Southeast Valley Development News

[vertex]

Originally Posted by phxSUNSfan

Um, I would say it would only be a slightly more "mature" version because of the family-friendly perception of Chandler's cookie-cutter tract homes and master planned sprawl.

Allow me to clarify myself; by 'mature', I mean in demographics and in attitude. Chandler is a natural choice for families looking for excellent schools, a little diversity and a forward-thinking city government (the polar opposite of a town like Gilbert). As I mentioned before, after living in Tempe, Chandler was a natural progression.

I consider Chandler a suburban version of Tempe given that it is nearly devoid of any type of public mass transit or dense, urban infrastructure. Tempe, after all, has much more densely populated (year round, non-student population) areas than Chandler despite Tempe's share of fairly large undeveloped parkland.

Well, considering that Tempe is an inner-ring suburb that's been landlocked for 30+ years, it's not really a surprise. Because of it's location, Chandler remained agricultural for a lot longer period; it's well behind in density and infrastructure, but it has many things going for it. Btw, Chandler recently became only the 2nd landlocked city in the valley, after you-know-who.

Tempe also has a larger, more diverse workforce. Chandler can't really compete with the university's impact on the local economy.

No, Chandler doesn't have an employer with the impact of ASU, but I would say that it is every bit as diverse as Tempe. Aerospace, high-end manufacturing, education, semiconductors, e-commerce, software development, bio-science.... Am I missing anything?

Chandler's "downtown" is as faux as they come and has supplanted the small historic main street: it would be like Tempe building the Marketplace on Mill Ave. rather than a few miles away and calling it downtown...an unauthentic "central district" in other words.

I don't even know where to begin. I guess my advice would be for you to stop looking at Google street views and get out of the house sometime. The San Marcos resort and the 'faux' downtown that sprouted up around it were built starting in 1912. Many buildings in downtown are designated historic.

BTW, my Walk Score living next to DT Chandler is 71, better than the 63 I got from my previous home by Mitchell Park in Tempe.

[phxSUNSfan]

Originally Posted by vertex

I don't even know where to begin. I guess my advice would be for you to stop looking at Google street views and get out of the house sometime. The San Marcos resort and the 'faux' downtown that sprouted up around it were built starting in 1912. Many buildings in downtown are designated historic.

BTW, my Walk Score living next to DT Chandler is 71, better than the 63 I got from my previous home by Mitchell Park in Tempe.

I'll just repost:
It's a smaller, cheaper version of Old Town Scottsdale...well trying to emulate some of Old Town. The very few old buildings that are in Chandler have been exceeded and overshadowed by the crappy architecture [and a golf course!] found in that city. I will say that Chandler City Hall is unique and ultra modern. I understand that some people like the stucco cookie cutter look but IMO, it isn't appealing. And for some perspective, both Chandler and Tempe were very small by 1930. Only 1,300 people in Chandler and 2,600 in Tempe. But Tempe and Mill Ave. were much larger by 1970. Aerial of "downtown" Chandler (from 2012):
http://stokes-r-us.smugmug.com/Photo...48_TjWG2-L.jpg

I have family in Chandler and have been many times and I'm not impressed. Sorry, it's not for everyone especially people looking for an environment in a more urban district like those found in Phoenix or Tempe. BTW, my walkscore in downtown Phoenix is 94 and Tempe's is 92 (http://www.walkscore.com/score/Tempe). Considering that there are still many holes in Phoenix and Tempe to fill, if they score that high and are still considered a "walker's paradise" then 71 must not be all that great.

But on a positive note, the expansion of Intel is good for the S.E. Valley.

[vertex]

You can repost all you want. You still haven't countered anything I've stated regarding DT Chandler. I never claimed it to be some sort of urbanist wet dream as you perceive Phoenix or Tempe to be. But neither is it a cheap imitation of Scottsdale or Tempe Marketplace redux. It's a small downtown that has managed to grow organically and with many layers, including buildings dating from the beginning of the last century, all the way up to now. Sure, cookie-cutter might be found outside of downtown; Ocotillo and Fulton Ranch might fit the bill. But the same could be said for any part of the valley.

