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-   -   Phoenix Development News (3) (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=173764)

glynnjamin Nov 19, 2009 9:06 PM

I'll accept that I'm right when the fucker gets built...

Smashbuger is also going in somewhere around 24th & Camelback. Don't have an exact location yet but probably near the Culvers on Camelback.

gymratmanaz Nov 19, 2009 9:25 PM

Smashburger....talk to me. I love the name. How is the food and all??? I have never heard of the place.

glynnjamin Nov 19, 2009 9:36 PM

There is one in Tempe just south of the Veterans LRT stop. It is pretty damn good, IMHO. The meat is pretty salty though. Just a basic burger joint though. http://www.smashburger.com/menu_main.php

pbenjamin Nov 19, 2009 9:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glynnjamin (Post 4563165)
What does that have to do with my credibility?

In any event, Smashburger has confirmed that they are going there. Hell, their logo is on the damn sign. It was over a year ago that someone on here said Pita Jungle was going into Gold Spot and that still hasn't happened. It wouldn't surprise me to see them move up the street but I'm not really sure why they would. As far as an Ace goes - downtown needs a hardware store, just wish it was more in town.

The only other piece of information I got from him was that the refurb project would start in January and should be finished by "summer". If the antique place is out by December, maybe there is some truth.

Im just passing the info along.

So you are saying that the building will be refurbished and that at least 4 businesses (Pita Jungle, Smashburger, Ace and whatever was left for them to quote you a price on) will go in there? Seems awfully small for that, particularly for an Ace Hardware. Sound like a great addition to the neighborhood though.

PhxMatt Nov 20, 2009 12:48 AM

I read somewhere recently that Smashburger was opening at 20th Street and Camelback... Maybe Colonade or Town and Country...?

Culvers is going up on 8th Steet and Camelback.

HX_Guy Nov 20, 2009 4:37 AM

Kick ass!

Quote:

Local businesses finally scoring

Nov. 20, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

A bit more than a year ago, downtown Phoenix business owners wondered out loud where all the Arizona State University students were. There may have been more than 8,000 registered for classes downtown, they said, but they weren't showing up in their shops and restaurants.

One year later . . . check that concern. Parts of downtown, particularly the region north of the downtown ASU campus, are being overrun with Sun Devils.

Or perhaps it is simply young people in general. Whoever these kids are, they are beginning to swarm throughout central Phoenix in impressive numbers at last.

The most notable demonstration of the blossoming of the central city continues to be the First Friday events, of course.

On Nov. 5, the city closed off East Roosevelt from North Central Avenue to Seventh Street to traffic for the first time, allowing the throngs of attendees to overflow the streets without fear of automobiles.

The growing First Friday crowds and the widening ASU footprint have attracted entrepreneurs like Kyle Simone and Jeff Mann to open shops like their Phoenicia Association, a combination men's clothier and art gallery.

The youth traffic persuaded restaurateur Wade Moises to open the popular PastaBAR at First Street and Pierce Street, in the same building with Sens Asian Tapas and the now popular Irish bar Turf.

First Friday itself is expanding exponentially. When the event began 15 years ago, 13 art galleries collaborated in busing patrons between Grand Avenue and Roosevelt Street. Now, more than 100 galleries and other businesses participate, and the event itself has expanded into Heritage Square.

Yes, the Valley's central city is lurching in many respects, like all parts of this economically ravaged region. But to witness the kind of growth that we are seeing now, in this economy, is delightfully counterintuitive.

By rights, the new downtown farmers market should not be overflowing with customers in an economic downturn as fierce as this one. But on Saturdays, especially, it is choked with shoppers.

Once upon a time, the tiny, tasty Matt's Big Breakfast was an anomaly. An outpost attraction in a desert of empty buildings and weedy lots. Now, lines of customers snake out of numerous downtown restaurants that seem to be sprouting regularly out of downtown's bank of old buildings, especially as the weather cools.

A year ago, business owners were wondering out loud where all the ASU students were.

"We definitely hope that it will get better," one said.

In many surprising respects, it has. Even in these tough economic times, downtown - of all places - is beginning to thrive.

glynnjamin Nov 20, 2009 5:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pbenjamin (Post 4567619)
So you are saying that the building will be refurbished and that at least 4 businesses (Pita Jungle, Smashburger, Ace and whatever was left for them to quote you a price on) will go in there? Seems awfully small for that, particularly for an Ace Hardware. Sound like a great addition to the neighborhood though.

