under negotiation for leasing.
• At the UNS Energy Corp. headquarters building at Broadway and Scott Avenue, 10,000 square feet of retail space is available.
• "Almost 700 new residents downtown before the end of the summer will drive a lot of retail expansion downtown," said Michael Keith of Downtown Tucson Partnership.

[bleunick]

Originally Posted by Patrick S

Businesses popping up downtown
SEVERAL NEW SHOPS OPENED LAST YEAR; MORE COMING IN '13

Angela Pittenger Arizona Daily Star


Several new businesses opened downtown in 2012 despite construction and economic woes, and more are on the way.

One of the most eclectic shops, A Perfect Pantry, 21 E. Congress St., opened in March.

The shop is described by owner Amy Pike as a "21st-century general store."

She carries a mix of kitchen items, tools, gardening supplies, stationery, ladies' accessories, antiques and more.

Pike said she got the idea when she couldn't find a strainer and there wasn't a neighborhood store to get such things.

"Every neighborhood should have a housewares shop," she said.

Pike's target market is the people who live and work downtown, and she called the response so far "mind-blowing."

"I felt that downtown was a diamond in the rough, and I wanted to be a part of it," Pike said. "I have all the things you need to enjoy your life."

Pike plans to have a grand opening when the streetcar construction is over.

Revolutio, 43 S. Sixth Ave., carries a revolving collection of art by local artisans, jewelry, clothing, home goods and packaged coffee.

Heather Lindquist, the store owner, said she chose the name Revolutio because it is the Latin spelling for "revolution."

"It has a lot of meaning to me. It could mean a turn of events or uprising, which encompasses everything my life was going through at the time," Lindquist said.

Lindquist plans to carry her own line of clothing, called Tonatiuh, which is Aztec for "fun." She will even carry men's shirts, which she will be creating.

Revolutio got started in February with an opening for friends and family members.

Business consultants recommended having a second grand opening for the public as construction started to clear up, Lindquist said.

Following their advice, Lindquist is hosting a grand opening from 4 to 7 p.m. on Jan. 19.
"I need to announce more that I'm open," Lindquist said.

There are more new businesses scheduled to open downtown this year.

Michael Keith, CEO of Downtown Tucson Partnership, said this is just the beginning.

"We're going to see an explosion of retail, restaurants, and at least three different boutique hotel concepts are being considered. … We can see the entire downtown and streetcar line expanding for years to come."

New Downtown Businesses
• Elegant Thought, 15 E. Toole Ave., a Web-based consulting firm, opened in July.
• Crossfit Kids, 119 E. Toole Ave., opened Aug. 10.
• Atelier de LaFleur, 410 N. Toole Ave., a European-style flower shop, opened in September.
• Caliber Funding, 56 W. Congress St., opened Sept. 24.
• CandyStrike, 197 E. Toole Ave., an art, clothing and accessories shop, opened in October.
• ForsSHOP, 245 E. Congress Street, No. 135, a mini-gift shop, opened in October.
• Lulu's Shake Shoppe, 270 E. Congress St., opened Oct. 10.
• The JunXion Bar, 63 E. Congress St., opened Nov. 13.
• Urban Fresh, a vegetarian restaurant with healthy-eating workshops, 73 E. Pennington St., opened Dec. 6.

What's Next
Thunder Canyon Brewery is scheduled to open Tuesday. Five restaurants are moving in:
• Saint House opens in August.
• Penco will open during the first quarter. No official date set.
• Diablo Burger, Proper and Good Oak Bar all plan to open sometime between now and summer.
• A business incubator will open in the space above the Rialto Theatre, so businesses can rent space and have a downtown address.
• Elsewhere, 20,000 square feet of retail space below three student housing buildings on either side of Fourth Avenue is available. Forty percent of that space is currently under negotiation for leasing.
• At the UNS Energy Corp. headquarters building at Broadway and Scott Avenue, 10,000 square feet of retail space is available.
• "Almost 700 new residents downtown before the end of the summer will drive a lot of retail expansion downtown," said Michael Keith of Downtown Tucson Partnership.

