Its a false argument dont give it credence.

"What You think people will walk around outside in 30 degrees and freezing rain."??

-Literally almost every major city in north America and Europe this is a yearly reality. yet people will complain that despite being warm its impossible to walk when its 110. They also always point to 120 WHICH I MAY ADD IS RECORD TEMPERATURES AND IT HAS NOT BEEN OVER 120 in Phoenix since 1994

So by this logic since it has gotten to 40 below in Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis those cities should not be walkable.

Its just so stupid it drives me insane. :hell:

Sorry just not buying it.
 

To imply that it is not miserable walking around ok 110 heat, (err feels like 120), is total B.S. I played football in 110 degree heat in Phoenix when we went thru the dog days of August and I was 18 then. Yes it's possible to walk down a street melting in your shoes at 110 degrees but who in their right mind wants to? I have zero problem of having parking podiums in apartment buildings in Phoenix because the average person just is not going to walk their groceries down the street in 110 degree heat. Post a non staged video of numerous people doing such and you might gain some credence. Because other cities have cold weather for part of the year doesn't somehow negate the fact that walking around in 110 degree heat in Phoenix is not fun. Also in cold weather you can wear cold weather gear a big difference and yes I would also recommend living in a freaking building with parking if you lived in such a place. Don't get the hatred of cars when we are in the process of converting to EV's. And have you ever even noticed that most of the politicians who rant about public transportation are never seen on them?

Mayo Clinic submitted a PUD recently for their planned 'Discovery Oasis' campus. Still early stages, but here is the PUD and a conceptual rendering:

https://www.phoenix.gov/pddsite/Docu...PZ/Z-4-23n.pdf

https://i.imgur.com/oyvQhtQh.png

If Arizona is "too hot" to walk around in 90% of the cities on earth are too cold.

The end. This argument is idiotic when its 120 maybe 3 times a century and only hot 3 months a year

Again, the New york Times did an article a few years ago for the cities in America with the "Nicest" days meaning comfortable, sunny days. And Phoenix was number 3 or 4 only bear out by Sothern California cities, not a shock.

Stop.

And despite all this and bundling up guess what happens in cold weather cities when it gets dangerously cold. Less people go out in general. Just like here. And yet it isn’t used as an excuse to not build more pedestrian friendly spaces.

Let me tell you when a polar vortex hits it’s far worse than any temperature here. If anything it is more dangerous to drive in those conditions, so they shouldn’t have pedestrian or car infrastructure and everyone stay inside.

Damn what is that all going to be labs? Office space?

AZ has been lagging in the life sciences development unlike the Bay or even Denver....will we be able to support this development along with IDEA in Tempe and the Biocampus Downtown? Wish this kind of development could all be focused in one district....

This weather argument is getting hella old and in the way of more topical/relevant discussion.

Take it somewhere else.

This is bigger than the idea campus and downtown biomed district combined

I wouldn't put too much stock in it, this looks really preliminary for a PUD and it contradicts itself with 2.3 million sqft of development later with retail, etc but no manufacturing.

They just may as well submit a 1 page PUD with their logo and "what u gonna do, deny it? lol" and call it a day.

Some guy with balls of steel managed to climb the former Chase Tower from the bottom all the way to the top today by wedging himself between the small opening in the concrete elevator section. He is a pro life activist apparently.

any video of this out there? or photos? that's crazy.

Crack AZCentral reporting (as usual): "...one of the tallest buildings in Phoenix." Chase has only been the TALLEST since...forever lol. :whistle:

Fox10 made the same observation. Amazing that the local media here doesn't even know what the tallest building in AZ is. Who am I kidding? They all still use 10+ year old stock for their downtown shots. :haha:

If you go on Twitter and YouTube there are a ton of videos and the guy himself actually live streamed his climb and the video he filmed was damn impressive. He literally scooted all the way to the top without any protective gear. The more impressive thing is that he did the same thing at the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco last year. With the Super Bowl, he got even more exposure which is why he probably chose to do the stunt in Phoenix.

This is probably the most attention Valley Center has gotten since Downtown Phoenix was obliterated in that godawful 1970s asteroid movie.

haha too funny!

So something called STorage Cafe has ranked Phoenix #10 city in the country for renting downtown.

https://www.storagecafe.com/blog/bes...wntown-living/

Boys.... our time has come. :cheers:

Of those cities listed, I've visited the DT's of the following (and ranked by personal experience):

1. Nashville (incredible small yet big feel - super hot ladies)
2. Boston (duh, so much history)
3. San Diego (perfect weather and awesome seafood)
4. Chicago (incredible skyline - duh)
5. Seattle (too cold and dirty now so falling in my rankings)
6. Houston (too sweaty but under-appreciated skyline)
7. Dallas (see Houston but Houston's skyline is more impressive)
8. Phoenix (too hot and let's be honest - nowhere near any of the above...but improving!)

Looks like the City of Phoenix is getting ready to issue another RFP for 2 parcels (1016 N 2nd St) directly across from the Knipe House.

Didn't realize the city owned some of these lots North of Roosevelt. Would be nice to see some development activity in this area/empty lots as True North Studio's proposals have gone nowhere.

Speaking of downtown... cool video just released by the DT PHX neighborhood group

• Video Link

No more conversations about weather in the Development thread. if you want to talk about it, make a new thread or converse privately.

City of Phoenix announces new Planning and Development Director:

https://www.phoenix.gov/newsroom/pla...velopment/2651

Currently there is a sustainable container home demonstration located on these lots funded by a grant from the city. These will be there until May - they are awesome and would recommend checking them out. I hope the city is able to find temporary uses for it's other lots while they are out for redevelopment.

Not sure if others have mentioned it but tried Central Records this weekend - it opened a couple weeks ago. Awesome little place, will be spending lots of time there.

