Sorry having issues getting the image to show up. It appears the entire facade on the north side of the building at Palm and Central is gone.

Can you provide more details about what you've heard? The rhetoric I've seen from the North Central Phoenix Homeowner's Associations has sounded like pretty generic NIMBY speak, but maybe there's something more to it I'm not aware of. I do find it weird that my gut feeling in favor of this project puts me on same side as Councilman DiCiccio and the opposite side as Mayor Stanton. Normally, it's the other way around for me.

I heard a presentation by Mary Crozier at a citywide meeting sponsored by the Neighborhood Coalition of Greater Phoenix and the Phoenix Historic Neighborhoods Coalition about a month ago. I confess I don't remember a lot of details as it isn't my part of town. My high level recollections: The usual stuff about density and height being out of character with the area was there, but it was process stuff that alienated me. Neighborhood notification, required by law, was not happening. It was a PUD, which is more or less of a blank check, something designed for more difficult situations, typical of the downtown area and not normally used in areas like north central. The developer has a lousy reputation in other areas. When the opposition was on the *public* sidewalk gathering signatures before and after church they were confronted with paid goons. Crozier has received threats. The early word on the street was that it was a done deal because Diciccio was on board, long before there was a zoning change and residents had any opportunity to lobby him to the contrary. The fellow who was working on public opinion, apparently the employer of the above-mentioned goons, had been a key figure in Diciccio's campaigns. The whole thing just smelled bad. There's a whole lot of church land up that way and what happened there would have impact on a lot of other situations.

Yikes. That sounds eerily reminiscent of some of the sleaze surrounding the Trump Tower controversy a decade earlier.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/...lans/81229026/

Historic Heard Building sold in downtown Phoenix
 

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

Wonder what this means for the future of the building.

Based on the buyers statement sounds like they want to rent it to Tech and new retail. Which is good! maybe they'll do a little rehab :tup:

EDIT:http://azbigmedia.com/azre-magazine/...-intro-sold-5m

Basic remodeling to appeal to tech tenants.

From trolling FAA Obstruction Evaluations, we have a height for Block 23:

https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external...2980959&row=11

The proposed Hampton Inn at Central/Polk by Freeport McMoran also recently proposed obstruction evaluation:

https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external...2763851&row=20

NEW CRANES! hopefully we can see these start next quarter, Its nice to have some more development in the downtown core instead of all up at Roosevelt/portland

[QUOTE=muertecaza;7657995]From trolling FAA Obstruction Evaluations, we have a height for Block 23:


https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external...2980959&row=11

How many floors is 232'? That will be the residential building so the floor heights are shorter than office buildings (usually).

[QUOTE=dtnphx;7658228]I think around 21 floors IIRC. 232' is better than I expected considering the renderings made it look below 200'. Makes me happy enough.

[QUOTE=RonnieFoos;7658322]Yeah its about the same height as the buildings in the AZ center. Shorter than BofA building by a few floors. Im more interested in how tall the office portion will be. Its 4 floors (tall floors) on top of the grocery store and some parking which leads me to hope it will actually be like almost 10 regular floors.

[QUOTE=RonnieFoos;7658322]Does the FAA permit show the height of the actual building, or the height of the crane? If the crane will be 232 feet then the building will be significantly shorter. If the FAA permit shows the building height, per the CTBUH height calculator, 232 feet would be 20 floors. Decent height and density for that location.

http://www.ctbuh.org/TallBuildings/H...B/Default.aspx

[QUOTE=nickw252;7658405]The FAA evaluation lists that as the building height. I don't see a crane permit yet, but There's 3 other building permits for the same site all listing the same height, lol.

If all goes well, we could see 3 new buildings with some decent height up in the 2's starting in the next few months:

Fry's: 232
Derby: 245
Stewart: 219

...plus the Banner tower that is now topped out: 289

...and with a little luck, something will still happen with the Barrister development, but I haven't seen anything on that lately.

All and all, some good skyline changers coming soon.

Does anyone know what is happening in the lot directly east of Cooperstown? I walked by today and noticed it is all fenced off the ground looks ready to build. I don't remember seeing this last week when I walked by.

^I believe some tech company is building a newer structure and using the parking lot South of it for the project.

Also http://www.azcentral.com/story/money...lion/95747184/

Renaissance Square plans improvements to its plaza and lobby. Whatever that entails, maybe it means more businesses?

[QUOTE=RonnieFoos;7659372]IMHO I think that The Stewart happens before any of these. As much as some people may not like the tact, the developer does seem very committed and I don't think they can leave Circles in that condition for too much longer.

A couple of pics I took this morning while in downtown.

Shouldn't the equipment be hidden or is some type of crown still going to be installed?
http://i.imgur.com/1xiSV8oh.jpg

Renaissance Hote renovation. Looks great but wish the Central Ave side could've been activated a little better rather than a long blank wall as you head into HGI.
http://i.imgur.com/nKpAvlph.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/qe7IaYfh.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/huoYDn6h.jpg

I think there will be new retail there. They closed up the arches and the useless promenade. I think it will be good when done. I think they filled in the arches and are punching out new entrances. Fingers crossed.

The Luhrs Marriott looks underwhelming, almost like an Eastern European block apartment. Why couldn't they have used glass for the entire building instead of that white stuff. No wonder they didn't show the rendering beforehand.

Agreed. I completely know why none of the renderings never showed the top half of the building. So generic and the window-less blank white wall portions look so cheaply done. I officially hate the Luhrs Marriott. The least they could have done was put some kind of crown on top.

Sigh...