I dont know if you've ever been in that antique shop but it is huge. That alone is more than enough for an Ace. The Japanese place is huge as well and has a front and rear entrance. It is supposed to be split in half and house two places. Then, there is the cleaners spot that faces 7th. That is supposed to be the fourth spot. That's what the guy showed me. He said the Smashburger would face McDowell, Pita Jungle would face 7th, and the available space would face the parking lot (south). Obviously he hasn't be able to move it because it won't have much street-side exposure. His drawings show a similar tower to the one across the street with the Pei Wei. Wish I could copy it but he just brought it with him to our meeting so I had no way to copy it. I told him I heard that Pita Jungle was going into Gold Spot with Lola's and he said "those rumors are flat out wrong" but he did seem a bit defensive.

Honestly, I don't know anymore. The way he's trying to snake oil me with the other lot, I'm beginning to believe this space will get refurbished in late 2010, not January.

AZ KID Nov 20, 2009 5:27 AM

Wonderful article

gymratmanaz Nov 20, 2009 5:36 AM

Awesome Awesome Awesome!!!

nickkoto Nov 20, 2009 6:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gymratmanaz (Post 4567589)
Smashburger....talk to me. I love the name. How is the food and all??? I have never heard of the place.

I gave the Smashburger in Tempe a try.

I guess it's OK, but the Chuckbox is still way better, they're only about a minute's walk away from each other, and you can expect to spend about $2 more in Smashburger. I see no reason to go back.

HX_Guy Nov 21, 2009 2:13 AM

http://nitnelav.com/Campus.jpg

UA in talks with Phoenix to build $140M center on downtown campus
Phoenix Business Journal - by Angela Gonzales

After searching for the past few years for a hospital partner to develop a $140 million cancer center on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus, the [CompanyWatch allows you to receive email alerts with stories related to your companies of interest. University of Arizona is moving ahead on its own.

UA is talking with the city about building a five-story, 250,000-square-foot structure on or near the downtown campus.

Such a facility would join the ranks of Mayo Hospital in north Phoenix, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Goodyear and the planned Banner Health-University of Texas [CompanyWatch allows you to receive email alerts with stories related to your companies of interest. <p>You can watch up to ten companies at a time.</p>] M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Gilbert, adding to the Valley’s growing cachet as a cancer research and treatment hub.

Dr. William Crist, UA vice president for health affairs, said he is in preliminary discussions with Phoenix officials to build on city land.

“We haven’t got the details worked out,” he said. “We’ve got quite a lot of people interested in helping with this. There are a lot of people affected by cancer.”

Crist hopes to raise money from the private sector and work with the city to borrow money to fund the center.

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gor­don said it is too early to say how much money would be raised from the private sector and how much would be borrowed.

“We are working on some exciting new financing vehicles to ensure that the cancer center, which has always been part of the original biomedical campus concept, is accelerated substantially,” Gordon said. “I’m working on this with federal agencies, with private individuals, with pharmaceutical and drug companies and foundations, and others to add to the biomedical campus.”

Banner Health had been a potential partner to develop a hospital with UA on the Biomedical Campus, but those talks ended in 2007. Banner turned instead to University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center to jointly develop a cancer center on the Banner Gateway Medical Center campus in Gilbert. Plans for that facility call for breaking ground Dec. 1 and opening in 2011, said Banner spokesman Bill Byron.

Meanwhile, Crist continues to discuss UA’s relationship with Maricopa Integrated Health System, which for several years has indicated an interest in building a replacement hospital for Maricopa Medical Center near the Phoenix Bio­medical Campus.

“There’s no question MIHS is interested in building a new hospital,” said Betsey Bayless, CEO of MIHS. “The focus of our conversation with the (UA) medical school is what’s our relationship going to be. That’s still where we are.”

Crist said he would like to see MIHS build a hospital near the campus, which houses the Translational Genomics Research Institute and the UA College of Medicine-Phoenix, in partnership with Arizona State University.

“That talk continues,” he said. “We’re very excited about that.”

He said a new MIHS hospital would complement the UA outpatient cancer treatment center, which would not have any patient beds.