There are businesses and establishments that are unique to the valley. Gangplank, San Tan Brewing (yes, it is better than Four Peaks), Murphy's Law, Kokopelli winery, Paletas Betty, Sushi Eye, I can go on and on. Places like this exist because of demand from nearby workers and residents.

Btw your Tempe walk score encompasses an area over 2 square miles in size. I could probably get a similar score out of Apache Junction with that footprint. Both my Tempe and Chandler residence's are adjacent to those respective downtowns. It's a valid comparison.

[vertex]

Originally Posted by phxSUNSfan

very few old buildings

Really?

Chandler's Commercial Historic District
(listed on the National Register in 2000)

O.S. Stapley Hardware
Suhuaro Hotel
Monroe Building
Morrison Grocery
Dobson Building
Dougherty Building
Andersen Building
Price Building
Hotel Chandler
O.S. Stapley Hardware
Esber Store
Serrano's Popular Store
Western Auto Supply
Sprouse Reitz
Reliable Hardware / Arrow Pharmacy
First National Bank
Rowena Theatre
Chandler Arizonan Newspaper Building
U.S. Post Office
McCormick Building
Margret Square
Thomas Building

This is just the area bordering AJ Chandler park. ALL of these buildings are on the National Register. Note that this list doesn't include San Marcos Resort, San Marcos country club, the Silk Stocking neighborhood, or Chandler HS, all of which are within blocks of the park.

[HooverDam]

Downtown Chandler is cool, so are all the Downtowns in the cities in the Valley that have them. Why hate on any urban, walkable area? We have so few, lets love the ones we do and try to make them better.

In actual news...

Seniors to get new housing in downtown Mesa

First private project in decades still splits council

2 comments by Gary Nelson - Aug. 15, 2012 08:01 AM
The Republic | azcentral.com

Encore on Farmer has one foot forward, into the sustainable, transit-friendly ethos of a new century -- and one foot pretty far back, into the first half of the last century, when most of its residents were born.

The five-story, 56-unit project, which opened in January just west of Tempe's downtown core, is a sneak peek at the next big step in the evolution of downtown Mesa.

Encore is everything Mesa has been saying it wants in its new buildings:


-- Sustainable, with solar panels supplying much of the electricity and rainwater harvesting to augment irrigation.

-- Pedestrian-friendly, with a landscaped walkway offering a place for exercise and access to other parts of downtown Tempe.

-- Transit-oriented, just a short jaunt away from light rail and bus lines.

The same people who built Encore aim to break ground in September for a larger, 81-unit senior-living complex on First Avenue just southwest of the Mesa Arts Center.

Mesa's project will be called the Residences at Center Street Station, a nod to the light-rail stop that will open in the symbolic heart of the city three years from now.

Despite not having seen large-scale private investment in downtown for well over 20 years, the City Council almost turned its back on the $17 million project this year. At least one council member is still wishing it could be something else.

Under the aegis of Mesa Housing Associates LLC, the developers approached the City Council in February seeking approval to apply for federal tax credits to help finance the project.

They needed council approval because they had to prove they controlled the land on which they wanted to build.

Early on, that was to have been a city parking lot just east of Mesa City Plaza, right across the street from the arts center.

The initial council debate was rough. Charles Huellmantel, a principal with Mesa Housing Associates, said he and his colleagues were taken aback by fears that the residents would be a bad mix for a neighborhood soon to be teeming with college students and already rife with noisy civic festivals.

The council's initial 4-3 approval solidified into a 4-1 final vote after Mesa offered a new site still close enough to the arts center and light rail to suit the developers.

The project is designed for low-income older people, who, Huellmantel said, "want to live in an urban environment."

It's a happy outcome for Councilman Dave Richins, whoHuellmantel called the key player in fostering his company's interest in downtown Mesa. Richins said he met Huellmantel at a National League of Cities meeting in Denver and toured one of the company's projects there.

"I said, 'Hey, you need to be in Mesa,' " Richins said, which led him to giving Huellmantel a tour of Mesa's historic center, during which they scoped out possible sites.

Richins said he was surprised when the company targeted the City Hall parking lot, but it made sense on one level because "they wanted to develop a nexus between the arts center and their residents."

