I'd love to know more about the lawsuit and the settlement. For almost three decades, I've been hearing that Barron Collier was going to eventually develop that land in a big way. I wonder what happened to cause it to revert to the federal government.

Yes, it would be nice to have it developed in a way that respected the site's history and exposed the park a bit more. I've always felt that Phoenix got the worst outcome in the three-way land deal that occurred among the feds, the city, and Barron Collier. This might help mitigate that mistake from almost 30 years ago.

I posted a comment about the geographic error. We'll see if it gets fixed.

A summary of the history of the litigation is detailed in this opinion from Barron's case against the Government in the Federal Court of Claims, as well as this opinion in the Government's case against Barron in Arizona federal court.

From what I can tell, Collier had a $34m note to the Government as a result of the land swap. Collier defaulted in 2012, and tried to give the Government a deed in lieu and just walk away from the property (because the property was apparently worth much less than the balance on the note). Apparently part of the deal was that Collier had an obligation to put up government bonds as additional collateral if the property ever fell below 130% of the value of the note. Government sued for specific performance of this obligation.

Unclear from the opinions what the terms of the settlement were, but interesting stuff (for those that find this kind of stuff interesting).

Thanks. Given the unimpressive nature of the Collier Center downtown, I can't say I mind having Collier no longer involved with the Indian School site.

The understanding was Barron Coller Co. made it clear from the start that the site was a long-term hold (minimum of 20-25 years). The plan was for office, which wasn't good then and isn't a good use now for that area. I'd love the city to extend the park to the corner with tons of trees and maybe a water feature at the corner. It would go a long way in that area. Hopefully the owners of the Bayless site on the NW corner get off their fat asses and redevelop that. It's been sitting like that for decades.

Copy of the RFP for SEC of Central and Adams.

https://www.phoenix.gov/solicitations/1289

Looks like Union Market is having problems. Behind a pay wall and I'm on my cell phone. Can somebody post the full article?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biz...ct-in.amp.html

Doesn't sound like the actual retail tenants are being kicked out--it's a dispute between the building owner and Union Market, which had a master lease with the landlord and subleases with the retail tenants.

Best line from the article:

"A lobby sign saying 'Any day now' has been up for the past few months."

This has been in "coming soon" status for about two years.

The restaurant on the SW corner is nearly complete. I'd hate to see this fall through at this point when they are so close to opening.

Collier Center was just fine when it was built.

Light rail was a long way off, and the highrise code actually had intensity bonuses for interior pedestrian malls instead of street front retail. We've learned from it since and moved on with better planning.

The new apartment tower should improve that block a lot either way.

The Phoenix Business Journal recently posted an article named "New 200-room, 15-story hotel coming to Arizona Center".

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't there an already proposed condominium high rise at that same corner of 5th and Van Buren? The article mentions another 31 story residential tower slated for construction in 2018, but I wasn't sure if it was referring to The LINK at 3rd and Pierce St. Did the ~30 story condos not get approved for the Arizona Center site?

See the Arizona Center thread for discussion about this.

Youll see that this has its own sub-topic Arizona Center Renovations.

They got new owners in 2015 and have ramping up an expansion, the mall renovations are going on right now and they have started prepping the site for the 31 story condo tower at the corner of 5th and Van Buren.

The Hotel which was also planned is about half a block to the north on the other side of the APS building on a grassy area between the office tower and the center's parking Garage.

This article is the announcement of the actual brand going in and its a nice urban-themed marriot so this is great news. It looks like they'll be doing a bigger better version of the Hampton inn/apartment Tower development on Central and Polk a few blocks away.

Ah, I've been lingering around the "southwest" threads for about a week now but totally missed that one. It makes total sense now, thank you for clarifying that. Arizona Center sounds like it's coming together quite nicely :).

after spending the better part of 20 years as a mall on life support its nice to see.

To be fair between AZ center, Colliers and Cityscape in 2008 there simply wasn't the population or draw to support all the retail, that has changed and by 2020 when all of these new units are open downtown is going to bustle.

They didn't have an anchor tenant for either AZ Center or the Mercado when they opened, the latter lacked parking so did even worse.

The hotel tower and apartments have long been cited as the missing piece. Very nice to see how fast the new owner is moving. Stupid GGP for scratching their ass so long.

Bingo! And That's exactly why AZ Center couldn't do it....lack of population Downtown. My, how things are changing :tup:

Ground broke this week on PHXs new controversial 19-story high rise. Story to come #cronkitenews https://t.co/lzzA8NUwxt

Does anyone know anything about this? The original tweet said this was an office building that would tower over everything next to it.

Well she has her info wrong, that is the Link, its 30 stories not 20.

She must be confusing it with Derby.

THE LIST:

High rise
Block 23- 17 story apartments under construction
Block 23- 9 story office under construction
the Link - 29 story apartment UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Central Park East- 17 stories apartments and 11 story hotel under construction
The Stuart- 21 story apartment under construction

Derby- 21 story apartment - construction on hold for litigation

AC Marriot 15 stories - Proposed

The link - 25 story apartment proposed
The link 20 story apartment proposed
Barrister- 32 story apartment proposed
Residences at Collier - 25 story proposed
Arizona Center- ~30 story Condos planning

BMO 2nd tower- 22 stories Rumored

Central station- ~30 stories A man can dream!

Low Rise
Broadstone Roosevelt- Under Construction
Hance Park Apartments and Office- Under construction
Small project next to Broadstone - under Construction
Ally's on roosevelt (I cant remember the name) Under Construction
Grow House 2.0 - Under Construction
Central and Willeta- under Construction
Arizona Center Remodel - Under construction

ballpark Apartments - apparently revived
The Filmore - Planned
The Church- Planned
Native Connections - Planned
Roosevelt and 3rd ave- Planned
McKinley Row- Planned
ASU Biomed Phase 1- Planned
Enhance Phase 2- Planned
Enhance Phase 3 Planned
McKinley and First ave project ( with Grocery) - Planned
Hance Park Update- Planned
Parking Structure 1st street and Jefferson- Planned

Early stages
Spaghetti Factory lot
RFP for Central & Adams
Light Rail Capitol Mall and South Central Extensions

Updating the list