The proposed cancer center would offer initial consultations, outpatient surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and opportunities to participate in clinical trials for new drugs and treatments.

“We will be interacting with a number of hospitals in our work on cancer,” Crist said.

The Arizona Cancer Center at UA’s Tucson campus is the only one in the state designated by the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center, offering world-renowned translational research programs and patient care.

Crist said the Phoenix center would be an extension of the Tucson facility, sharing its NCI designation. The Phoenix location would be focused heavily on research, working in conjunction with scientists at TGen, Arizona State University and local hospitals.

In the past few years, UA’s relationship with Scottsdale Healthcare has diminished because that hospital is beefing up its relationship with Mayo’s cancer program, Crist said.

“We’re still on good terms with Scottsdale,” he said. “They had more things going on in certain studies with Mayo.”

HX_Guy Nov 21, 2009 2:25 AM

Finally a rendering of the aloft hotel that was supposed to go in at Central/Adams. I think the project is dead...they didn't meet any of the deadlines and the permit on the city's website has disappeared.

This is from the Fourth Quarter 2009 Downtown Activity Report released by the city...so who knows...

http://nitnelav.com/aloft1.jpg

http://nitnelav.com/aloft2.jpg

HooverDam Nov 21, 2009 2:32 AM

Damn that Aloft wouldve really been nice there. With their XYZ lounges and stuff they usually do it wouldve also added another nightlife sort of component to the core.

Its interesting that the (very early) renderings of the new UA medical buildings show them not continuing the current metal and concrete style of the existing biomed campus.

PHX31 Nov 21, 2009 4:24 AM

I mirror what HooverDam has said about the aloft. And I can't believe they aren't following through. It seems like the hotels are doing very well downtown, especially with the conventions.

Don B. Nov 22, 2009 2:33 PM

^ Perhaps the issue is financing? Or, fear that Arizona's tourism industry is over-saturated and exhausted? Certainly numbers are way down all across the board on tourism...

--don

HX_Guy Nov 22, 2009 6:31 PM

Sonoma is closing down, to be replaced by The Breakfast Joynt, another 7am-3pm eatery.
They have another location in North Scottsdale off Raintree and the 101.

Edit: Apparently Sonoma will stay open for dinner, or at least that's what the people over on Yelp are saying... http://www.yelp.com/topic/phoenix-br...joynt-downtown

http://nitnelav.com/DTNov222009/1.jpg

Vicelord John Nov 22, 2009 8:05 PM

sonoma was awful, and unfortunately places in Phoenix without even on street parking are going to fail, miserably. There are two parking spaces metered out front but hard to get to for most feeble minded Phoenicians.

vertex Nov 22, 2009 9:00 PM

...

CraftTeutonic Nov 22, 2009 11:01 PM

hey everyone awhile back azcentral.com posted an article about the governments plans for the region in the next 50 years. it seemed like a really horrible plan that would allow unchecked population and urban land growth with increased freeways. i was wondering if any of you could provide a link to it because i can't seem to find it. thanks

Don B. Nov 23, 2009 3:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PHX31 (Post 4565030)
That's not the truth at all. "Detroit in the Desert?" "Surrounded by miles of those subdivisions". A picture of a rotten pool that's obviously no where near Phoenix (unless Phoenix suddenly moved to the Florida Keys or Hawaii).

Compare Detroit's unemployment to Phoenix's unemployment. Compare anything you want. That post is nothing but someone that gets their jollies from sadomasochism.

Other sources back up my version of the reality:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...ation0107.html

Phoenix may be losing people

by Michael Clancy and Casey Newton - Jan. 12, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

For the first time in modern history, Phoenix's population could be shrinking.

It's an idea that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago, when Phoenix was surging up the list of the nation's most populous cities. Now, a variety of indicators suggest that fewer people are living here than a year ago.

No one knows for sure exactly how many people have moved in or out. But with the 2010 census about to get under way, some indicators suggest Phoenix's population may be smaller than the
projected 1,636,170 people.

City records show declining trends in several key areas. Among them:

• Foreclosure numbers have skyrocketed, meaning fewer city homes are occupied.

• Water hookups are down, suggesting the same.

• Some aspects of trash collection have ebbed because fewer people are buying things that produce waste.

• Crime has declined across the city while police are getting fewer calls for services, a possible indicator of fewer people.