Even then, Richins was the council's strongest advocate for the project, saying Mesa couldn't afford to nitpick the details of a $17 million private investment. "In my memory, this is the first project in downtown that didn't have the applicant starting with, 'city of,' " he said.

Vice Mayor Scott Somers, who voted "no" on the First Avenue site, still believes the project does not belong in the downtown core.

It would be fine anywhere else along the light-rail line, Somers said. But low-income, subsidized housing is the wrong way to kick off what Mesa hopes will be a sweeping, rail-oriented transformation of the city center.

Somers would rather see market-rate housing for people who can afford to buy their own homes.

"The kind of deals we have put together, I really worry that the foundations we are laying are not that impressive," Somers said, noting that Mesa recently approved incentives for welfare offices in the former East Valley Tribune building.

Mayor Scott Smith, at first an opponent of the project, changed his vote after the First Avenue site was chosen.

Some of the acrimony, he said, could have been avoided had Mesa had better procedures for dealing with tax-credit housing projects.

"The process was flawed," Smith said. "It's been a long time since someone came into downtown and said, 'Gee, we'd like to do a deal.' We were caught off guard."

Things were rough at first, he said, because "we did a blanket RFP (request for proposals) for downtown, which allowed someone to come in and plop the project on a parking lot right next City Hall on Main Street. There's no way we would have chosen that as a place we wanted to process an RFP."

He added, "I think it will be a beautiful building. The end result, I'm not totally dissatisfied with, but I think the process left a bad taste in everyone's mouth."

Lessons learned from this experience, he said, will pay off in better procedures for future projects.

David Short, president of the Downtown Mesa Association, thinks the project will boost the city center.

"These guys build quality projects," Short said. "We want a diverse mix of residents down here and that definitely adds to that diversity."

How tax credits work

The Tax Reform Act of 1986 signaled a change in how the federal government promotes low-income housing.

Rather than pay directly to build such projects, the government now gives tax breaks to entities willing to finance them privately.

The IRS divvies up a set amount of tax credits per year among the states, based on population. This year, Arizona was allotted about $14 million.

In Arizona, companies that want to build projects apply to the Arizona Department of Housing.

Winners in the competitive process don't always have their own money for construction. Instead, they get funding from outside equity firms.

The sponsoring organization then sells the tax credits to the equity companies. That makes the equity companies eligible for tax credits each year for 10 years.

That, in turn, lowers the overall cost of building a project. Rents can therefore be lower, although tenants might also receive other forms of government aid.

This year, Mesa saw three such projects win state approval, with construction on all to begin by Nov. 1:

-- A senior housing complex on First Avenue near Center Street.

-- Workforce housing to replace most of the La Mesita Family Shelter on West Main Street.

-- A housing complex to replace the vacant city-owned Escobedo Apartments north of the downtown core on University Drive.

The tax credits are not universally popular. The Cato Institute, a Libertarian think tank, opposes the program and says on its website, "The low-income housing tax-credit program provides large subsidies to developers and few, if any, benefits to low-income families."



Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/m...#ixzz23oTQiRtM

[phxSUNSfan]

I don't want to keep beating a dead horse here and be told that we are off topic, but I have addressed downtown Chandler. It's small, has too many holes to be a true downtown despite some historic properties.

That an area of Tempe of 2 square miles has a great Walkscore means that it is a dense, well developed area unlike most of the cities around the valley. And no, AJ's walkscore for 2 square miles is not good (23). But if you shrink an area down enough, it can get a great Walkscores. It is a really imperfect system. How about 84 for "downtown Apache Junction". http://www.walkscore.com/score/downtown-Apache-Junction

Chandler is known for its suburban expanses and not a handful of historic properties or a "downtown". I'm sure many people love it but again, let's not call it what it isn't.

[PHX31]

Vertex, I'd love to see some pictures of Downtown Chandler... it's one area of the Valley I rarely get to see, and I didn't even realize it had a downtown or even more than a couple historic buildings until a few years ago.

[HX_Guy]

Put me down as someone who had no idea Chandler had a downtown at all...I'd actually be interested to check it out.