Derrick Williams had been posting things on his facebook and twitter last month about opening a clothing store in downtown. From the pictures he posted im pretty sure it was a small space in the Julian Drew building on Broadway. Cant seem to find his posts anymore though...

[Ted Lyons]

I'm kind of disappointed Saint House got pushed back until August. Also, any idea which of the multiple companies called "Penco" this article is referencing?

[ppdd]

Probably makes sense for any new business to not hurry to open as long as streetcar delays are in play.

[kaneui]

Penca--the new restaurant under construction in the 80-year old warehouse space at 50 E. Broadway--plans to open before the Gem and Mineral Show, and will feature "Progressive Mexican cuisine" from central and southern Mexico:



Early renovation work on the warehouse at 50 E. Broadway.
(photo: ADS)


Opening Penca
A new Mexican restaurant with historic roots

By Emily Gindlesparger
Zocalo Magazine
January, 2013

The paper-covered space downtown at 50 East Broadway has been in the process of emerging into a new restaurant for over a year, and soon it's coming into the world with a name: Penca. "Penca is the rib of the agave," explains the owner, Patricia Schwabe. "It represents the relationship with the land; a resilient spirit; it's organic and true to its roots," she adds, and it's a name that reflects the place itself.

The address is a building from the 1920s, stripped to its foundation and crafted from the ground up with local and repurposed materials. Schwabe and her husband Ron are owners of Peach Properties, and many of the building materials for Penca have been salvaged and collected from other historic downtown buildings they've restored. "It creates a style that to me is personal and local, warm and intimate," Patricia describes. It's a style she hopes that will resonate into the drinks - from a cocktail menu being built by Luke Anable - to the food inspired by the fresh, vibrant cuisine found in central and southern Mexico and her own childhood in Mexico City. "I love traditional Mexican restaurants," she says, "where the ingredients are fresh, the colors are vibrant, and where the service is exceptional." Schwabe hopes that she can bring a small piece of that downtown, and wants Penca to be "a place where people become friends of the house."


For full article (page 15): http://issuu.com/zocalomagazine/docs...13?mode=window

[Ted Lyons]

Originally Posted by kaneui

Penca--the new restaurant under construction in the 80-year old warehouse space at 50 E. Broadway--plans to open before the Gem and Mineral Show, and will feature "Progressive Mexican cuisine" from central and southern Mexico:



Early renovation work on the warehouse at 50 E. Broadway.
(photo: ADS)


Opening Penca
A new Mexican restaurant with historic roots

By Emily Gindlesparger
Zocalo Magazine
January, 2013

The paper-covered space downtown at 50 East Broadway has been in the process of emerging into a new restaurant for over a year, and soon it's coming into the world with a name: Penca. "Penca is the rib of the agave," explains the owner, Patricia Schwabe. "It represents the relationship with the land; a resilient spirit; it's organic and true to its roots," she adds, and it's a name that reflects the place itself.

The address is a building from the 1920s, stripped to its foundation and crafted from the ground up with local and repurposed materials. Schwabe and her husband Ron are owners of Peach Properties, and many of the building materials for Penca have been salvaged and collected from other historic downtown buildings they've restored. "It creates a style that to me is personal and local, warm and intimate," Patricia describes. It's a style she hopes that will resonate into the drinks - from a cocktail menu being built by Luke Anable - to the food inspired by the fresh, vibrant cuisine found in central and southern Mexico and her own childhood in Mexico City. "I love traditional Mexican restaurants," she says, "where the ingredients are fresh, the colors are vibrant, and where the service is exceptional." Schwabe hopes that she can bring a small piece of that downtown, and wants Penca to be "a place where people become friends of the house."


For full article (page 15): http://issuu.com/zocalomagazine/docs...13?mode=window

Well, that answers what "Penco" is.

Driving by the other day, I noticed the paper in one of the windows was temporarily down. If that's still the case, an entrepreneurial photographer could get a preview.