Found these two images and thought it was a good contrast between Downtown’s skyline over time, especially in the Roosevelt area.

https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/sim...9f22520f21.jpg
https://www.visitphoenix.com/stories...ntown-phoenix/

https://iili.io/HEbWgPs.png
https://www.azfamily.com/weather/cams/

Not sure when the first image was taken but the Biomedical science building was being built.

Was looking around and spotted a new fact finding permit (FACT2300273) was filed for the SWC of Central and McDowell on 01/13. Description is 'Mixed-Use Tower'. Could be an attempt to keep the tower concept alive since the expiration of last year's FF is approaching.

Metrocenter Demolition
 

Went by Metrocenter today. Couldn't get any pics because I was late for a meeting. But a large amount of the East parking lot is fenced up with construction equipment onsite, debris from a few things they've demolished and Dillards has store closing sale signs up. I'd say that demolition has begun on Metrocenter.

I should know this, but from where were those taken? Phoenix Mountain Preserve?

That second photo is outdated already, someone with a proper camera should go walk up the road on the South side of Phoenix Mountain Preserve and get a photo from this same angle. My cell phone camera doesn't do it justice.

https://i.imgur.com/FJ5Pa5w.jpeg

.

I was in town visiting my parents in November and took a few from that general area. So these are a few months old, but sharing anyway...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a2db096f_h.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...982adc09_h.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...316f8e3e_h.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...53ba7c97_h.jpg

Damn those are nice. Excellent early morning light.

Wow, the midtown and downtown one is awesome!

damn good perspectives thanks for sharing!

Diamondbacks front office beginning to explore options for Chase Field renovation or new ballpark elsewhere

• Video Link

D-Backs leaving would be a huge loss for downtown. Hope they figure something out to improve the stadium and keep it there. Coors Field sacrificed some seating in order to put in a "party deck" that has been very successful. I think something similar would do very well, especially indoors in the summertime.

The Dbacks have already done some things like this. I don't remember the specifics, but they put in a couple new restaurants and a "party deck" type of area as well as slightly reduced seating I believe.

I think there are much more major expenses and plans that are behind all of this. The roof they mention in the video is just one bit of major deferred maintenance. And I think the Dbacks are thinking much bigger than adding some suites or a new party area inside, I think they want to develop as much of the land immediately around and next to the stadium as they can (that open area wedge on the northeast side of the stadium has always been so dumb, even the little restaurant building on the west side is puny compared to what could be).

While the ballpark hasn't sparked the downtown renaissance that Coors Field seemed to do in Denver (that was always the hope) downtown is seeing such incredible growth on its own, including down in the Warehouse District, that they'd be stupid to leave now. And although the exterior design of the ballpark (the look of the building and the overall plan of the land) leaves a lot to be desired, I still think it has some nice things going for it inside and it's a nice place to watch a game.

Thankfully moving to the Vegas area seems to be a long-gone option; I think they're definitely staying in town at one location or another.

Haven't spent much time at games so admittedly I'm not as informed as I should be. I still think it'd be a lost opportunity for both the DBacks and the city to lose them to the suburbs or wherever.

Random Pics
 

Took a nice walk this weekend and snagged a few updates for you all! Palm Court is getting crazy tall!

https://imgur.com/gallery/McSRXOL

Sekkle- I asked expecting no response and blown away by your amazing photos!

Thanks so much for sharing, would be amazing to see the same perspective and quality in 2024 and 2025 as 11-20 more high rises fill the downtown skyline up.

That is going up fast, nice! Can't wait for all these buildings to fill up with residents and the next tranche of projects to get built.

I listened to Derrick Hall on 98.7 today, he sounds pretty focused on staying downtown, mentioning the history and a willingness by the owner group to spend up to $400M on renovations. They want to go after something like the Yotes have in their plans for Tempe. Hotels, entertainment, multi-use type development to bolster the area around the ballpark and drive additional revenue. He also mentioned the Suns and their success renovating/filling Footprint Center next door.

No hints of leaving the valley we're given, when one of the radio hosts mentioned downtown's energy and all the excitement there as being something that would be hard to leave, he agreed with that.

No clue how it will all turn out but the convention center has aspirations to develop an entertainment district around that area, it would be a huge synergy to combine forces with the D'Baks ownership group and go big in that part of downtown.

That checks with what they have been saying for years.

A few years ago they were down at the Capitol advocating for an expansion of the theme park district. As I recall, the district allows them to essentially charge an additional sales tax on everything inside the district that could be used to pay for whatever improvements happen inside the district, which can include multi use, retail and hotel.

I've long argued the structure itself is under utilized and they could do some cool stuff on the north side in particular.

Even if the Fairmont hotel comes to fruition, I think downtown could use another luxury brand hotel. A JW, Omni, W, etc.

I think that overly wide sidewalk in front of Chase also doubles as a fire lane so I wonder how much of it could be brought to the street, I suspect it's just not worth it to do much more than replace that surface parking lot on the corner. Anything to replace that ridiculous desert-inspired onsite retention though...

Anything on the north side of Chase would be incomplete without reimagining the south side of the Garage Mahal and a midblock crossing on the 6th St alignment. A luxury hotel on Chase's NE parking lot would lack context and purpose with the rest of the downtown core by itself.

The W brand is basically dead, JW would be interesting, I doubt Omni they are opening Tempe soon and already have Scottsdale, Phoenix area may not be large enough for 3 hotels for them.

Even if not the W specifically, I would love to see that previous proposal come back in some form.

They need to develop the land they have before they gut another building. Glad Sarver is out of there, he had no vision for the properties they control.

By measure is the w brand "dead" they have properties all over the world

It’s a dying brand