[dtnphx]

I second that!

[combusean]

Walk scores are notoriously unreliable. A walk score of 92 for Fifth and Mill in Tempe doesn't list anything for shopping in a mile besides Circle K that anyone cares about. Its grocery store listing is full of irrelevant entries. Its banking listing is pointless unless you happen to bank at those branches (i certainly don't). The fact that it's only 3 points less than a neighborhood in CA where I'm staying (Burlingame) that actually does have volumes of shopping and grocery opportunities cements the stupidity.

And both of you are deluding yourself if you actually think that either neighborhood has that much more to offer than the ability to eat somewhere overpriced during the day and amble home when you get too drunk at some bar at night. Neither neighborhood has close-in grocery stores, hardware stores, or any shopping that matters. The only thing that Downtown Tempe has going for it is transit, which as I noticed when I lived in Phoenix was only really useful for going to the next town over given that I never worked anywhere near the line.

[phxSUNSfan]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

Put me down as someone who had no idea Chandler had a downtown at all...I'd actually be interested to check it out.

It doesn't...it has a couple of historic streets: Boston and Arizona. Most of the "buildings" on the historic register listed are a strip of small storefronts along Boston St. There is a huge golf course a few blocks away and the Santan Gateway Super Walmart (with its enormous parking lot) down the street on Arizona Ave.

Combusean, I actually stated that Walkscore is an imperfect system and mentioned the many holes in downtown Phoenix. Saying that if downtown Phoenix and Tempe score so high yet have so many holes, then other neighborhoods aren't great. Luckily, I work and live near the light rail line, chose that on purpose for the reasons you listed. All you say is true and getting stores like a true grocery store downtown (Tempe or Phoenix) will likely be a long time in the making; even downtown Seattle only fairly recently got its first real grocery store. I will say that the Tempe Farmer's Market seems to be doing pretty good and is open from 8am-11pm...

[Leo the Dog]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

Put me down as someone who had no idea Chandler had a downtown at all...I'd actually be interested to check it out.

It's a beuatiful area with good bars and restaurants and newer urban infill with freeway access to the 202. Great jobs and good schools, tough not to like the area. It was one of my favorites spots in Phx metro.

[nickw252]

Mesa is currently enjoying one of the biggest construction booms in its history, with public projects costing well over half a billion dollars already under way or to begin soon. City engineer Beth Huning said the projects will change the face of the city for decades to come.

Click on the link to see a slide show.

[nickw252]

Mesa officials are expected to announce this week the fifth college to join the growing higher education ranks of the city.

Mayor Scott Smith confirmed the news to the Tribune on Tuesday while talking about a jobs report.

The new school --– a liberal arts college --– follows the news that Benedictine University, Westminster College, Albright College and Wilkes University will start offering classes in downtown Mesa.

The city decided to put a focus on adding liberal arts colleges to the area when it saw a need for that type of higher education. The colleges are part of the city’'s HEATT initiative to boost Mesa’'s economic base: health care, education, aerospace/aviation, technology and tourism.

The fifth school will not be located in downtown, but is committed to Mesa, said Jaye O'Donnell, Mesa’'s economic development deputy director.

“"We’'re interested in having another school in the mix as far as rounding out the city,”" O'’Donnell said.

The city’'s goal is that between 1,000 and 1,500 students will be enrolled in these schools in the next five years, she said.

All the new colleges and universities will participate in the first Mesa Higher Education Conference and Expo on Sept. 21 at the Mesa Arts Center's Piper Theater. The event, to be held from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., is open to the public.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/loc...9bb2963f4.html

[nickw252]

Mesa officials held a ceremony Monday morning to mark the start of construction on Encore, a five-story, 81-unit independent senior living center in downtown.

The project had some critics early on as neighboring businesses expressed concern about a low-to-moderate income housing development in an area that’s trying to pick up from the recession. But officials Monday marked the need for the facility, for the city and its future residents.

“Encore on First Avenue is important housing for our seniors and allows them to become a part of Mesa’s burgeoning downtown,” council member and Community and Cultural Development Council Sub-Committee chairman Dave Richins said in a news release. “This will bring much needed housing to downtown, which is key to our new form-based code.”