• Sales-tax revenues are likely to drop for the second year in a row, with this year's collections off almost 8 percent from last year.

Experts say each trend can be explained in part by other factors, such as the national recession and the bursting of the housing bubble. When consumer spending decreases, so do tax revenues and the amount of trash that people throw away. Still, an Arizona Republic analysis of the trends suggests Phoenix has anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand people fewer than projected.

"I think the number is minor, but with all these indicators moving down, I think it is real," said City Manager Frank Fairbanks, declining to speculate of the number of people the city may have lost.

Several factors could be behind a population loss, Fairbanks and others say. The state law requiring employers to verify immigration status of their workers is believed to have driven many immigrants out of the state in 2008. The regional decline in construction jobs also could be behind an exodus.

Statewide, growth has slowed to a crawl. A population report released in December showed Arizona grew by 1.6 percent, or about 100,000 residents, in the previous fiscal year - less than half the growth rate of two years prior. But the possibility that Phoenix has declined relative to other cities has leaders worried.

Tax revenue at risk

Losing any fraction of the city's population could mean less revenue to Phoenix from the state.

Arizona shares 15 percent of its income-tax collections with cities based on those cities' population.

Phoenix's population now represents about 30 percent of Arizona's population. This year, Phoenix got $435 million from the state. That made up 38.7 percent of the city's general fund.

Assuming that the suburbs maintain or grow their current populations, Phoenix's share of revenue from the state could shrink in coming years, compounding the city's budget crisis.

Phoenix already is facing cuts of $270 million, or more than 22 percent, from its budget this year. The city is weighing cuts from community centers, senior centers, libraries, police and fire protection, and other services.

"It's an important, pressing issue for all of our cities here, but Phoenix probably most of all," said Rita Walton, who monitors population for the Maricopa Association of Governments. "They're the biggest and stand to lose the most."

The evidence

Several indicators exist showing that the population could be declining. Among them:

• Water: The number of water-using accounts fell about 5,600 from fiscal 2007-08 to 2008-09. The number of accounts using no water almost doubled, on average, meaning those homes still have water connections but are probably empty.

Tracking population by water hookups is "a good way of watching for population change," said Steve Doig, a journalism professor at Arizona State University who used a similar method to track the return of people to southern Florida after Hurricane Andrew.

Evidence about the increasing number of water accounts using no water and the decreasing number of accounts generally indicates population decline.

• Trash: Trash collection dropped 2 percent overall from fiscal year 2006-07 to 2007-08. While the amount of recyclable material picked up increased slightly, bulk-trash pickup dropped almost 15 percent during the same period.

Dennis Hoffman, professor of economics at the W. P. Carey School of Business at ASU, said trash collections, just like electrical and water hookups, frequently are used to gauge more precise population shifts than a census provides.

• Foreclosures: Bank repossessions of homes continue to increase. The key areas of decline are in the western part of the city. Phoenix overall had a staggering 534 percent increase in foreclosures in the first half of 2008, or an increase of about 5,000 additional homes in foreclosure compared with the first half of 2007. Figures for the last half of the year are not yet available.

• Taxes: Sales-tax collections have declined dramatically. Although not tied to growth as directly as water hookups, increases in sales-tax collections began slowing in 2006-07, then dropped in the next two years.

Hoffman said that since the retail sector thrives on population growth, it is reasonable to conclude that with the retail sector in so much trouble, declining sales-tax revenue could correlate to declining population.

• Crime: Phoenix saw violent crime decrease 0.3 percent last year, along with a 0.3 percent decrease in total property crimes. Crime has continued to fall in 2008, records show. In addition, Phoenix police have had fewer calls for service this year than last year, Police Chief Jack Harris said. Growing populations almost always result in more calls to police.

Hope ahead?

Not everyone is pessimistic. Mayor Phil Gordon expressed skepticism at the idea of a shrinking city.

"The growth of Phoenix, like all cities in the Valley, has slowed significantly. But Phoenix's net growth is still positive, both in jobs and population," he said.

Gordon said the city is poised to resume steady growth as soon as the economy emerges from the current recession.

"When the recovery comes, we will be better positioned to recover faster and take advantage of it than many other cities locally and throughout the U.S. The world and the nation know Phoenix.... Whether it's national or international, we're first on the list of cities to invest in as the economy turns."

--don


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