The Mesa City Council approved the code earlier this year to “to be flexible and help create a compact, vibrant and walkable transit-oriented urban built environment or create traditional neighborhoods with a greater emphasis on size and look of buildings.”

Encore on First Avenue will be located at 25 W. First Avenue. Encore and is being developed by Mesa Housing Associates.

“Encore on First Avenue is a great example of a public-private partnership as it qualified for the state’s housing tax credit, which was key to this new urban housing becoming a reality,” Arizona Department of Housing director Michael Trailor said in a release.

The development, because it started construction by Nov. 1, will be able to use Arizona Department of Housing low-income tax credits.

“Encore will help in the transformation of downtown as it will replace a parking lot with a neighborhood,” Mesa Housing Associates partner Charles Huellmantel said in a release. “Residents will have easy access to the Mesa Arts Center, light rail, the new colleges, retail and other amenities.”

Construction on Encore on First Avenue is expected to be complete by October 2013.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/loc...a4bcf887a.html

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/m...r-housing.html

http://www.kpho.com/story/19948782/c...ng-development

[MegaBass]

Improvements to west Mesa's Fiesta District under way

Bit by bit, Mesa’s Fiesta District is being transformed.
Both public and private projects are under way in an area hit hard by the recession. No one may be more excited than Mesa Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh, who represents the area.
From the new $14.9 million performing arts center for Mesa Community College at a former Harkins Theatre to renovations at Hilton Phoenix East Mesa to new restaurants, Kavanaugh said there is reason to celebrate.
“When we looked at it all as one, it gave us cause for optimism that all the work of the last number of years is starting to come together in a positive way to change the look, feel and atmosphere in the district. It’s been a good a thing,” he said during an interview this week.
One big change is at the 17-acre Poca Fiesta Center, on the northeast corner of Southern Avenue and Alma School Road. It was bought by Scottsdale-based Hinkson Company and renamed Fiesta Commons. New signs with a new look are on the way, Kavanaugh said. Big Lots and Hibachi Grill opened earlier this year and Blast Fitness will open in December in the former movie theater at the site.
LongHorn Steakhouse, a member of the Darden Restaurants, is under construction at Fiesta Mall.
“They have successful operations with Olive Garden and Red Lobster in the Fiesta District. Those are doing well. They think the demographics are good in that area,” Kavanaugh said.
Several hotels in the area are making changes. The Courtyard by Marriott, 1221 S. Westwood Drive, is scheduled to undergo a $2.5 million renovation of its lobby and all 149 rooms.
Hilton Phoenix/East Mesa, 1011 W. Holmes Ave., already upgraded Wi-Fi in the hotel, said manager Gary Levine. A new business center with Apple and PC products is coming in and all 260 rooms will be given a “contemporary look” with new paint, tubs, tile and more.
“The good news is we’ve had enough business that things wear down. So you do — every few years — make the rooms look more contemporary and just refresh it because you’ve had thousands of people going through those rooms all year round,” he said. “Things have gotten better. We’ve been busy. We’ve had better occupancy.”
The city is investing in the area, as well. This summer, ground broke on a new police station. A streetscape improvement project will start next month, Kavanaugh said.
“We’re really excited about that,” the Hilton’s Levine said. “I think that’s the best thing that will happen in this area. It will make a great sense of arrival off the (U.S.) 60 and Alma School and take away that commercial look and make it more residential in a way.”
More development could be coming, Kavanaugh said. The 15-acre Fiesta Village, at the northwest corner of Alma School Road and Southern Avenue, has been considered an eyesore the last few years. It was put on the market in July.
“I know it’s one of the sites the city has been directing brokers to. The city has worked with the Arizona Commerce Authority to identify it as a potential employment site when employers come in looking for large sites like that. At least it’s in play,” he said.

[nickw252]

RELATED NEWS
Downtown Chandler restaurants
2011: Accusations fly in San Marcos bankruptcy
By Maria Polletta
The Republic | azcentral.com
Wed Dec 5, 2012 6:13 AM
Kansas-based Ottawa University has confirmed that it is exploring purchasing downtown Chandler’s historic Crowne Plaza San Marcos Golf Resort to convert it into a residential campus.

Kevin Eichner, the university’s president, stressed that considerations were preliminary and that other sites were being studied. But he said Chandler was “a great city with a number of attributes we find attractive for our business model.”

The previous owners of the iconic, nearly 100-year-old San Marcos hotel — Chandler’s first big building and among its most well-known after having hosted Fred Astaire, President Herbert Hoover and other big names — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year. Guaranty Bank and Trust Co. took over the property after a trustee’s sale last December.

Commercial-real-estate broker Jordan Richman confirmed that “the bank is working with one particular buyer,” though he noted the bank has received multiple offers.

Ottawa University last month began conducting community meetings to see whether Chandler residents would be receptive to the conversion of the San Marcos for its use.

Ottawa, a private, liberal-arts, Christian university, already has an adult-education campus in Chandler, near Cooper and Germann roads. Negotiations for a Peoria campus stalled last year.

“Given the special nature of the San Marcos property, as well as our desire for the broadest possible community involvement for a campus of the type we are planning, it is essential to ‘test the waters’ for such support before committing the sizable resources it will take to launch our expanded campus,” Eichner said in an e-mail.

“Since the economic, social, educational and cultural benefits of a full residential undergraduate and graduate institution for a community like Chandler are so substantial, the city has been helpful in arranging some informal conversations with citizenry, business leaders, school officials, etc.”

After participating in one of those conversations, former Chandler Mayor Coy Payne said landing the university would be “icing on the cake” in terms of downtown-revitalization efforts.

“I look at what education institutions are doing across the country, as far as cities developing or redeveloping parts of downtown that’ve gone into disrepair,” Payne said. “(Arizona State University) is probably the most viable asset that the city of Tempe has, so I’m looking forward to Chandler benefiting from education inroads into the downtown area.

“I’m really hopeful that Ottawa and the banking institution that they’re dealing with will be able to come to an agreement.”

Chandler officials have declined to discuss the implications of the proposal until the plan is more concrete.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/c...os-resort.html

[MegaBass]

Growing Grand Canyon U looking at possible East Valley expansion

East Valley students may have another higher education option in the next two years after Grand Canyon University announced plans to open a campus here.
GCU, a private, Christian-based school, sent requests to the communities of Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Tempe and Queen Creek in search of available land to potentially build its next campus. The school’s main campus is located in the West Valley, near 35th Avenue and Camelback Road in Phoenix.
Brian Mueller, CEO and president of the university, said there’s interest from East Valley students to attend the school, but commuting is difficult.
“We think this is going to be a good option for high school graduates, but also this is a good option for those East Valley students attending a community college who are looking for a university to transfer to,” he said.
Ideally, he said, the university will find between 75 acres and 100 acres to build a campus near a freeway, mall or apartments.
Initially, it will be designed as a commuter campus. But if there is demand, dorms could be built in the future, he said.
There are 6,500 students on the school’s main campus. Mueller said 71 percent of the students are from Arizona and 80 percent of those students come from the West Valley.
“The last four years we’ve worked with enrollment counselors and churches. A lot of students say they really like the small Christian environment of the Grand Canyon campus, the small class size and personal attention, but they want to live at home,” he said. “We want to build an East Valley campus that looks and feels like our main campus with all the same programs.”
Mueller said the East Valley Grand Canyon campus would open in fall 2014. By 2020, officials hope to have 7,500 students and 2,000 employees there.
There are currently 1,000 employees at Grand Canyon University’s administrative center in Tempe. They would move to the new campus and more would be hired as needed, Mueller said.
Higher education in the East Valley is hardly a new thing, but its growth of late has been significant. In addition to the growth and prominence of Arizona State University’s Polytechnic campus in Mesa, five colleges have each announced plans to open small campuses in Mesa in the next few months: Albright College, Westminster College, Benedictine University, Wilkes University and Upper Iowa University. The University of Arizona and ASU both have announced plans to offer master-level programs in Chandler, while Northern Arizona University has long held partnerships to host courses and degree programs at Chandler-Gilbert Community College and Mesa Community College.

[nickw252]

Go to a lot of little old burgs in the East and Midwest, and you’ll find a town square, maybe with a bandstand in the middle that just seems to pull folks together.

Go to a lot of big old cities around the globe, and you’ll find a public-gathering place, sometimes massive and sometimes with world-history connotations.

Go to Mesa, and you’ll find neither.

Like many Arizona towns — Prescott being a notable exception — Mesa forgot to plan for such a place as it swiftly blossomed into one of America’s largest cities.

That wasn’t all it forgot, and Mesa has been trying to make amends in an effort to overhaul its image as a sprawling desert suburb:

Downtown colleges? Check. Light rail? Check. New zoning rules to promote density? Check.

Now, plans are afoot for a signature downtown plaza, immediately north of the eight-story city office tower at Main and Center streets.

That intersection, the symbolic heart of the city, is already a hot spot for public events. For the past three summers, tens of thousands of people have converged there for the Arizona Celebration of Freedom. And, last February, the streets were closed for a street fair that accompanied a Republican presidential debate.

Closing Main Street for such events creates its own problems, though, largely because traffic, including buses, must be rerouted.

The lack of a real public-gathering place has been eating at Mesa Mayor Scott Smith for some time.

That feeling became all the more acute after Smith visited Chicago a couple of years ago and laid eyes on Millennium Park, a spectacular panoply of amenities and public art on 25 acres in the heart of the city.

Although it opened four years later than planners had hoped and was plagued with cost overruns, Millennium Park has been hailed not only as a gathering place in its own right but as a catalyst for high-end redevelopment in the neighborhood.

Smith decided that Mesa needs something like that.

The question was where.

“Then, I looked out the window,” he recalled, and from his seventh-floor mayoral office saw an expanse of city-owned parking lots and a minor street, Pepper Place, stretching a block to the north.

The area is ringed on the west and north by city office buildings and the City Council chambers. One of those buildings, a former city library at First Street and Centennial Way, is under consideration for historic-landmark status.

Still, Smith figured, “this could be transformed into an urban-center gathering place.”

“There’s a reason why cities from the beginning of time created those places,” Smith said, noting that Tempe retrofitted itself in recent years with its hugely popular Beach Park.

There was no money to even begin designing the plaza, however, until Mesa voters approved a $70million park bond issue in November.

Marc Heirshberg, Mesa’s parks and recreation director, said $750,000 from the bond issue has been set aside to design the downtown plaza, with no particular figure in mind for the final price.

Mesa will maximize the impact of those dollars by teaming with the School of Geographical Science and Urban Planning at Arizona State University. Heirshberg said the school is offering a 2013 spring-semester course called “Placemaking Mesa,” aimed at producing viable conceptual drawings of a future plaza.

“I love it when students get involved because they have no boundaries, and they love it because it’s a real project,” Smith said. “You get a freebie in the sense that you get some great ideas for a very, very good price.”

Smith said he’s focusing on City Hall’s backyard because other downtown sites wouldn’t create the same synergy.

Mesa owns about 25 acres at University and Mesa drives, land that was cleared more than a decade ago for an ill-fated resort project, but Smith said that’s too far from the light-rail line that will open on Main Street in 2015.

Pioneer Park is a landmark city destination just east of the downtown core, but Smith said its future uses will be governed by its proximity to the Mormon Temple just across the street.

Smith said Mesa will use 2013 to refine the plaza’s design, and he floated the possibility of another public vote in 2014 on bonds that would include money to build it.

Even if that all comes to pass, Smith said, Main Street still could be closed for events like the Celebration of Freedom.

“There’s ways that we can create temporary fencing where we could still run light-rail trains downtown,” Smith said. “They do it in Europe all the time. ... I actually think it would add to the environment to have trains coming through.”

Eventually, he said, creating an urban plaza could lead to a consolidation of city offices, which are scattered among several buildings. Most are in the eight-story former bank building, which wasn’t designed for such a use. 

“Downtown Mesa is going to evolve more and more into an urban center,” Smith said.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/m...aza-plans.html

[MegaBass]

CGCC Coyote Athletic Center renderings from Opsis Architecture